Parliament of the United Colonies
| Parliament of the United Colonies of Aldia | |
|---|---|
| Type | |
| Type | Bicameral |
| Houses |
Colonial Senate Colonial Assembly |
| Term limits | 10 Years |
| History | |
| Founded | June 1619, 399 years ago |
| Preceded by | Assembly of the Aldian Cooperative |
| New session started | November 2012 |
| Leadership | |
| Speaker of the Assembly |
Forte Attley, Labor Since 2012 Legislative Election |
| Speaker of the Senate |
Laars Fjordrekson, Labor Since 2012 Legislative Election |
| Structure | |
 | |
| Colonial Assembly political groups |
520 Seats Official Opposition (161)
Other Opposition (82)
Crossbench (8)
|
 | |
| Colonial Senate political groups |
97 Seats Official Opposition (21)
Other Opposition (14)
Crossbench (23)
|
| Elections | |
| Colonial Assembly voting system | Instant-Runoff Voting |
| Colonial Senate voting system | Single Transferable Vote |
| Constitution | |
| Declaration of the United Colonies | |
The Parliament of the United Colonies, commonly known as the Colonial Parliament is the supreme legislative body within the United Colonies and its extra-solar territories. All other political bodies within the United Colonies, with the exception of the executive and military establishment, ultimately answer to the Colonial Parliament. Its head is the President of the United Colonies, its seat is at Domain Interchange at Parliament Square within Jindabyne, the capital city of the United Colonies. The Colonial Parliament is a bicameral parliament and is comprised of two houses: the Colonial Assembly and the Colonial Senate. The Parliament of the United Colonies is based on a unique hybrid parliamentarian system. It combines some aspects of the Westminster model of a lower house with the United States Congress model of an upper house. In spite of this however the Government of the United Colonies is still classified as a Presidential Unitary State as the popularly elected President serves as both the head of state and government, unlike in a pure Westminster model where the head of government is generally the leader of a political party with the largest vote share in an election. The Colonial Assembly is the lower house and proposes legislation to the upper house to be approved and ratified and monitors the executive body of the nation. The Colonial Senate is the upper house, is proportionally elected and is vested with significant powers as it has the capacity to either pass or block legislation put forward by the President and the Colonial Assembly.
Membership within the Colonial Assembly & Senate represents the twenty established colonies, all extra-solar territories and space habitats governed by the Government of the United Colonies. The Colonial Senate consists of 97 members: four senators from each colony, ten from Aldia and seven from the Colonial Administration Authority (CAA). Meanwhile the Colonial Assembly consists of 520 seats: each colony having been assigned eighteen seats, one hundred and thirty seats for Aldia and thirty seats for the CAA. Politics within the Colonial Assembly has historically been dominated by major three parties: the Colonial Labor Party (CLP/Labor), the United Greens (Greens) and the Coalition (Liberals, Democrats & Conservatives). A fourth faction: the New Colonial Alliance, an alliance of colonial parties to better represent the interest & voice of the outer colonies, has recently gained more seats in parliament. In the 2012 Legislative Elections the NCA was able to take 76 seats in the Assembly and for 3 seats in the Senate. Elections take place once every ten years which allows governments to adopt a more long-term approach towards strategic planning & policy making. Labor has been in government since the 1873 Presidential & Legislative Elections, having removed the Coalition from power after more than fifty years in power.
As noted, the Colonial Senate is vested with significantly higher powers as it possess the ability to block passage of a bill proposed by either the lower house or President. In the event that a bill that has been passed by the Assembly is been blocked twice by the Senate, then the Speaker of the Assembly may advise the Political & Morale Commander of the United Colonies for a double dissolution. This act will dissolve one or both the Colonial Assembly & Senate, bringing forward a snap election. If after a double dissolution the same bill still cannot be approved by both houses then the Political & Morale Commander will convene for a joint sitting of both houses where the bill, or bills, and any of its amendments will be considered by both houses. As its name suggests a joint siting is when members of both houses of the Colonial Parliament sit together as one legislative body to consider and/or deliberate a bill or bills. A joint sitting is a very rare occasion and has only occurred once, the first in 1822 in the events that led up to the Unsung War. In 1873 both the ruling Coalition party and Vice President had lost the confidence of the house. Pressure exerted in both Parliament and public outrage of the scandal in the Unsung War prompted the President & the Political & Morale Commander to trigger a double dissolution of the Colonial Parliament and called for fresh elections. Labor has since won both the Presidential & Legislative elections and served as government with the Greens as a junior partner.
