Konkrëse

*Konkrëse*
Konkrëse
6th Konkrëse parliamentary session
Type
Type	Bicameral
Houses	House of Aristocrats; House of Councillors
Term limits	1 year
History
Founded	8 March 2021
Preceded by	College of Peers of the Realm
Leadership
Monarch	Arthur II
Lord President	The Baron of Sommerlath ; since 5 December 2022
President of the Councillors	Wellington Muniz, ND ; since 30 July 2023
Archchancellor	Victor Yang, MR ; since 15 August 2024
Leader of the Opposition	Henri Sãens, PN ; since 30 July 2023
Structure
Seats	Aristocrats: 10; Councillors: 20; (19 voting members; 1 non-voting member)
House of Aristocrats political groups	Non-partisan (10); (House members are required to be non-partisan in the exercise of their function)
House of Councillors political groups	Government (9): New Democrats (5); Movement (4); Opposition (7): National Party (7); Other groups (3): Republican Party (2); Independent (1); Non-voting delegate (1): Independent (1);
Elections
House of Aristocrats voting system	Appointment by the Monarch
House of Councillors voting system	Single non-transferable vote
House of Councillors last election	30 July 2024
House of Councillors next election	30 July 2025
Meeting place
	Saxenfurt

The Konkrëse (from Hunsrik: Congresso), often simply referred as The Parliament, is the supreme legislative body of the Kingdom of Ebenthal. As a bicameral legislature, its lower chamber is the House of Councillors, with elections for 19 multi-member contituencies held annually through proportional representation within the single non-transferable vote system, and its upper chamber is the House of Aristocrats, whose members are appointed at the Sovereign's discretion from among the nobility, are non-partisan, do not represent constituencies and their number is always half that of the Councillors. Members of both chambers serve renewable one-year terms. The political party or coalition that controls the majority of seats in the lower chamber chooses the national executive for the country, the Archchancellor. Although by convention the Archchancellor is also a member of the Councillors, there have been cases in which the Archchancellor has been chosen from among the Aristocrats. The Archchancellor and his Executive Council are thereby accountable to the parliament, so that their position depends on maintaining the confidence of the legislative chambers, otherwise they may be removed.

The Konrëse was innaugurated in 8 March 2021 replacing the country's former unicameral parliament, the College of Peers of the Realm, which had been active since the country's independence. Initially called Conclave, the College of Peers underwent a reformarion in October 2020 which culminated with its abolition and replacement.^[1] There is no limit to the number of parties that can act in Konkrëse, although since 2022 a de facto two-party system stands, with minor parties and independent politicians revolving around it. Since its establishment, Konkrëse has undergone two major reforms in order to give it greater representation and protagonism.

Etymology

The word Konkrëse comes from the Riograndenser Hunsrückisch, a Brazilian-originated German dialect, translating to "Congress", or "Congresso" in Portuguese. It is similar to he original German word "Kongress", but it actually evolved from the Portuguese word phonetics as a "germanization" (Brazilians spell the word konkrëse more similarly to the word congresso than to the word kongress, mainly because of the last vowel).

Legislative functions

The Konrëse perform powers on the legislative sphere. Primarily enacts laws and holds the government accountable. The enactment of laws occurs by public vote and requires a simple majority most of the time. However, some laws, such as constitutional amendments and the overturning of Royal Edicts—which are decrees granted by the Sovereign, require the approval of a double supermajority of both chambers or unanimous approval of the House of Councillors. As the Archchancellor of Ebenthal is drawn from the Konkrëse, his position and cabinet depend on parliamentary trust, mainly from the House of Councillors. Both chambers can introduce a motion of no confidence into the government, but only the Councillors can vote on it, and the Sovereign's royal assent is required unless a supermajority approves the motion. Furthermore, it is within the scope of Konkrëse's powers to authorize the government regarding the use of state finances, to ratify treaties and other types of international agreements, to deal with conciliation and arbitration when required and to create committees.

Procedure

A legislative bill (projeto de lei) can be formally introduced by any member of both chambers, as well as by the Sovereign, the Chiefs Executive and the Rulers of the Special Autonomous Regions, although it is more commonly introduced by the parliamentary chambers. However, only nobility and royalty can introduce bills in the House of Aristocrats. In either house, the presiding officer—the Aristocrat's Lord President and the Councillors' President—read the proposed bill and puts it up to voting by their respective chambers. If a bill is approved in the House of Aristocrats, it is immediatly sent to the Sovereign's appraisal; if it is approved in the House of Councillors, then it goes through the Aristocrats' scrutiny in which they vote on the bill—except if the bill has been approved by a supermajority, in which case it is sent directly to the Sovereign without going through the scrutiny of the Aristocrats. If it fails in the Aristocrats, the bill is returned to the Councilors to be amended following suggestions from the Aristocrats. If approved, it is sent to the Sovereign's appraisal. If a bill fails, in both chambers, it can be voted on again in the next session; if the second vote is approved, it follows normal procedures; if it is rejected again, the bill is shelved and can only be revived after a month.

Once approved in both chambers, the bill is sent for evaluation by the Sovereign, who uses his power of royal assent and veto at his own pleasure. By assenting to the bill, it becomes law and comes into force immediately. If a bill is approved by a double supermajority, that is, by three-quarters of the members of both parliamentary chambers, it automatically takes effect as law, without requiring the Sovereign's assent.

Relationship with the central government

The Ebenthaler government, that is, the executive, is answerable to the House of Councillors. However, neither the Archchancellors nor members of the government are elected by the House of Councillors. Instead, the King requests the person most likely to command the support of a majority in the House, normally the leader of the largest party in the House of Councillors, to form a government. So that the government may be accountable to the lower chamber, the Archchancellor is, by convention, a member of the House of Councillors. However, if there is no clear majority in the lower house or a person capable of commanding its confidence, as in the case of a minority government, the King may appoint as Archchancellor a member of the House of Aristocrats, who however, during his term in power, will answer in his executive functions to the House of Councillors.

