National Assembly of the Republic of the Fhainn

The National Assembly of the Republic of the Fhainn is the national-level legislative body of the Republic of the Fhainn and its largest wing of upper government by elected membership. Founded in 1906 as a replacement of the Royal Senate of the Kingdom of the Fhainn, it is composed in a tricameral structure typically categorized as having two lower houses and one upper house outside of Faneria, while internally it is considered to have a lower, middle, and upper chamber, each with distinct electoral traditions and legal powers.

Chambers of the Assembly have individual powers which increase during a joint session, most particularly for the Peoples' and Party Assemblies, which in theory represent both local interests and the overall political consensus respectively. While the Taesteach, the head of government of Faneria, heads the National Assembly and the State Council, the lower houses may also hold a session without the Taesteach present with more limited powers to pass laws but their combined powers to impeach and demand Auditing actions from the National Audit Council intact.

While the National Assembly has distinct sessions, the legal wording behind its portion of the National Constitution means that the Assembly is considered to be permanently in session as a means of preventing some avenues of executive meddling in the legislature as was common in the Royal Senate. =History= =Structure= The National Assembly is composed of three houses: the Peoples' Council, the Party Council, and the State Council. Each is progressively smaller than the last and has different powers; the lower houses have the authority to propose bills and possess various veto and legal powers, while the State Council passes bills into law. The State Council also performs informal functions vital to the running of the state.

When hosting a joint session, only the Peoples' and Party Councils are required; attendance of the State Council is voluntary but customary, as the lower two houses have greater legal power during a joint session. During such a joint session, however, the Taesteach, who normally heads the State Council, will head the entirety of the Assembly, with the other Council speakers assisting.

Election and Terms
The Peoples' Council is composed of one Assemblyman per county, with voting previously done via a simple vote transitioning to a  system as of October 2026. Each term consists of three years in office, with a maximum of three terms per Assemblyman. Due to its nature as the main locality-based representation in national government, it is the only elected position in national government that native or naturalized residents may vote on without citizenship.

While party figures typically win, there is little to directly hinder a write-in candidate or a private citizen from running and being elected. This has resulted in one case of a small shrub being elected to office for an electorate in Connsmonann from 2004-07, which was humored by the government, which considered it a forfeiture of the electorate's representation. The bush died in 2007 before the next routine election and was replaced by a snap election.

Legal Powers
The Peoples' Council may propose bills and motions, veto bills and motions of the Party Council by a 3/4 vote, call for an Audit of a law by a simple majority vote or an executive order by a 3/4 vote, and request specific budget amendments by a 2/3 vote. It may vote to impeach a Minister by a 3/4 vote, which is one of the few circumventions of the Audit Council available to the legislature.

Political History
- brawls common

- uses legislature courtyard sometimes

- most often the most chaotic and 'battlefield' house in the Assembly

Election and Terms
Party Council Assemblymen are selected through a method, and are based on the number of registered citizens across the country. Total votes are tallied by party, and the relevant party organizations are given a certain number of seats to fill at the party's discretion based on their portion of the nationwide vote pool. There is roughly one Assemblyman in the Party Council per million registered citizens, and the term is five years, with a maximum of two terms.

Legal Powers
The Party Council, like the Peoples' Council, may propose bills and motions. It also has the power to veto motions of the Peoples' Council by a simple majority vote. The Party and People's Councils have the power to veto executive orders made by the Director of the Republic with a collective 3/4 vote, and failing that majority, force an Audit of the order if a 2/3 majority is achieved. This does mean that the Peoples' Council has more power in such a situation. Uniquely to the Party Council, it may propose an entirely alternative budget if the NAC and Director cannot agree on a budget for the year as well as suggesting budget amendments.

Appointment and Terms
The State Council is a board of the twelve most powerful people in Faneria's government other than its executive - the Taesteach, the two Speakers of the Councils, one representative from the Audit Board, and the head of each of the eight offices of the government. This structure means that elections and terms as normally imagined do not apply to the State Council, but instead are conferred naturally with its constituent positions, and the Council's makeup changes as the Speakers and Ministers do. The State Council is headed by the Taesteach.

Legal Powers
The State Council approves bills passed by the lower houses of the Assembly; as it has ten members, the Audit Council member has the tiebreaking vote. Passing a law through the SC is a simple majority vote. Just as important is the SC's informal role as a forum for communication between the Director of the Republic and the major figures of the Assembly and the Administration, since it effectively forms a 'small council'. As a result, meetings are frequently attended by other ministers, and are used as a forum for establishing clear goals and programs between all four branches of government. The SC may propose an impeachment of a sitting Director by an 8/10 vote, after which a simple majority vote in the joint Party and Peoples' Councils will confirm or reject the impeachment.

Political History
=Notes= ''ICly because the lower house enjoys the media value of having to have full meetings outside since their wing is crammed, because it's the traditional building, and because the Starkists don't want to let the Futurists get their way and have a new building while they're ascendant, because they have the upper hand with the Nat Reps and the Confeds on their side for the actual design. The Futurists want a building that fuses traditional architectural looks with a wider and more modern layout, while the Starkists want a more neoclassical look.

The historic legislative building of the Fhainnin gov't is similar in layout to a basilica church; however, there's no proper internal layout taken from Latin or church design. One of the 'cross' wings is missing and there are walled pavilions out on the opposite side, making the site rectangular from a bird's eye view. The remaining three wings are, clockwise, 2:1:1 around a central segment with a short tower. The long wing hosts one of the lower houses, the shorter one opposite it the upper house. The remaining lower house congregates outdoors as a relic of the farcical monarchy-era legislature, but all three houses cram into the larger wing for joint sessions, though those are uncommon and reserved for crises. The walls around the outdoor area are part of security measures added to minimize the risk of attack. The remaining wing perpendicular to the others is administrative offices and staff rooms, etc; the central area with the tower is a hall space for tourists, mingling, and photo ops, that sort of thing. Most of the real work is done outside the building, but it serves as a monument of the 1906 revolution. There is an office right across the road on the backside of the building that houses most of the paperwork and support functions for the Councils. Plans for an expansion by adding another hub section and more wings were approved in 2020 but hasn't begun yet because both of the indoor houses refuse to be the ones to lose out on their space for the time being and the outdoor house lose their minds when the 'open republic' concept is threatened by adding it onto the third wing, enclosing their space. This is generally for show, as mostly meeting in the building is for smiles, stamps, and procedure since the two lower houses generally conference and meet elsewhere anyway, as their areas are a bit cramped. The outdoors house in particular also meet often in a nearby city park, which required a second park to be built right next to it in 2012 because they got in the way of the general citizenry and kept blocking one of the roads. ''