Bok of Rai

Bok of Rai
Type
Type	Unicameral
History
Founded	30 June 2020 (2020-06-30)
Leadership
Monarch	H.R.H. Grand Duke Tarik
Speaker	Vacant since 2 January 2021
Seneschal	Vacant since 2 January 2021
Structure
Seats	1 bokág
Political groups	Batu Party (1)
Elections
Voting system	Party-list proportional Appointment by the Crown
Last election	27-29 June 2020
Next election	December 2020
Meeting place
Discord

The Bok of Rai (Sabian: baraibarakurobók; lit. "Grand Ducal Council") is the formal advisory body of the Grand Duchy of Rai, a federal state of the Abeldane Empire. The Bok is a unicameral body with no binding legislative powers; rather, as described by the Charter of Rai, it is a "consultative body [...] in the fashion of a council of deliberation, in order to channel [...] demands and advise the Grand Duke on matters of governance". By political convention, the chair of the Bok is the Seneschal, who leads the Grand Ducal government in the Rai monarch's name. The first and currently sitting Bok was constituted following the June 2020 federal election, in which all members of the Bok were elected.

Name

The word "Bok" comes from the Sabian language, officially the sole language of Rai (though by convention, the English language is the lingua franca of the Grand Duchy and the Abeldane Empire as a whole). The word means "council", "court" or "tribunal", and is also used by Sabioveronese courts of law and the Electoral Commission of Sabia and Verona.

Members of the Bok are known as bokág (plural bokagi, collective form bokar). The direct Sabian translation would be "councillor" or "councilmember", and it is formed by adding the agentive suffix -ág to the word bok.

Powers and structure

The powers of the Bok are outlined in the Charter of Rai, the Grand Duchy's constitutional document. According to the Charter, should the Grand Duke desire, "be it because of an increase in the number of citizens and therefore demands," a consultative body in the fashion of a council of deliberation may be created in order to channel these demands and advise the Grand Duke on matters of governance. Therefore, the Bok does not have any sort of binding legislative or executive authority, but rather, it serves the function of suggesting possible political decisions and adivising the Grand Duke in matters of all sorts.

The Grand Duke may decide how members of the Bok are to be selected, be it through elections among the populace, through direct appointment, or by a mixed system of both. The sitting Bok, elected in June 2020, was partially elected through universal suffrage using the party list proportional representation system in a single state-wide district, and an additional member was appointed by the Grand Duke. The Bok currently has a single seat, which belongs to the Batu Party (the sole existing party in the Grand Duchy).

Current composition

Elected bokág	Party		Took office	Notes
Luke Warren		Batu Party	24 July 2020	Appointed.