Parliament of Mespalia

The Parliament of Mespalia (Mespalian: Mechpælæn parlementte, Ovancian: Parlement de Mespalie) is the legislature of Mespalia. It consists of two chambers: the lower house is the 350-member General Assembly, whose members are democratically elected by Mespalians over the age of 21 using proportional representation, and the upper house is the Assembly of the Estates, whose membership consists of 50 bishops of the Church of Mespalia and 418 members of the Mespalian nobility. The two chambers are presided over by the President of the General Assembly and the Lord President of the Assembly of the Estates, respectively.

The Parliament in its present form has changed little over since its creation following the independence of Mespalia in 1804. Its bicameral system was originally a compromise between republicans and monarchists: the General Assembly with its universal suffrage was revolutionary at the time, but the hereditary element of the Assembly of the Estates acted as a counterweight to the radical democratic elements of the lower house. The few major changes include the electoral reform of the General Assembly in 1914 that changed the electoral system from to proportional representation, and a switch from perfect bicameralism to imperfect bicameralism in 1941. The reform or abolition of the Assembly of the Estates is regularly debated, but thus far it has not led to any action.

Both chambers of the Parliament meet in the National Palace in central Iouzzene. Deliberations of the both chambers of Parliament were done solely in Ovancian until 1874, when King Francis III made Mespalia an officially billingual state. Today, both Mespalian and Ovancian can be used and simultaneous translation to the other language is available though rarely used, as nearly all Mespalians are billingual.

Assembly of the Estates
The Assembly of the Estates (Mespalian: Etâttiencocouz, Ovancian: Assemblée des états) is the upper house of the Parliament. It consists of 50 bishops of the Church of Mespalia who are members of the Assembly, and 418 nobles, either knights who hold their seat for life, or hereditary nobles whose seat passes to their descendant upon death. As of 2020, 367 members are hereditary nobles and 51 are royal knights, or lifetime members appointed by the King. The number of seats in the Assembly is not fixed, as both the National Assembly or the King may ennoble individuals and grant knighthoods.

Despite being the upper chamber, the powers of the Assembly of the Estates are more limited compared to those of the General Assembly. Originally both chambers had equal rights, but in 1915 King Edward II called for a National Assembly to discuss limiting the rights of the Assembly of the Estates. The National Assembly agreed to the King's proposal and since then, the Assembly has not been able to pass votes of no confidence nor initiate budget bills.



General Assembly
The General Assembly (Mespalian: Ylæiscocouz, Ovancian: Assemblée générale) is the lower house of the Parliament. It consists of 350 deputies, who are chosen every year by the adult population over the age of 21 using closed-list proportional representation from 42 constituencies, each electing 5 to 12 representatives depending on the population of the constituency. General Assembly is stronger of the two houses of Parliament, as it has the sole power to suggest Ministers of State to the King and to initiate and budget bills.

Election
Members of the General Assenmbly are elected every four years, the most recent election taking place in 2019. The election takes place on the first Sunday of May, although early voting is now commonplace.

Every Mespalian aged 21 or over is eligible to vote or to stand as candidates, with the exception of those who have been convicted to lose their civic trust; these are usually convicted felons. Voter registration is automatic, and one must only present a valid ID such as driver's license or a passport at the polling station to vote. All registered parties and independent candidates who can gather 200 signatures can nominate candidates.

Representatives are elected from 42 constituencies that each elect between 5 and 12 representatives, depending on the population. Elections are conducted using an, meaning that voters get to determine which candidates are elected from the electoral list submitted by each party. Final results are calculated using the formula, that slightly favors smaller parties over the larger ones.

Committees
Parliament has 13 parliamentary committees. With the exception of the Grand Committee that consists of members from both houses, they are all further divided into separate subcommittees for both houses of Parliament. General Assembly subcommittees have 17 members each, while Assembly of the Estates subcommittees have 13 members. Subcommittees usually meet separately, except for rare cases when they meet in a joint session. This is usually avoided and the consolidation of bills from the two houses is handled by the Grand Committee.

Both houses have committees for Defense, Education and Culture, Environment and Agriculture, Finance, Foreign Affairs, Health and Social Affairs, Industry and Labour, Internal Affairs, Justice, Public Administration, Trade and Energy and Transport and Communications.