[[File:Cape father of the nation.png|thumb|330px|The grandiose [[Mausoleum of the National Father]], where Kalma’s remains are interred.]]
| name = Rektārkax Stanora
'''Melvyn Kalma’s cult of personality''' was and is still a major element of the politics of the [[the Cape|Federacy of the Cape]]. Although initiated by himself during the final years of his rule to cement his legacy as the first [[Chief of the Republic]] and [[Prime Executive]] of the Cape and the legacy of his [[Restarkism|reforms]], it was continued and popularized extensively by members of his own [[Republican Nationalist Party]] and the regime of the [[National Reclamation Government]]. It has been described as the “world’s longest-running {{wp|personality cult}}”.
| legislature =
| coa_pic = File:Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Board Building.jpg
| meeting_place = Stanora Hall<br>[[Kartika]], [[District of Coīnvra]]
| website = www.stanora[[.kr]]
}}
The '''Federal Stanora''' (Kiravic: ''Rektārkax Stanora'') is the {{wp|unicameral}} legislature of the [[Kiravian Federacy]].
==Overview==
Melvyn Kalma led the [[National Revolutionary Army]] in the [[Capetian War of Independence]] in the final years of the 19th century, defeating both [[Kiravia]] and [[Cartadania|Cartadanian]] [[Natalia]] to achieve Capetian independence by 1901.
Under his leadership as both first {{wp|head of state}} and {{wp|head of government}}, the modern Capetian republic, the Federacy of the Cape, was declared.
==Etymology==
Under his leadership as [[Prime Executive]], Kalma embarked on a variety of reforms, {{wp|Westernization|Occidentalizing}} the Cape, and laying the groundwork for [[Cape nationalism]] and the birth of a coherent national identity from the three ethnicities that composed the country. To these ends, Kalma {{wp|secularism|secularized}} the state, enacted a Western code of fundamental rights, instituted industrializing reforms, and promoted [[Cape Coscivian]] - a form of mutually intelligible creole popular in the southern Cape Peninsula - into a national language. Doing so, he is credited by many Capetians today for transforming the Cape into a modern {{wp|nation state}} governed as a {{wp|constitutional republic}}.
In ancient Peninsular Coscivia, the ''stanora'' was the name given to the location where citizens might gather to petition (''stan idaŭ'') the governing ''kirstuv'' ("{{wp|selectmen}}") of a village or city-state. This name derives from the word ''stan'', translatable as "advocacy", "testimony", "support", "endorsement", or "plea", and the derivational suffix ''-ora'', denoting a place for something. In the city-state of Era, the first permanent stanora was a firepit at the foot of Kaurkus Hill used to roast meat for certain ritual feasts. During this time, any citizen of Era could come to ''stan idaŭ'' before the ''kirstuv'', but as the state grew in size and population, this privilege was increasingly delegated (and eventually restricted) to "delegates" representing a particular clan, tribe, or other interest group. As time wore on, the location of the stanora moved to the acropole atop Ŭlyam Hill, and its purpose shifted from that of a forum to petition the ''kirstuv'' to that of a {{wp|deliberative assembly}}. By the time of the First Coscivian Empire, the Stanora had become a constitutional entity in its own right, with a political role beginning to resemble that of a legislature.
The framers of the Fundamental Statute of the Confederate Republics of Kirav originally titled the confederal legislature as the ''Xēmbra'' in earlier drafts of the document, but later changed it to ''Stanora'' in homage to the Stanora of the Coscivian Empire, as the term carried stronger connotations of authority and permanence.
Following his death he was honoured with a variety of titles by the Supreme National Assembly, including “the {{wp|Father of the Nation}}”, “{{wp|Pater Patriae|Father of the Fatherland}}”, “the Marshal”, and “the Great Teacher”. He is known simply in Capetian vernacular as ''Prezident'' - “the President”, held in contrast to the term ''Restarkima'', the modern term for the Capetian [[Chief of the Republic|presidency]]. He still holds the eternal chairmanship of his [[Republican Nationalist Party]].
In contemporary written {{wp|Ænglish}}, the term ''Stanora'' is increasingly left untranslated. However, the term "Kiravian Senate" is still commonly used, and "House of Delegates" can be found as well, usually in older sources. Delegate [[Vespasian Odrilaven]] ([[Levantian Union Party|LUP]]-[[Fariva]]), a fluent Ænglish speaker, has argued that a more etymologically correct and æsthetically pleasing translation would be the "House of Common Pleas", and has made efforts to popularise the term.
