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The National Assembly of Castedilia (Latin: Conventus Nationalis Castraediliae; Pelaxian: Asamblea Nacional de Castedilia; Reform Tainean: Amasada Kasikasgau des Kastetilia) is the bicameral legislature of Castedilia, consisting of the Congress of the Peerage and the Congress of the Commons. Each assembly conducts legislative sessions at the National Assembly building located in Santa Maria in their own chambers.
Each house has its own regulations and rules of procedure. However, they may occasionally meet as a single house, the Bilateral Session, convened at the chamber of the Congress of the Commons, to revise and amend the Constitution of Castedilia.
Composition
The houses of the National Assembly are both elected under party-list proportional representation voting systems. This means that the seats to be filled in any given election for each party is determined by the percentage of voters who voted for said party; the main difference between the two houses is in how they are elected and the amount of seats they get. Voters are asked to vote for a party list. All citizens of Castedilia (Castedilian nationals at least 18 years of age) have to vote in these elections. The Constitution of Castedilia specifies that the Congress of the Commons must have 500 members, and that the Congress of the Peerage must have 286 members; 266 of which are Peers Temporal, and 20 of which are Peers Spiritual, the spiritual leaders of Castedilia who are selected by seniority. The Constitution also specifies the voting system, and the necessary qualifications of those who have to vote in elections alongside universal adult suffrage and a secret ballot and guarantees that all citizens have to vote.
Generally, the election of National Assembly members is dependent on the whims of the populace, political trends, and regional affiliations. This means that, for example, the Tainean-majority states of Castedilia generally either vote for the People's Democratic Party or the Democratic Farmers' Union depending on what side of the political spectrum they're on; whichever of the two parties wins the Tainean vote may vary from each election cycle. This also determines the amount of seats in the Congress of the Peerage each of these two parties may win in those states. As of the 2028 elections, the PDP currently holds a majority of the Tainean-majority states' seats in both the Commons and in the Peerage.
Candidates for both houses must by 18 years old or older, and be Castedilian citizens. Additional requirements for candidacy for the Congress of the Peerage is to either be a member of the peerage, or be granted "senatorial privileges" by the Emperor. The Constitution doesn't state the salary and perks of a member of the National Assembly, meaning that the salary and perks are determined by law. Currently, members of the National Assembly are paid about ₽21,262 a month in salary. Each lawmaker is entitled to employ three secretaries with taxpayer funds, free TAV tickets, and four round-trip plane tickets and eight ferry tickets a month to enable them to travel back and forth to their home districts.
Organisation and powers
The National Assembly meets for a single, nine-month session each year. Under special circumstances the monarch can call an additional session. While parliamentary power is relatively weak compared to other parliaments, the Congress of the Commons can still cause a privy council to fail if an absolute majority of the Commons vote for a motion of no confidence. As a result, the privy council normally is from the same ruling political party or coalition as the Commons and must be supported by a majority there to prevent a vote of no confidence.
However, the Emperor appoints the prime minister and the ministers, and is under no constitutional, mandatory obligation to make those appointments from the ranks of the parliamentary majority party; this is a safe-guard specifically introduced by Emperor Maximilian I himself, to preemptively prevent disarray and horse-trading; in practice the prime minister and ministers do come from the majority. The Emperor rather than the prime minister heads the Cabinet.
The privy council (or, when it sits in session every Wednesday, the cabinet) has a strong influence in shaping the agenda of the National Assembly. The privy council also can link its term to a legislative text which it proposes, and unless a motion of censure is introduced (within 24 hours after the proposal) and passed (within 48 hours of introduction – thus full procedures last at most 72 hours), the text is considered adopted without a vote. However, this procedure has been limited by the 2008 constitutional amendment. Legislative initiative rests with the Congress of the Commons.
Legislators enjoy parliamentary immunity. Both assemblies have committees that write reports on a variety of topics. If necessary, they can establish parliamentary enquiry commissions with broad investigative power. However, the latter possibility is almost never exercised, since the majority can reject a proposition by the opposition to create an investigation commission. Also, such a commission may only be created if it does not interfere with a judiciary investigation, meaning that in order to cancel its creation, one just needs to press charges on the topic concerned by the investigation commission. Since 2008, the opposition may impose the creation of an investigation commission once a year, even against the wishes of the majority. However, they still can't lead investigations if there is a judiciary case going on already (or started after the commission was formed).
History
The current National Assembly was established on 30 April 1996 after the Constitution of Castedilia was in effect. The new legislature did away with the Congress of the States, which was the upper house of the tricameral Estates Assembly which served as the legislature for the Delepasian Commonwealth; its functions were delegated to the Congress of the Peerage, and its composition would become the leadership of the new first-level divisions of the newly-federalised Castedilia.