Senate of Sanctaria
Federal Senate of Sanctaria | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | Upper house of the Parliament of Sanctaria |
| History | |
| Founded | November 19, 1974 |
| Leadership | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 40 (21 needed for a majority) |
 | |
Political groups |
|
| Elections | |
| PR-STV | |
Last election | 17 January 2020 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| Federal Senate Chamber Parliament House Sanctus, Sanctaria | |
The Federal Senate of Sanctaria, more commonly known as simply the Senate, is a component of the Parliament of Sanctaria, along with the President and the House of Deputies. The Senate has met in the Senate chamber in Parliament House since moving there from St. George's Palace in 2012.
The Senate is a democratically elected body whose members are known as Senators. There are 40 members in the current parliament, that number having been reduced from 100 in the first senate election following federalisation in 2019. Members are elected via proportional representation by way of the single transferable vote in each of the country's states, plus one constituency for Sanctarian citizens living abroad, commonly called the expatriate constituency. Senators may hold office until the Senate is dissolved and serve for constitutionally limited terms of up to seven years after an election, though any Senator may stand for re-election and there is no bar on the amount of terms one serves for.
The Senate was established in 1974, following the disestablishment of the Papal States of Sanctaria. The upper of the two houses making up the parliament, the Senate in practice holds a little less power than the lower house, the House of Deputies, in that a major responsibility for the House is to elect the Chancellor and keep the government to account. The Chancellor stays in office only so long as they retain the support, or "confidence", of the lower house. The Senate however is responsible for approving the Chancellor's nominations to cabinet, the judiciary, and the foreign service.
History[edit | edit source]
The Senate came into existence in 1974 when the Patriarch of the Church of Sanctaria, Aequitas IV, announced that the Papal States of Sanctaria would be disestablished on his death, that the Church of Sanctaria would renounce all temporal power, and that each former constituent state of the Papal States would become independent countries. For what would become Sanctaria, Aequitas IV had a constitution drawn up and put to the people in early 1974 - this referendum passed and formally created the Senate. Senators were not originally directly elected, and were appointed instead. When Aequitas died on 19 November 1974, those nominated for appointment a few months previous were deemed to have taken their seats.
The new constitution also established a House of Deputies, and stipulated that the President, the new office of Head of State, would also formally form part of the Parliament of Sanctaria as their duties included signing all legislation into law.
Senators were not originally directly elected, and instead were elected by members of the House of Deputies. It originally was a very weak body, designed only to rubber-stamp and fine-tune legislation coming from the House of Deputies. Successive governments gave the Senate more power, but it is still limited today in that it cannot propose money bills though it can still amend, approve, and (except for the annual budget) reject those coming from the House.
From 1974 until 2012, the Senate met in the Senate Chamber in St. George's Palace in Sanctus. However as the number of MPs and Senators continued to grow, St. George's Palace soon became too small for their needs. A new purpose built parliament building was constructed in Temple Park near the center of Sanctus. Both the House of Deputies and the Senate moved there in 2012.
Composition[edit | edit source]
The Senate currently has 40 members; this number was reduced from 100 post federalisation in 2020. Members are directly elected at least once in every seven years by the people of Sanctaria under a system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote, commonly called PR-STV. Membership of the Senate is open to Sanctarian citizens who are 25 or older. A member of the Senate is also sometimes known as a Senator.
The electorate for the Senate consists of Sanctarian citizens over 18 years of age who are registered to vote. Until 2013, the constitution mandated compulsory voting, though this was never strictly enforced. Citizens are automatically placed on the register on their eighteenth birthday. Each Sanctarian state returns four senators, with the final four senators being returned by an electorate consisting of Sanctarian citizens resident abroad.
Current composition[edit | edit source]
| Party | Seats | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Left Party | 14 | |
| Sanctarian Conservative Party | 10 | |
| New Sanctaria Party | 4 | |
| Green Party | 7 | |
| Christian Union Party | 2 | |
| Independent | 3 | |
No single party currently controls a majority in the Senate; after the 2020 Senate election, the Green Party agreed to support the Democratic Left Party on a motion re-electing the Moderator, and on motions relating to the DLP being approved as the majority party in the Senate, thereby controlling the body's business.