==Characteristics==
Kalma’s legacy remains arguably the central element of Capetian politics into the 21st century. Almost every Capetian city has streets named after him, a memorial in his honour, with statues and portraits found in city squares, classrooms, public offices, and Capetian embassies abroad. A large {{wp|mausoleum}} in his honour, the [[Mausoleum of the National Father]], sits above Cape Town, and the city of [[Kalmasar]], home to a majority of the Federacy’s ministries and its bureaucracy, bears his name.
==Powers==
===In society===
The Stanora is the supreme lawmaking body in the Federacy. Laws passed by the Stanora are inferior only to those set down in the Fundamental Statute and to [[Federal Consistory]] rulings on constitutional matters, and can overwrite executive orders and regulations issued by the Prime Executive, except military commands.
Although his cult of personality has been compared to that of [[Linge Chen]] in 21st century [[Corumm]], Kalma’s cult differs as it was largely constructed after his death and in honour of his progressive and democratic reforms. He remains immensely popular in the Capetian consciousness, with every government and military coup following his death invoking his memory and contributing to the cult.
===Finance===
Kiravian journalist V. X. Xoman remarked that:
The Stanora is traditionally understood as a fiscal body first and foremost. The Stanora raises revenue by levying taxes and duties, negotiates the federal budget, appropriates funds for specific purposes and programmes, and authorises borrowing.
<strike>The Federal Treasury is directly subordinate to the Stanora, and the Stanora appoints the Secretary of the Exchequer. Although the collection of taxes and enforcement of the tax code are carried out by the executive branch, all revenue is turned over to the Stanora. Nonetheless, in financial matters the Stanora is accountable to the [[Council of States]], which has the power to audit the Stanora and its agencies.</strike>
{{quote|quote=Thanks to him, every Capetian lives in a society that would have not existed without his effort. The legacy of his influence bears heavily on the nation. Sure, images of his face may appear in almost all official contexts from the headers of high-school exam papers to the largest banknotes - but they also appear spontaneously as fresheners hanging from car mirrors, in posters that adorn supermarkets, and in portraits that appear everywhere from private homes to the chicest of Cape Town cafes. }}
===Foreign Affairs===
===In politics===
The Stanora's influence on foreign policy is comparatively weak, the design of the Fundamental Statute and decades of standard procedure having assigned most powers relevant to foreign affairs to the Prime Executive. Nonetheless, the Stanora retains some constitutional powers over foreign policy, most prominently the authority to ratify treaties and declare war.
[[File:Ataturk Airport Karakas-1.jpg|thumb|250px|An aerial view of [[Cape Town]]’s [[Melvyn Kalma Airport]].]]
Kalma’s legacy has been invoked by every government since his death. Similar to the cult of the [[Marble Emperor]] in [[Kiravia]], Kalma’s name is used to lend legitimacy to state actions and ideologies that he, as a deceased person, could not possibly agree to. For example, his name was used by both the Communist insurgency of the 1990s and the government that opposed it; the former appealing to his ideations of worker-liberation and the latter appealing to his ideas of nationalism and unity.
==Political dynamics==
Constitutional amendments proposed in the Supreme National Assembly begin with “in the honour of great Kalma”, and the phrase “as decreed by the National Father” is used before the delivery of the {{wp|Miranda warning|Miranda rights}}.
==Administration==
Appeals to his authority (known colloquially as appeals to Kalma) are common in Capetian politics. In instrumental terms, his name has been used successively by military leaders to overthrow elected governments. In ceremonial terms, every military coup concludes with an address to Kalma, and addresses opening a new convocation of the [[National Stanera]] are delivered at his Mausoleum and occasionally addressed to him.
===Leadership===
After each general election, the Stanora holds an internal election during a plenary session to elect a Chancellor from among its number. The Chancellor is the presiding officer of the Stanora and wields important procedural powers that facilitate and expedite the passage of legislation. Unlike the heads of most national legislatures, the office of Chancellor is not created or recognised by the [[Fundamental Statute of the Kiravian Federacy|Kiravian constitution]]. Rather, it is an internal office created by the Stanora itself under the Ordering Conventions passed by the first Stanoral assembly in 20XXX, and could theoretically be abolished by a unanimous vote affirmed by the Prime Executive. The Chancellor is usually (but not always) the Chairman of the majority caucus (when one occurs) or the largest caucus of the leading coalition. Notable exceptions include [[Sārden Ēvūrverd]], who was Chairman of the majority SRA when he was elected Chancellor but later resigned the Chairmanship while remaining Chancellor for twelve years, and [[Mutassim Aldēbaran]] who was Chairman of the junior party in a [[lime coalition]] and elected Chancellor as part of the coalition agreement.
