Chamber of Hamsters
Chamber of Hamsters Hamstrarnas Kammare | |
|---|---|
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Leadership | |
Vacant since 5 February 2024 | |
Chiefs of Government | |
Jasmine Wahlberg, Libertarian Party since 20 January 2024 | |
Leader of the Opposition | Johan, Socialist Party since 20 January 2024 |
| Structure | |
 | |
Political groups | Government (10):
Opposition Parties (10):
|
| Elections | |
| Proportional representation | |
Last election | 1 January 2024 |
| Meeting place | |
| Hall of Congress, Luddestad | |
The Chamber of Hamsters, more commonly referred to as the Chamber is the lower house of the Congress of Hamsterland. Members are elected using a proportional representation in nationwide elections. Because of the countries size, the members do not represent any kind of province but rather their voters at large. Currently 20 members serve in the Chamber.
The Chamber is the most powerful house in Congress, electing the Government and being where all proposed bills start of. Since the Senate is unelected they don't have a system for Sessions and therefore the Sessions of the Chamber are used as sessions for the Congress as a whole. This puts Congress in it's seventh session since January 20 of January this year.
Powers
The Chamber holds most of the powers to rule Hamsterland. This they do through deciding which laws should be put in place and which government should serve. The Chamber is after elections responsible for electing a new government or confirming that the old still holds the confidence of Congress. Votes in the Chamber works according to a more modern principle then does in the Senate. Instead of having to get up and move to vote members use their phone to vote. This enables the Speaker to instead of having to count the votes themself to also casting votes. In the Chamber it is also possible to abstain which cannot be done in the Senate. In the case of a tie when there are members that have abstained their votes will be counted as no votes. If a tie arises without any members abstaining the vote will either be held again or the Deputy Chief Hamster will cast a tiebreaking vote. The Chamber can begin no confidence votes in the government and Deputy Chief without help from the Senate which lacks this ability. All bills that pass the Chamber then move to the Senate for another vote.
Duration
Sessions of Congress lasts for about a year and begin and end between the 15th and 21 January when the Chief Hamster opens the new session. There are no term limits for members of the Chamber so as long as their party keeps winning the same ammount of seats in the Chamber during the yearly elections they can in theory serve until their death. However members are adviced to retire at 70 to make room for new generations. The oldest currently serving member is Lennart Wahlberg, former Speaker and member of the Libertarian Party who is currently 71.
Composition and Seats
The Chamber has 20 seats divided up between 3 parties. New parties can be created at any point but currently 3 that sit in Congress. There also is a fourth party in the nation that has never held seats in Congress despite being the oldest party, that being the Liberal Party. The way the systems for electing a government works is that after a election a proposed government needs at least 11 members of the Chamber to vote yes to their proposed government if they are to be appointed by the Chief Hamster. However, there is 2 other ways to be appointed to government. If after a election 1 party would hold 11 or more seats in the Chamber they are appointed without a vote in the case that parties proposed government only constists of their party. The other alternative is if 1 party that also plans to sit alone in Government is able to get 10 seats in the Chamber with the other 10 being divided between at least 2 parties. Then this party is also appointed to government. Both of these alternatives have only been used 1 time each.
Offices
Deputy Chief Hamster
The Deputy Chief Hamster is the official head of government. They are responsible for leading the work of the government and representing it. The Deputy Chief is not counted as a ordinary member of government since they are not assigned a department. Deputy Chief Hamsters can also be removed without removing the government due to this fact. In other words the Deputy Chief is a part of government but separate from it at the same time.
Chief of Government
The Chief of Government position is assigned to the member of government supposed to be acting head of government and the most important secretary. This job is traditionally given to the Secretary of Internal Affairs but in the currents government there is 3 people that hold the office. These are the Secretaries of Internal and Foreign Affairs as well as the one for Housing.
Speaker
The Speaker of the Chamber is a mostly honorary title that rotates between members of the Chamber every year. The Speaker is responsible for making sure work within the Chamber goes smootlhy announcing results of votes and dissolving the Congress on behalf of the Chief Hamster at the end of every year to call elections. Even if the Congress is dissolved it's current session however countinues until the opening of the next session. 1 person can only serve as Speaker 1 time. The speaker is styled as Mr or Madame Speaker.
Leader of the Opposition
The Leader of the Opposition is a honorary title given to the leader of the largest (or only) opposition party. The office is bestowed to a person by the Speaker during the first debate of a new Congress session. Since 2020 there has been no leader of the Opposition since all parties have served as part of government.
Gentlemen of the Chamber
This office is elected by the Chamber each time a new Chief Hamster is inaugurated to serve as their representitive within Congress. The Gentle,am serves as an ordinary member most of the time only being different in the fact he is styled as Most Honorable Gentleman instead of the usual Respected Congressman/Congresswoman. They are in the event of the Chief Hamsters death supposed to bring the news to Congress and also inform the Chamber if the Chief Hamster uses their Veto power or proposes a bill. In the case of the Chief Hamster becoming unwell the Gentleman will also inform the Chamber. During openings of Congress sessions the Gentleman has the job of preparing the Chamber for the event.
Lady of the Chamber
This is the honorary title given to the highest ranking Congresswomen in the Chamber. It comes with the style Most Notable Lady but has no other perks. The current system does not allow a Congresswomen to serve as the Chief Hamsters representitive in the Chamber but not because of a sexist system. If the Chief Hamster is female which 1 has been so far the Lady and Gentlemen swap roles in everything but style. This would make the Gentleman title honorary and give the Lady title actual tasks.
Chamber President of Age
This title is given to the oldest serving member of the Chamber. The holder is the official stand-in for the Speaker.
Senatorial Delegate
This office is held by a member of the party that has the majority in the Senate. The holder has the job to after a bill has passed the Chamber bring the bill to the President of the Senate and watch over the vote on the bill to inform the Chamber about the result of the Senates vote. The Delegate is also responsible for letting the Senate know about how the Chamber votes on bills proposed in the Senate.
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