History
The United Colonies of Aldia was founded on June 1st, 1619 when the nations of the Aldian Cooperative, the precursor of the United Colonies, signed and ratified the Declaration of the United Colonies of Aldia. The Declaration was a document and serves as the constitution of the United Colonies. The Declaration clearly states that for the purposes of legislating a united Aldia and its colonies, the functions of the Assembly of the Aldian Cooperative would be reformed as the Colonial Parliament of the United Colonies of Aldia. Prior to this, the Assembly of the Aldian Cooperative already functioned in a para-parliamentary role wherein it drafted, proposed and passed resolutions for the Aldian Cooperative. These resolutions however were non-binding in nature as the Aldian Cooperative was an intergovernmental forum meant to promote peace, and cooperation amongst member nations. The Assembly of the Aldian Cooperative however was the only para-parliamentary body with a truly global membership as it consisted of elected parliamentarians from all nations of Aldia. Therefore it was chosen as the main body to be reformed into the modern Colonial Parliament.
Old Parliament
In the early days of the United Colonies, the Colonial Parliament had a unicameral chamber. Its role was to simply draft, propose and pass legislation from within Parliament itself and those proposed by the President. During this period of time many members of parliament also held commercial interests in the private sector, be it through direct ownership of certain companies, and in some cases: megacorporations, or they were lobbied by the owners of these private enterprises to push through their individual agendas. There was a lack of transparency and checks & balances within Parliament itself. Because of this corruption and corporate influence grew exponentially within the Parliament. By the 19th century corporate influence became rampant to the extent where the influence eventually reached the Vice President and several members of the Council of Ministers who were close advisors of President. At the same time, the colonies, especially the newly formed outer colonies, demanded better representation in the Colonial Parliament as they were not entitled to send any delegations to participate in the Colonial Parliament. By 1872 the Vice President and several members of the Council of Ministers and Colonial Parliament conspired to take advantage of the military conflict between the United Colonies and the secessionist Independent Systems Alliance to eliminate autonomy from the outer colonies and replace them with corporate enclaves.
The conspiracy required them to kidnap the President of the United Colonies and placed her under protective custody as they required her authorization to initiate military operations. The President's family was held hostage as leverage. However the Colonial Self-Defense Forces was able to eventually uncover the conspiracy and thwart the plans of the conspirators. The President and her family were freed, allowing the military to overthrow the pro-war government led by the Vice President and restore President and ended the war. The end of the Unsung War saw significant changes to the political establishment of the United Colonies. The Colonial Parliament was reformed as bicameral body, with an upper house known as the Colonial Senate established and a lower house: the Colonial Assembly. All laws and bills passed by the Assembly must be approved by the Senate. This system of checks and balances was created to reduce the power of a unicameral parliament as previously demonstrated during the Unsung War. Furthermore all colonies within the United Colonies was granted representation in both the Colonial Assembly and Senate.
Stability
After the reformations prompted at the end of the Unsung War, the Colonial Parliament began to gradually regain the trust of the public. The functions and authority of the Colonial Parliament today has remained more or less the same as they were after the reformations. With the establishment of new colonies, their delegations were added to the number of seats in parliament. From a historical perspective the Colonial Parliament has been controlled by one of the three major factions: the progressive Colonial Labor Party, the eco-centric United Greens and the Coalition. The latter being an alliance of center-right parties in the United Colonies: the Liberal Party of Aldia, and the Democrats. All three parties have had a time where they have been in power for more than thirty years. The Colonial Labor Party is both the current and longest serving party as the government of the United Colonies. It has been voted into government in all General Elections since 1982. The next election will take place on November 2022.
Rise of Colonialists
In recent times there has been a resurgence of colonial-autonomism, nationalism and right-wing populist movements in the outer colonies, collectively referred to as colonialists. Prior to 1950 these movements were divided into two main factions: the moderates and the revolutionaries. The moderates simply demanded both equal representation for the colonies in Parliament and greater autonomy for the outer colonies. On the other hand the revolutionaries demanded complete independence from the United Colonies. The moderates were wary of seceding from the United Colonies either through violence or diplomacy as they did not wish to lose the protection and economic benefits afforded to them by the United Colonies. This resulted in an internal power struggle between the colonialist parties. By 1950 the moderates emerged as the victors of this internal power struggle and formed the New Colonial Alliance, a united front that represented the interest of colonialist parties. The formation of the New Colonial Alliance alarmed the other major parties as they have been seen to be more aligned towards Aldia and the inner colonies. As a result, parliament has been split into four major factions: the Aldia and inner colonies-aligned government which consists of an alliance between a Labor government and the Greens, the opposition which generally consists of the Coalition who is also Aldia and inner colony-aligned, the New Colonial Alliance and the crossbenchers.