===Procedure===
===Kalma law===
===Committees===
Kalma’s legacy is protected under the 1951 [[Constitution of the Federacy of the Cape]], which declares illegal “insults towards his reforms, memory, and legacy”. Laws passed since have criminalized criticisms of his memory and are punishable with up to a year in prison and a fine of ₴100,000 Saers. In 2023, 14 people were charged under this law.
The majority of the Stanora's business is handled by a hierarchy of committees and subcommittees. Legislation submitted to the Clerk of the Stanora is referred to the lowest-level subcommittee most germane to its subject matter, and is then either rejected or passed up through multiple tiers of committees before being put before a plenary session.
==Calendar & Schedule==
==Sociological analysis==
The Stanora is a permanent, standing body that cannot be dissolved or prorogued. When not actively conducting business, the Stanora is said to be in recess, as it is during the several scheduled recesses planned throughout the three-year legislative cycle for holidays, constituency tending, and campaign seasons. When not in recess, the Stanora's affairs are structured according to an annual and weekly schedule that has evolved over time but is rarely deviated from except in response to unusual circumstances or to adjourn meetings early.
A variety of parallels have been drawn between his cult and that of Kiravia’s [[Marble Emperor]].
===Annual Schedule===
Coscivian nationalist historiography has asserted the “artificial” supplementation of the Marble Emperor with Melvyn Kalma in the consciousness of ethnically Coscivian Capetians by the Capetian state.
===Weekly Schedule===
==Political Groupings==
===Caucuses===
===Camps===
Unlike many other legislatures, which are formally divided into the government and the opposition, the Stanora's major political dividing line is not between the leading coalition and its putative opponents, but rather between the pro-administration and anti-administration "camps". The pro-administration camp is the grouping of caucuses and individual Delegates who support the incumbent [[Prime Executive of the Kiravian Federacy|Prime Executive]] and work with the executive branch to push forward a common agenda. The anti-administration camp (when one exists, see below), is the grouping of caucuses and individual members who band together to oppose the incumbent Prime Executive's policy direction. Both groups are informal and may fluctuate in membership over the course of a legislative season. Despite lacking formal procedural powers, the pro- and anti-administration camps are of greater consequence in the policymaking process than the Stanoral leadership: When the pro-administration camp commands a majority, there is a {{wp|unified government}}, generally resulting in more legislation being passed, a streamlined amendment process, and a larger domestic policy rôle for the Prime Executive. When an anti-administration camp commands the majority, the Prime Executive's domestic influence and the volume of legislation passed both contract, and contentious budgetary disputes are more likely to occur.
==Apparatus==
===Nonmember Officers===
*'''Recording Secretary''' - Responsible for Stanoral records, the recording and enumeration of votes, quorum calls, authentication of documents, and other such tasks.
*'''Permanent Secretary''' - Oversees the day-to-day operations and non-legislative business of the Stanora.
*'''Sergeant-at-Arms''' - Enforces Stanoral rules and procedures and commands the Stanoral Guard. By convention, Sergeants-at-Arms must be former noncommissioned officers in the Kiravian Army, honourably discharged above the rank of Corporal and below the rank of Sergeant-Major.
*'''Chaplain''' - Leads daily prayer services, delivers benedictions, and provides religious services to delegates. The Chaplaincy generally rotates between the nation's main Christian denominations - Coscivian Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and [[Insular Apostolic]] - and the Rurican, Komarist, and Læstorian faiths, though there has been one Methodist Chaplain.
*'''Porter''' - Manages the flow of people and materials in and out of the plenary chamber, accepts deliveries, provides alcoholic beverages to delegates during sessions, and adjusts lighting and temperature controls in the plenary chamber.
*'''Postmaster''' - Oversees postal delivery and mail screenings.
===Subordinate Agencies===
*'''Secretariat of the Exchequer''' - Manages the government's finances on the instructions of the Stanora.
**'''Treasury of the Kiravian Federacy''' - Receives, holds, and diburses the federal government's money, precious metals and stones, and financial instruments.
