House of Councillors (Ebenthal)

House of Councillors
*Câmara dos Conselheiros*
House of Councillors ; Câmara dos Conselheiros
4th Konkrëse
Type
Type	Lower House of the Konkrëse
Term limits	1 year
History
Founded	March 8, 2021
Leadership
Councillor Speaker	The Marquis of Grünhufe, PN
Deputy Speaker	Éric de Pádua, Independent
Leader of the Opposition	The Duke of Aureanburgh, ND
Structure
Seats	15
Political groups	Government (8): National Party (7); Independent (1); Opposition (7): New Democratic Party (7);
Elections
Voting system	First-past-the-post
Last election	12 October 2022
Next election	12 October 2023
Meeting place
	Raych Halle, Malmünd

The House of Councillors (Portuguese: Câmara dos Conselheiros) is the lower house of the Konkrëse, the parliament of Ebenthal. Membership is by free elections through universal suffrage and its members, often called Councillors, serves a 1-year term with unlimited possibility of re-election.

Tha House of Councillors does not have a fixed number of seats; each constituency elects one councilor for every ten permanent inhabitants. Currently the House has 15 seats. Its members can be both commoners and nobles, are encouraged but not necessarily required to affiliate with a political party, and are democratically elected by the first -past-the-post system. Under the Parliament Act 2023, the Prime Minister of Ebenthal is chosen from among those members of the party or coalition who have a majority in the lower house, although on rare occasions, if the government fails to come up with an acceptable nomination, the Prime Minister can be appointed from among the members of the upper house.

The House of Councillors's power to enact laws depends on the House of Aristocrats evaluation of the bills approved in the lower house, except in limited circunstances. Despite this, the house has autonomy to create bills and analyze projects proposed even by the monarch and to report to him, both by parliamentary audience and through the Prime Minister, whose position and cabinet depends on the confidence of the lower house.

Origin

The House of Councillors was inspired by the British House of Commons, although much more simplified and in parts similar to Brazil's formely monarchical Chamber of Deputies. Its name, however, was a challenge to be decided, as the lower house's officeholders's name title. The ideia of Councillor came following a deep study of other countries' parliaments and the similarity it evokes to the Portuguese councilmen and counselors, respectively members of a municipal chamber and to a privy council. The name, furthermore, coincides with that of the former Japanese House of Councillors, which served as a confirmation for the name's decision.

The creation of the house was proposed by Lady Gabriela Amorim, 1st Duchess of Frumar, through the Ebenthali Bicameral Act and the name was ventured by Lord Raphael Sousa, 1st Duke of Sternachten. The project of the lower house was approved exactly as proposed by the leader of the Worker's Party.

Functions

According the Constitution of Ebenthal's 6th ammendment, the Councillors exerce the exclusive functions of chose the Prime Minister, to call for a referendum and to cast a vote of no confidence to the ministerial cabinet, plus the common functions of deal with taxation and loans, trade and commerce (only regarding the Central Government), to deal with conciliation and arbitration when required, to legislate on matter regarding the country's institutions, infrastructure and rules, to legislate on currency, coinage, and legal tender, on immigration and citizenship, among other things.

Procedure

A legislative bill can be formally introduced by any member of both legislative houses, as well as by the Sovereign and the rulers of Ebenthal's provinces, although it is more commonly introduced by the parliamentary houses themselves. The Councillor Speaker read the proposed bill and puts it up to voting. If the proposed bill is approved, it is immediatly sent to the House of Aristocrats for their scrutiny; if they approve, it is sent to the King's cabinet for royal assent or veto. If the Aristocrats reject the Councillors bill, the bill is returned to the lower house and submitted to amends in order to be sent to the Aristocrats again (nonetheless the Aristocrats can amend a bill if they feel fit and submit it to the King's assent without the consent of the Councillors). If a bill fails, it may be debated and voted again in a next session; if it fails again, then the bill is shelved and can only be revived after a month.

Composition and seats

The House of Councillors is formed by an unspecified amount of members elected in proportional representation, that is, each province elects as many councilors as it has inhabitants. In Ebenthal, for every ten permanent residents, one councilor is elected (the same applies if the province has less than ten residents). The election takes place through the first-past-the-post system in which each citizen votes for only one candidate, and the candidate who receives the most votes wins. Members, often called Councillors of Members of the House of Councillors, represent constituencies corresponding to the country's provinces and their lenght of term is that of 1 year, with possibility of unlimited re-election. Members of the party or coalition with the most seats appoint the Prime Minister, who in turn appoints the Councillor Speaker, who in turn appoints the Deputy Speaker.

Members

Elected MP		Province	Took office	Seat #	Notes
Elected
The Duke of Aureanburgh	New Democrats	Minen	8 March 2021	1	Leader of the Opposition
Wellington Muniz	New Democrats	Malmünd	8 March 2021	2
Bernardo Barcelos	New Democrats	Eichenham	8 September 2021	3
The Marquis of Gehhilfe	New Democrats	Malmünd	12 October 2022	4
Rodrigo Falcão	New Democrats	Minen	12 October 2022	5
Daniel Vilela	New Democrats	Minen	12 October 2022	6
The Duke of Nëbensee	New Democrats	Malmünd	12 October 2022	7
Eric de Pádua	Independent	Eichenham	8 March 2021	8	Deputy Speaker
The Marquis of Grünhufe	National Party	Herrenwald	8 March 2021	9	Speaker of the House (Councillor Speaker)
Henri Sãens	National Party	Herrenwald	8 September 2021	10	Prime Minister
The Marquis of Braunau	National Party	New Switzerland	12 October 2022	11
Francisco Arrais	National Party	New Switzerland	8 March 2021	12
Gabriel Carvalho	National Party	Schwarzberg	12 October 2022	13
The Baron of Koehler	National Party	Nëbensee	8 March 2021	14
Guilherme Wünsch	National Party	Grünhufe	26 February 2023	15