Organization and Electoral System
Senate
The Colonial Senate is the upper house of the Colonial Parliament and is vested with significant powers, its duty is to approve or reject legislation that has been approved by the Colonial Assembly. Its powers are almost equal to that of the Colonial Assembly, except that the Senate is not allowed to amend nor create new legislation. Ninety seven Senators serve in the Senate and every colony is given equal representation among themselves within the Senate regardless of population. This equal representation was established to ensure that the concerns and voices of all colonies and extra-solar territories are heard on equal and fair grounds in a centralized legislature. Each colony is assigned a total of four senators whereas Aldia has been designated with ten senators. All senators are also directly elected by voters. The Senate was not formed until the end of the Unsung War in 1874 where it was seen that an upper house within parliament that had the capability to become a balance of the powers of the Colonial Assembly, was seen as necessary. The Senate is elected once every ten years unless a double dissolution of the Senate has been triggered by the Political & Morale Commander of the United Colonies. All Senate sessions are led by the Speaker of the Colonial Senate who is a member of the ruling government party.
Originally, senators were elected with a winner-takes all voting system. Under this system no parties other than Labor, Greens and the Coalition has been able to shape national policy within the Senate. Since 1959 the single-transferable vote and proportional representation on a planet-by-planet basis became the standard method of voting to elect senators. This change led to the rise of a number of smaller minor parties who were unable to obtain any seats in the Colonial Assembly, but they had just enough votes to send one to five senators in the Senate. Many parties vie for a seat in the Senate as it was seen as a key place where national policies are either approved or rejected. Governments who have obtained a majority in the Assembly but fail to do so in the Senate can be frustrated when their legislation is blocked by a hostile Senate. This unique aspect of the Colonial Parliament has encouraged politicians to refrain from pursuing agendas that were deemed as extreme. This also allows the opposition, who may not have the numbers to challenge the government in the Colonial Assembly, to closely scrutinize the government as the opposition would most likely be able to face the government on equal footing in terms of numbers.
Assembly
The Colonial Assembly is the lower house of the Colonial Parliament consists of 520 members and is comprised of single member electorates with roughly the same population. The role of the Colonial Assembly is to propose, draft, approve, reject and amend legislation put forward by itself or the President. Unlike the parliaments of a pure Westminster model, the government may not always be the largest party in the Assembly. Instead, the government is determined by the President of the United Colonies. His or her party would then become the government. There are no mandates for governments to obtain a majority of the seats within Assembly in order for a new government to be formed. However it would be easier for the government to pass its legislation and policies if it had majority control of the votes in parliament. As a result some parties have formed alliances with one and another to secure these votes. Currently the Colonial Labor Party has enjoyed a majority government since it was elected into power in 1982.
Each colony has been assigned a total of eighteen seats in the colony, collectively however the colonies posses 360 seats in the Assembly whereas Aldia possess 130 seats. The remaining thirty seats are assigned to representatives of extra-solar territories. The Assembly is elected with an instant-runoff voting system whereas elections are held once every ten years. Originally elections in the United Colonies were held once every five years, this was seen as inefficient as many governments who were elected only set about to achieve short-term goals and advancements. An indicator of this would be that the amount of infrastructure projects initiated by the government after the extension of term limits were significantly higher than those before the extension.
Any piece of legislation introduced by either the President or Assembly itself must be debated and approved the the Assembly. Upon approval the legislation will be forwarded to the Senate where it will be scrutinized before it is approved and passed into law by the Senate. Should the legislation fail to be passed by the Senate it will be returned to the Assembly to be reviewed. If the Senate fails to pass a legislation twice the Speaker of the Assembly may recommend to the President of the United Colonies to invoke Article 4 of the Declaration of the United Colonies. Invoking Article 4 will allow the President of the United Colonies to simultaneously dissolve the Colonial Assembly and Senate and call for fresh elections. If the Senate still fails to pass the same bill after a double dissolution then the Speaker of the Colonial Assembly will inform the Political & Morale Commander of the United colonies of the situation. He or she will convene a special joint seating of both houses of Parliament where the legislation will be debated and either approved or rejected for the final time.