**'''Account Comptrol Bureau''' - Audits the executive branch and creates projections for government spending to inform fiscal policy.
*'''Kiravian Federal Mint''' - Mints the [[Kiravian saar]], auxilliary currencies, and bullion coins. Issues postage stamps.
*'''Stanoral Research Service''' - Conducts research and reports to the Stanora and its committees on subjects of interest, as requested by the Chancellor and committee chairs.
*'''Legislative Publishing Bureau''' - Prints and publishes the ''Compendium of Federal Statutes''; public copies of laws, bills, and resolutions; Stanoral records, calendars, and periodicals; and various internal materials.
*'''Stanoral Guard''' - Responsible for the physical security of the Stanora Hall and other Stanoral properties, Delegates, and their families. Under the command of the Sergeant-at-Arms.
Under his leadership as Prime Executive, Kalma embarked on a variety of reforms, Occidentalizing the Cape, and laying the groundwork for Cape nationalism and the birth of a coherent national identity from the three ethnicities that composed the country. To these ends, Kalma secularized the state, enacted a Western code of fundamental rights, instituted industrializing reforms, and promoted Cape Coscivian - a form of mutually intelligible creole popular in the southern Cape Peninsula - into a national language. Doing so, he is credited by many Capetians today for transforming the Cape into a modern nation state governed as a constitutional republic.
Following his death he was honoured with a variety of titles by the Supreme National Assembly, including “the Father of the Nation”, “Father of the Fatherland”, “the Marshal”, and “the Great Teacher”. He is known simply in Capetian vernacular as Prezident - “the President”, held in contrast to the term Restarkima, the modern term for the Capetian presidency. He still holds the eternal chairmanship of his Republican Nationalist Party.
Characteristics
Kalma’s legacy remains arguably the central element of Capetian politics into the 21st century. Almost every Capetian city has streets named after him, a memorial in his honour, with statues and portraits found in city squares, classrooms, public offices, and Capetian embassies abroad. A large mausoleum in his honour, the Mausoleum of the National Father, sits above Cape Town, and the city of Kalmasar, home to a majority of the Federacy’s ministries and its bureaucracy, bears his name.
In society
Although his cult of personality has been compared to that of Linge Chen in 21st century Corumm, Kalma’s cult differs as it was largely constructed after his death and in honour of his progressive and democratic reforms. He remains immensely popular in the Capetian consciousness, with every government and military coup following his death invoking his memory and contributing to the cult.
Kiravian journalist V. X. Xoman remarked that:
Thanks to him, every Capetian lives in a society that would have not existed without his effort. The legacy of his influence bears heavily on the nation. Sure, images of his face may appear in almost all official contexts from the headers of high-school exam papers to the largest banknotes - but they also appear spontaneously as fresheners hanging from car mirrors, in posters that adorn supermarkets, and in portraits that appear everywhere from private homes to the chicest of Cape Town cafes.
Kalma’s legacy has been invoked by every government since his death. Similar to the cult of the Marble Emperor in Kiravia, Kalma’s name is used to lend legitimacy to state actions and ideologies that he, as a deceased person, could not possibly agree to. For example, his name was used by both the Communist insurgency of the 1990s and the government that opposed it; the former appealing to his ideations of worker-liberation and the latter appealing to his ideas of nationalism and unity.
Constitutional amendments proposed in the Supreme National Assembly begin with “in the honour of great Kalma”, and the phrase “as decreed by the National Father” is used before the delivery of the Miranda rights.
Appeals to his authority (known colloquially as appeals to Kalma) are common in Capetian politics. In instrumental terms, his name has been used successively by military leaders to overthrow elected governments. In ceremonial terms, every military coup concludes with an address to Kalma, and addresses opening a new convocation of the National Stanera are delivered at his Mausoleum and occasionally addressed to him.
Kalma law
Kalma’s legacy is protected under the 1951 Constitution of the Federacy of the Cape, which declares illegal “insults towards his reforms, memory, and legacy”. Laws passed since have criminalized criticisms of his memory and are punishable with up to a year in prison and a fine of ₴100,000 Saers. In 2023, 14 people were charged under this law.
Sociological analysis
A variety of parallels have been drawn between his cult and that of Kiravia’s Marble Emperor.
Coscivian nationalist historiography has asserted the “artificial” supplementation of the Marble Emperor with Melvyn Kalma in the consciousness of ethnically Coscivian Capetians by the Capetian state.
