St.Charlian Parliament

St.Charlian Parliament Parlamento St.Charliano
VII Legislature
Type
Type	Unicameral legislature
Houses	General Assembly (Assemblea Generale) Local Assemblies (Assemblee Locali)
Leadership
President of the Parliament	Leonard Von Sternberg, S since January 2014
Majority Leader	Alex Specter, S since January 2013
Opposition Leader	Athlon Strauss, N since January 2015
Structure
Seats	10 MPs (Parlamentari/Deputati)
Parliament political groups	New Socialist Party (6)   National Party (4)
Elections
Parliament voting system	Mixed-member proportional representation
Parliament last election	6 January 2015
Meeting place
Assemblea Generale St.Charliana (official) Various online venues
Website
None

The St.Charlian Parliament (Italian: Parlamento St.Charliano) was the main legislative body and national assembly of the Federal Republic of St.Charlie. Initially established as a unicameral legislature, it was composed of the national diet, knowned as the General Assembly (Italian:Assemblea Generale), and also all the other federal legislative bodies, known as Local Assemblies (Assemblee Locali).

According to the St.Charlian Constitution, "the deputies to the St.Charlian Parliament were elected in free, equal and secret elections. They were representatives of the whole people, and are not bound by orders and instructions".

The Ist Legislature kept its functions even after the Branson Act 2009, although other political parties were admitted during that period. It lasted until September 2009, when the entrance of Tor Pendente and Caroline Charlotte, the nomination of a new SCSM Vice-Secretary, and the suspected inactivity of several members of the Parliament, leaded to the dismissal of the Parliament and legislative elections.

The Parliament was established by the Movement for St.Charlian Liberation on November 23, 2008.

Powers and Duties

General Assembly

While local assemblies were recognised as part of the St.Charlian Parliament, only the General Assembly remained the legislative branch of the St.Charlian political system.

Although most legislation was initiated by the government, the General Assembly considered the legislative function its most important responsibility, concentrating much of its energy on assessing and amending the government's legislative program. With a majority of two-thirds, the Assembly also had the authority to amend the Constitution. Plenary sessions and Forum sections provided a meeting point for members to engage in public debate on legislative issues before them but they tended to be well attended only when significant legislation was being considered. In most cases, however, MPs tended to discuss matters in person or through Skype.

Not all of the members of the General Assembly were directly elected by the public. While the Governors were brought in through the federal elections, Junior Members were nominated by the parties. In turn, the General Assembly elected its President.

The General Assembly's main power remained the capability of checking the activity of the executive power through binding legislation. Opposition parties were active in exercising the parliamentary right to scrutinize government actions. In addition to these key powers, the constitution granted to the Assembly extensive legislative powers, the right to authorize the government to raise taxes and grant loans, and the duty to approve or reject decisions by the Federal President to declare war and make peace. The General Assembly however, had a low power on ratifying treaties and other kinds of international agreements which was the occupation of the Ambassadorial Council but it could oppose diplomatic relations with a certain micronation if more than 75% of dissent was acquired. The assembly also appointed members of state institutions such as the President of the Federal Republic every two years and voted for the recipients of the Order of the Blue Star.

Structures

General Assembly

The General Assembly consisted of 11 members. Until the General Elections of 2012, the MPs were divided between the leadership of both the National and Socialist Party, and the elected leaders of each federation. Furthermore, the leader of the opposition, who lost the election, ended up being elected as Speaker. With the arrival, however, of the Green Party and the unexpected low percentage of votes of the Socialist Party, the composition of the General Assembly has changed.

There were three types of assemblymen:

• Presidents (or Governors): leaders of a St.Charlian Federation who were been elected by their citizens in the federal elections. They also serve as Speakers of their Local Assembly.
• Party leaders: secretaries of a political party who were entitled to sit in the Assembly as representatives of their movement. At least 15% of the national votes was required to earn a seat. Therefore, in order to have both the Secretary, and Vice-Secretary of a party in the Assembly, 30% of the votes was required.
• Junior Members: members who were entitled by their political party to sit in the Assembly. The amount of seats available for junior members depended on the percentage gained during the General Elections.

According to the St.Charlian Parliament, members of the Assembly represented the constituency from which they were elected but principally voted in accordance with the political movement from which they came. The President, or Speaker, of the General Assembly was the third most senior figure in St.Charlie and was usually nominated by the winning party of the elections, until November 2009, when such right was handed over to the Assembly itself. The President of the St.Charlian Parliament was thereafter elected by the MPs at the first legislative session of the General Assembly.

The last President of the St.Charlian Parliament was Valentina Marchesi, National Party, elected in January 2012.

Timeline of Presidents of the St.Charlian Parliament

	Name	Home state	Term began	Term ended	Allegiance
1.	James Lunam	District	23 November 2008	5 January 2009	National Party of St.Charlie
2.	Sumaya Ilmi Guled	Greater Ridgeway	5 January 2009	24 January 2010	National Party of St.Charlie
3.	Magnus De Armis	New Branson	24 January 2010	7 January 2011	New Socialist Party
4.	Alexander Reinhardt	New Branson	7 January 2011	20 January 2012	National Party of St.Charlie
5.	Valentina Marchesi	Tor Pendente	20 January 2012	17 January 2013	National Party of St.Charlie
6.	Alice Gautier	Tor Pendente	17 January 2013	20 January 2014	New Socialist Party
7.	Lorenzo Zoni	Atlantis	20 January 2014	8 February 2015	New Socialist Party
8.	Leonard Von Sternberg	Caroline Charlotte	8 February 2015	Incumbent	New Socialist Party

Local Assembly

By St.Charlian laws, a Local Assembly was a generic term referring to the unicameral legislature for a constitutive federal state. The formal name and the structure varied from federation to federation.

Members of the General Assembly

	Name	Home state	Term began	Legislature	Allegiance
1.	Alvisi, Nicolò	Tor Pendente	November 1, 2009	II; III; IV; V; VI	New Socialist Party
2.	Beninati, Flavio	Atlantis	January 10, 2013	V; VI	New Socialist Party
3.	Gautier, Alice	Tor Pendente	January 10, 2010	V; VI	New Socialist Party
4.	Mejakhansk, Marka	Greater Ridgeway	January 8, 2014	VI	National Party
5.	Papadopoulos, Nikolas	Greater Ridgeway	January 8, 2014	VI	National Party
6.	Portes, Luiza	Koss	June 6, 2012	IV; V; VI	National Party
7.	Specter, Alex	Atlantis	July 19, 2012	IV; V; VI	New Socialist Party
8.	Strauss, Athlon	Tor Pendente	January 8, 2014	VI	National Party
9.	Von Sternberg, Leonard	Caroline Charlotte	January 7, 2011	III; IV; V; VI	New Socialist Party
10.	Zoni, Lorenzo	Atlantis	January 8, 2014	VI	New Socialist Party

See also

• Politics of St.Charlie
• Ambassadorial Council
• Assembly of Koss
• Atlantis Assembly