Major Parties
Labor
Main Article: Colonial Labor Party
The Colonial Labor Party, or simply referred to as Labor is oldest political party and one of the four major parties in the United Colonies. It is a progressive center-left party and social-democratic in nature. Its primary objectives are: maintenance of a healthy, competitive and non-monopolistic private sector, to ensure that the citizens of the United Colonies have access to key public goods and services, universal healthcare, promote social justice, reduce income inequality and the right to own private property and land. Generally speaking Labor is fiscally, socially & politically progressive. Labor formed the first government when the United Colonies was first established and was instrumental in ensuring control over certain goods and services that are deemed to be strategic in nature (infrastructure, banking arms manufacturing, communications), merit & demerit goods/services (water, electricity, healthcare, transportation legalized drugs, alcohol) and natural resources. These resources, goods & services are controlled by the state through State-Owned Enterprises. Labor is also responsible for the creation of Thermae Holdings, a sovereign wealth fund owned by the Government of the United Colonies which owns the majority shares of all State Owned Enterprises. Many government regulatory bodies were formed by Labor.
Labor has been in government sine the 1873 Presidential & Legislative Elections and, with the Greens as a partner in a governing coalition, has not failed to obtain a majority of the seats in both the Colonial Assembly & Senate. The President of the United Colonies; Irene Reinalda, is an independent politician who was supported and ran on the party platform of Labor in order to win the 2002 & 2012 Presidential Elections. Labor's policies has been primarily aimed towards the protection of the working-class population, provision of social welfare, services and education for lower-income populations, as well as infrastructure development. While Labor supports a free and competitive private market, it also believes that the private sector must be heavily regulated and monitored by the government. To this end Labor established the Financial Services Authority to monitor and patrol the country's banking & financial services sector. Labor was also the pioneer in the establishment of a universal healthcare system in the United Colonies. Medicare is the government's publicly funded universal healthcare system and is available for all citizens and permanent residents of the United Colonies. More often than not, Labor would cooperate with the Greens on certain key legislation, due to some of the mutual values and policies both parties uphold. Labor however has maintained an unfriendly attitude towards the Coalition and various other cross-benchers and is wary of the New Colonial Alliance. Labor however has often been seen as a balance between the anthropocentric and ecocentric approaches of the Coalition and the Greens respectively, allowing it to obtain a large voter base.
Greens
The Aldian Greens, more commonly known as The Greens is the second oldest and is generally the third largest party in the United Colonies. Its founding principles are to uphold: ecocentric approach towards development, ecological sustainability, non-violence, social justice, and grassroots democracy. They have been a part of the government coalition formed by Labor since the 1873 Legislative election. Like Labor, the Greens are fiscally, socially & politically progressive although the degree of progressiveness that the Greens posess can be considerably higher than that of Labor's. Due to some of their shared goals, the Greens would, more of than not, cooperate with the government to pass legislation. The Greens have been in government several times and left their legacy as well. The use of Hydrogen fuel cells in most if not all forms of terrestrial vehicles, the Renewable Energy act of 1888, the Green Belt Urban Development Policy and various other pieces of ecocentric legislation were the hallmarks of the Greens. The Greens are frequently at odds with the Coalition due to their opposite economic policies. While the Coalition upholds economic liberalism, the Greens are eco-socialists. The Greens believe that capitalism is the root cause of most major social problems faced by society such as poverty, income inequality, war and environmental degradation. The Greens has frequently attempted to nationalize several major private firms that goes beyond the mandate as set forth by even the Labor party.
Coalition
The Coalition is an alliance of three center-right parties composed of the Liberal Party, Democrats and Conservatives. It is the third oldest and is generally the second largest party in the United Colonies. It is the primary opponent of both Labor and the Greens. The Coalition is fiscally & socially conservative in nature and upholds the following values: a free market with minimal to no government intervention but with some regulation, privatization of public utilities, austerity, lowering of tax rates and an increased role of the government in governing the colonies. Due to its values the Coalition has found itself frequently at odds with all other parties in Parliament. It is especially hostile towards the Greens and the New Colonial Alliance as the Coalition as both parties upholds the opposite values than the Coalition. Like Labor and the Greens, the Coalition has been in government several times. One of their most remembered legacies is the reintroduction of the private sector in the United Colonies. Prior to the formation of the United Colonies, the planet Aldia and its colonies had just went through the Inteprlanetary War, a war where private companies attempted to establish the colonies as independent enclaves away from government influence. To do so these megacorporations were willing to wage war against governments and very nearly successfully do so. In the aftermath of the Interplanetary War, most if not all of the private sector was nationalized by the nations of the Aldian Cooperative. This nationalization continued on after the United Colonies was formed.
