Unified Razyn Republic

Government and Politics
The Unified Razyn Republic is a constitutional unitary republic. The system of government is defined in three documents - the Articles of National Unification, the Charter of Rights, and the Code of Order - which together are called the Constitution.

The Articles of National Unification organize the structure of the national government and the local governments. The national government consists of a bicameral legislature called the Parliament which is divided into a strong lower house called the National Assembly and a weak upper house called the High Council. The National Assembly selects from within its members a Prime Minister and other lesser ministers who together are called the Cabinet. The High Council selects the Premier who is the Head of State and serves in a mostly ceremonial role.

The National Assembly consists of 411 members is selected by three different methods. Four hundred seats are determined in an election of universal adult Razyn suffrage where the seats are allocated proportional to the votes of the electoral blocs. Citizens vote for one electoral bloc as well as one party within that electoral bloc. The members of the blocs who enter the National Assembly are determined by their precedence on the parties' lists which are determined in closed primary elections shortly before the general election. The other 11 seats are called "reserved seats" and are open to the following groups: five seats for women, five seats for tinwgo, and one seat for non-Razyn. The 11 reserved seats are elected as the same time as the general elections. Of the 400 regular seats, at least ten must be held by women and at least ten must be held by tinwgo. If a vacancy arises in the National Assembly, the next person on the list of the Party that created the vacancy enters the Assembly.

The National Assembly is responsible for all legislation and it divided into several committees with issue jurisdiction which originate most of that legislation. Each committee is headed by a Deputy Minister. Elections for the National Assembly are held maximally five years apart but may occur more frequently. At the start of each new Assembly, the Premier designates a member of the Assembly to draw up a Governing Agreement which must be approved by the Assembly within one week of the designation. If the designee fails to accomplish this, the Premier must designate a different member to try again. If the second designee fails, the Premier may continue to designate new members until an agreement is reached or he may order a new election. The Governing Agreement must specify the blocs in the Government Coalition, Prime Minister, the Speaker of the Assembly, the other ministers, and the deputy ministers as well as any other points required for an agreement to be reached. Any changes to the Governing Agreement must be approved by the whole Assembly. Once the Governing Agreement is approved, the blocs not in the Government Coalition must choose whether to join the Opposition Coalition or not. The members of the Opposition Coalition then select an opposition Leader, the Speaker of the Hall, the Shadow Ministers, and the Shadow Deputy Ministers. The blocs not in either coalition are collectively called the Crossbench and their members select the Speaker of the Crossbench. The three Speakers are responsible for recognizing members to speak and maintaining decorum during plenary sessions of the Assembly.

The High Council is comprised of 30 members each elected from districts of equal population in male suffrage only elections.. Councilors serve renewable 10 year terms and are elected all at once. The High Council selects at the midway point of its term from within its membership the Premier who serves for one non-renewable 10 year term. The Premier presides over meetings of the High Council but cannot participate in decision making. The High Council also selects a Premier Pro-Tempore who presides in the Premier's absence. The High Council is responsible for: approving all acts of war passed by the National Assembly, recommending nominees for judgeships to the Assembly, and originating all amendments to the Constitutional documents to be considered for popular approval. Additionally, the High Council acts as the final Court of Appeal for all Constitutional questions.

The administration of the government is carried out by the Cabinet as well as by the local governments which have two levels. The whole nation is divided into provinces which are designated either urban or non-urban. Urban provinces are divided into wards and non-urban provinces are divided into villages. Each province, ward, and village elects a unicameral council by the same method as the National Assembly. Each council elects a ceremonial executive which is called a Governor in the provinces and a Mayor in the wards and villages.