Governments have a tendency to try and dominate the legislative functions of parliament, by using their in-built majority in the House of Councillors. In practice, however, the government's ability to pass legislation often depends on its alliance with smaller parties and independent politicians; if these support the opposition during the voting of bills, the opposition can potentially block a government bill, even if the government holds more seats in parliament than other groups individually. Unlike a typical Westminster-style parliament, the Konkrëse does not control the executive and cannot dismiss government ministers. However, parliament is empowered to question them and can block their actions.

Where a government has lost the confidence of the House of Councillors, in other words has lost the ability to secure the basic requirement of the authority of the House of Councillors, the Archchancellor is removed from power by the Sovereign, who then convey new general elections.

Composition

House of Aristocrats

The House of Aristocrats is made up of as many members as half the number of members of the House of Councilors. They are appointed at the Sovereign's discretion among the members of the nobility of Ebenthal to serve one-year terms. Unlike the lower chamber, members of the House of Aristocrats do not represent constituencies or political parties. If a member of the house dies or relinquish their title, provided that there is a willing heir, they assume the vacant position for the remainder of the term of office. The presiding officer of the House of Aristocrats, called Lord President, is appointed by the Sovereign from among the members of the house. In turn, the Lord President appoints his deputy, the Vice Lord President, often simply called Vice Lord. By convention, the Monarch appoints as Lord President a noble with ties to the majority party in the House of Councilors or after consultation with the Archchancellor.

House of Councillors

The House of Councillors is formed by an unspecified amount of members elected in proportional representation through universal suffrage. The proportionality system adopted in Ebenthal establishes the election of one member for every ten inhabitants. Administrative divisions that have less than 10 inhabitants also elect one member. 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 of the House of Councillors represent constituencies corresponding to the country's municipalities and special regions and may or may not be affiliated to political parties. They serve one-year terms, with unlimited possibility of re-elections. Members of the party or coalition with the most seats appoint the Archchancellor who, by convention, is a member of parliament, usually from the House of Councillors, but this is not a constitutional requirement and there have been cases where a member of the House of Aristocrats has taken the position. The Archchancellor, in turn, appoints the presiding officer of the house, the President of the House, who appoints its Vice President. From the enactment of the Ebenthaler Constitution of 2024, members of the nobility are barred from serving in the House of Councillors.

Parties

The table below lists parties currently represented in the Konkrëse.

Name			Ideologies	Leader	Current seats
Name			Ideologies	Leader
	PN	National Party Partido Nacional	Conservatism	Francisco Arrais	7 / 19
	ND	New Democrats Novos Democratas	Centrism	The Duchess of Guterfolg	5 / 19
	PR	Republican Party Partido Republicano	Republicanism	Alessandro Rosas	2 / 19
	MR	Movement for the Representation of Foreign Minority Movimento pela Representação da Minoria Estrangeira	Non-Brazilian minority interests	Lukas Degermark	4 / 19

Seats

Aristocrats

Appointed MP		State	Took office	Seat #	Notes
Appointed
The Marquis of Rozandir	Non-partisan	Ebenthal	2 February 2020	1	Lord President
The Prince of Soussen	Non-partisan	Ebenthal	22 January 2023	2
The Baron of Sommerlath	Non-partisan	Ebenthal	22 January 2024	3
The Marquis of Braunau	Non-partisan	Ebenthal	22 January 2024	4
The Marquis of Amsee	Non-partisan	Ebenthal	22 January 2024	5
The Duchess of Guterfolg	Non-partisan	Ebenthal	31 December 2019	6
The Countess of Barcelos	Non-partisan	Ebenthal	10 March 2021	7
The Count of Aldringen	Non-partisan	Ebenthal	14 August 2022	8
The Baron of Telesia	Non-partisan	Ebenthal	22 January 2024	9
vacant	Non-partisan	Ebenthal	TBD	10

Councillors

Elected MP		Province	Took office	Seat #	Notes
Elected
Matheus Bhering	Movement	Bhering	31 July 2024	1
Marcos Sampaio	Movement	Brückenau	31 July 2024	2
Victor Yang	Movement	Erzfelsen	31 July 2024	3	ex officio Archchancellor
Edgar Oliveira	National Party	Erzfelsen	5 May 2024	4
Diego Leão	National Party	Erzfelsen	31 July 2024	5
Bernardo Barcelos	New Democrats	Grafenwoehr	8 September 2021	6
Eric de Pádua	National Party	Grafenwoehr	8 March 2021	7
Gabriel Vitorino	New Democrats	Grünhufe	5 May 2024	8
Henri Sãens	National Party	Lehen	8 September 2021	9	Leader of the Opposition
Alessandro Rosas	Republican	Lehen	22 January 2024	10
Gabriel Carvalho	National Party	Lüttenhausen	12 October 2022	11
Lucas Calixto	National Party	New Switzerland	5 May 2024	12
Francisco Arrais	National Party	New Switzerland	8 March 2021	13
Bruno Assaf	Republican	Rotenberg	31 July 2024	14
Wellington Muniz	New Democrats	Saxenfurt	8 March 2021	15	President of the House
Daniel Vilela	New Democrats	Saxenfurt	12 October 2022	16
Átila Carvalho	New Democrats	Saxenfurt	5 May 2024	17
Thomas Szot	Independent	Zwölflinden	31 July 2024	18
Oskar Andersen	Movement	Degermark	30 July 2023	19
Non-voting delegate
José Peña	Independent	Süden-Süden	5 May 2024	20