When the Coalition was first voted into power in 1721, there was an increased support among the population and Parliament for the re-establishment of the private sector. It had been a century since the Interplanetary War took place, the resentment, mistrust and hostility towards private enterprises had subsided substantially. The Coalition used this momentum and ran on a platform to reintroduce private enterprises but with extensive government regulatory agencies acting as oversight of the private sector. John Turnbull, the Presidential candidate supported by the Coalition and the party itself won the General Election of 1721 with a majority in the Colonial Parliament. Turnbull and the Coalition signed into law the "Laws & Regulations to Govern the Private Sector in the United Colonies" legislation, effectively legalizing the establishment of private enterprises. Thousands of previously government held companies were released from government control and returned to either private or public ownership. Originally the Coalition intended to privatize the entire market, however in order to garner support from Labor the Coalition did not privatize public utilities and other market sectors that were deemed to be strategic in nature. To this day these sectors remain firmly in government control or at least have been partially privatized.
New Colonial Alliance
"This union of independently governed worlds shall represent the voices and concerns of the nations of Aldia and her Colonies."- Third line of the Preamble of the United Colonies of Aldia.
The New Colonial Alliance (NCA) is an alliance of three major parties from the outer colonies whose ideologies are centered around colonial-republicanism. The New Colonial Alliance advocates for an increase in autonomy for the colonies and equal representation with Aldia within the Colonial Parliament. Currently all colonies are subject to abide by all legislation passed by the Colonial Parliament, even though each colony is given less seats than Aldia in Parliament. Each colony has been designated 18 seats whereas Aldia has been designated 130 seats. Collectively, the colonies control 360 seats in parliament, however the colonies are further divided into two: the Aldia-aligned inner colonies whose members are part of Labor, Greens, and the Coalition and the NCA_aligned outer colonies. The NCA currently controls 76 seats in the Colonial Assembly, and 15 seats in the Colonial Senate. The NCA consists of three parties: the Greater Colonial Autonomy (GCA), the Fair Trade Alliance (FTA), and the Independent League of the Colonies (ILC).
Originally before the NCA was formed, no political parties from the outer colonies have been able to gain a foothold in either the Assembly and Senate, nor was there any united front for the outer colonies to present themselves to voters. Parties from the outer colonies were commonly referred to as the colonialists. The colonialists were further handicapped as they were divided into two: the moderates who only demanded greater autonomy and equal representation, against the revolutionaries who demanded independence of the outer colonies through either diplomacy, or should diplomacy fail, through violence. The moderates did not wish to secede from the United Colonies as they determined that the outer colonies would no be able to become a strong independent nation should it break away from the protection and economic benefits afforded to them by being part of the United Colonies. Meanwhile the revolutionaries saw the United Colonies as an authoritarian and imperialist regime. An internal power struggle between the two factions ensued which involved sabotage, kidnapping and assassinations of prominent members of both the moderates and revolutionaries. In the end the moderates emerged victorious. The values and ideology of the New Colonial Alliance has been shaped by the moderates ever since.
Greater Colonial Autonomy
The Greater Colonial Autonomy (GCA) party is the largest colonialist party and serves as the current leader of the New Colonial Alliance in the Colonial Parliament. The GCA is a catch-all party for the outer colonies whose ideology has been loosely defined. On a general note the GCA advocates the same beliefs as the Labor Party except that it also puts forward the issue of equal representation for the outer colonies in the Colonial Parliament. The GCA has frequently pushed forward a motion to abolish Aldia's priveliged position in Parliament by reducing its number of seats and redistributing them to the colonies to the point where Aldia and the Colonies are granted the same number of seats in parliament. The GCA competes with other colonialist parties on the local and colonial level but cooperates with the Free Trade Alliance and the Independent League of the Colonies on the national level.
Fair Trade Alliance
The Fair Trade Alliance (FTA) is the second largest colonialist party and is a member of the New Colonial Alliance serving alongside the GCA party as a junior partner. The FTA is centered around the ideas of economic liberalism. Its primary goals include: the integration of all economic activity in the outer colonies, implementation of an added value tax on all raw minerals and materials exported to the inner colonies and for the transfer of control of key industries to the control of colonial authorities rather than private and Aldian entities.
Independent League of the Colonies
The Independent League of the Colonies (ILC) is the third largest colonialist party and is the youngest and most junior partner of the New Colonial Alliance. It is last remaining faction within the New Colonial Alliance to advocate for peaceful independence of the outer colonies from the United Colonies. The ILC is often considered as populist and conservative in nature. Several terror attacks that has occurred throughout the nation for the last five years has been associated with the ILC. There has been calls from both the public and within parliament for the New Colonial Alliance to remove the presence of the ILC from their group. To date, the ILC has maintained that these attacks were carried out by vigilantes, militants and extremist movements and does not represent the views of peaceful secession promoted by the ILC. An active criminal investigation is underway that involves several ILC members that has been linked with some terror attacks.