Speaker[edit | edit source]
The chairman, or presiding member, of the Senate is the Moderator. The Moderator is chosen from among Senators but is expected to observe strict impartiality while in the chair. Despite this, the government will usually try to select one of its own for the position, if its numbers allow, and the Moderator is permitted to vote as usual - in the event of a tie, the motion at vote is deemed to have failed. The current serving Moderator is Seth Leveson, a member of the Democratic Left Party, who was elected to the position on 25 January 2013, and re-elected on 27 January 2020.
Procedure and powers[edit | edit source]
In principle, the Senate is only one of three components of the Parliament, the others being the House of Deputies and the President of Sanctaria. In practice however, traditionally, the Senate has been less powerful than the other branches. Though this has been equalised since 2013 with more powers given to the Senate, there are still some powers that are exclusive to the House of Deputies:
- Nominate, and approve, the Chancellor
- Approve the budget
- Initiate money bills
Powers reserved to the Senate, however, include:
- Approving nominees, other than the Chancellor, to the Government of Sanctaria
- Approving nominees to the foreign service, i.e Ambassadors
- Approving nominees to the judicial branch
The Senate also has the power to, by majority vote, request the President to convene a Committee of Privileges to solve a dispute between the two Houses as to whether or not a bill is a money bill, as a money bill may not be initiated in the Senate.
Since 2013, the Senate has been able to veto bills passed by the House. The only exception is the budget which is sent to the Senate to review, but must ultimately be passed back to the House with "suggested corrections" for approval.
The voting procedure in the Senate consists of the Moderator, or a designated deputy, first putting the question in asking the Senators present to say Aye or Nay if they agree or disagree with the question or motion before them. The Moderator then gives his/her opinion as to the outcome of the voice vote. Senators can challenge the decision of the Moderator, and demand a recorded vote by declaring Vote!; the Moderator then calls Recorded Vote! and directs for the vision bells to ring. The bells ring for ten minutes to allow Senators to return to the chamber if they are elsewhere in Parliament House. Once the bells have stopped ringing, the doors to the Senate chamber are locked.
The Moderator appoints four tellers, two for each side, and Senators are given two minutes to vote. The vote is taken by electronic means whereby Senators press either the Aye, Nay, or Abstain button on their desk. After the voting time has ended, a Division Paper is produced containing the result and is signed by the tellers. The Moderator announces the result.
A manual vote can be called by one of the tellers or by a leader of one of the parties or groups in the Senator. By tradition, the final vote to approve the budget, as well as the vote to approve the nomination for Moderator, is done via manual means. A manual vote involves each member walking through either the Aye lobby or Nay lobby and signing their name to a Division Paper. Members wishing to abstain must remain in their seats in the Senate chamber.
Committees[edit | edit source]
The Parliament of Sanctaria uses committees for a variety of purposes. Committees consider bills in detail and may make amendments. Committees may also scrutinise Government agencies and departments. The Senate has several select committees, each of which tends to have responsibility for a particular area of government. There are also several standing committees, which tend to concern themselves with more administrative matters of the Senate and its members rather than the consideration of legislation or government oversight.
Standing committees[edit | edit source]
- Committee on Administration
- Committee on Ethics and Members' Interests
- Committee on Procedure and Privileges
- Committee on House Business
Select committees[edit | edit source]
- Select committee on Agriculture & Rural Affairs
- Select committee on Business, Industry, & Trade
- Select sub-committee on International Trade
- Select committee on Climate Change & the Environment
- Select sub-committee on Climate Change
- Select committee on Culture, the Arts, & Heritage
- Select sub-committee on Sport
- Select committee on Devolution & Governmental Affairs
- Select sub-committee on Federalisation
- Select sub-committee on Petitions
- Select committee on Education
- Select committee on Energy, Renewable, & Natural Resources
- Select sub-committee on Nuclear Activities
- Select committee on Equality & Minority Affairs
- Select committee on Families & Youth Affairs
- Select sub-committee on Children
- Select committee on Foreign Affairs
- Select committee on Health
- Select committee on Homeland Security
- Select sub-committee on Defence Forces
- Select sub-committee on Intelligence
- Select committee on Infrastructure
- Select sub-committee on Housing
- Select sub-committee on Transport
- Select committee on Justice
- Select committee on Labour & Employment
- Select committee on Science, Innovation, & Technology
- Select sub-committee on Space
- Select committee on Social Welfare
- Select committee on the Treasury
- Select sub-committee on Public Accounts
- Select committee on World Assembly Affairs