House of Councillors (Ebenthal)

House of Councillors
*Câmara dos Conselheiros*
House of Councillors ; Câmara dos Conselheiros
5th Konkrëse parliamentary session
Type
Type	Lower House of the Konkrëse
Term limits	1 year
History
Founded	8 March 2021
Leadership
President	Wellington Muniz, ND
Leader of the Opposition	Henri Sãens, PN
Structure
Seats	18
Political groups	Government (5): New Democrats (5); Opposition (4): National Party (4); Other groups (3): Independent (1); Swedish minority (1); Republican Party (1);
Elections
Voting system	Single non-transferable vote
Last election	30 July 2023
Next election	30 July 2024
Meeting place
	Raych Halle, Malmünd

The House of Councillors (Portuguese: Câmara dos Conselheiros) is the lower house of the Konkrëse, the parliament of Ebenthal. Membership is by free elections through universal suffrage and its members serve one-year terms with unlimited possibility of re-election. The House of Councillors does not have a fixed number of seats; each constituency elects one member for every ten permanent inhabitants. Currently the House has 18 seats. Its members can be both commoners and nobles, are encouraged but not necessarily required to affiliate with a political party, and are democratically elected through the single non-transferable vote system. Under the Parliament Act 2023, the Minister-President of Ebenthal is chosen from among those members of the party or coalition who have a majority in the lower house, although on rare occasions, if the government fails to come up with an acceptable nomination, the Minister-President can be appointed from among the members of the upper house.

The House of Councillors's power to enact laws depends on the House of Aristocrats evaluation of the bills approved in the lower house, except in limited circunstances. Despite this, the house has autonomy to create bills and analyze projects proposed even by the monarch and to report to him, both by parliamentary audience and through the Minister-President, whose position and cabinet depends on the confidence of the lower house.

Origin

The House of Councillors was inspired by the British House of Commons, although much more simplified and in parts similar to Brazil's formely monarchical Chamber of Deputies. Its name, however, was a challenge to be decided, as the lower house's officeholders's name title. The ideia of Councillor came following a deep study of other countries' parliaments and the similarity it evokes to the Portuguese councilmen and counselors, respectively members of a municipal chamber and to a privy council. The name, furthermore, coincides with that of the former Japanese House of Councillors, which served as a confirmation for the name's decision.

The creation of the house was proposed by Gabriela Amorim, 1st Duchess of Guterfolg, through the Bicameral Act and the name was ventured by Lord Raphael Sousa, 1st Prince of Soussen. The project of the lower house was approved exactly as proposed by the leader of the Worker's Party.

Functions

According the Constitution of Ebenthal's 6th ammendment, the members of the House of Councillors exerce the exclusive functions of chose the Minister-President, to call for a referendum and to cast a vote of no confidence to the ministerial cabinet, plus the common functions of deal with taxation and loans, trade and commerce (only regarding the Central Government), to deal with conciliation and arbitration when required, to legislate on matter regarding the country's institutions, infrastructure and rules, to legislate on currency, coinage, and legal tender, on immigration and citizenship, among other things.

Procedure

A legislative bill can be formally introduced by any member of both legislative houses, as well as by the Sovereign and the rulers of Ebenthal's provinces, although it is more commonly introduced by the parliamentary houses themselves. The President of the House read the proposed bill and puts it up to voting. If the proposed bill is approved, it is immediatly sent to the House of Aristocrats for their scrutiny; if they approve, it is sent to the King's cabinet for royal assent or veto. If the Aristocrats reject the Councillors bill, the bill is returned to the lower house and submitted to amends in order to be sent to the Aristocrats again (nonetheless the Aristocrats can amend a bill if they feel fit and submit it to the King's assent without the consent of the Councillors). If a bill fails, it may be debated and voted again in a next session; if it fails again, then the bill is shelved and can only be revived after a month.

Composition and seats

The House of Councillors is formed by an unspecified amount of members elected in proportional representation, that is, each province elects as many councilors as it has inhabitants. In Ebenthal, for every ten permanent residents, one councilor is elected (the same applies if the province has less than ten residents). The election takes place through the single non-transferable vote system in which each citizen votes for only one candidate, and the candidate who receives the most votes wins. Members, often called Councillors or Members of the House of Councillors, represent constituencies corresponding to the country's provinces and their lenght of term is that of 1 year, with possibility of unlimited re-election. Members of the party or coalition with the most seats appoint the Prime Minister, who in turn appoints the Councillor Speaker, who in turn appoints the Deputy Speaker.

Members

Elected MP		Province	Took office	Seat #	Notes
Elected
vacant		Erzfelsen		1
Wellington Muniz	New Democrats	Brauncastel	8 March 2021	2	President of the House
Bernardo Barcelos	New Democrats	Aufenbauer	8 September 2021	3	ex officio Minister-President
Thiago Walker	New Democrats	Brauncastel	12 October 2022	4
Rodrigo Falcão	New Democrats	Erzfelsen	12 October 2022	5
Daniel Vilela	New Democrats	Erzfelsen	12 October 2022	6
vacant		Brauncastel		7
Eric de Pádua	National Party	Aufenbauer	8 March 2021	8
Henri Sãens	National Party	Sanktstaat	8 September 2021	9	Leader of the Opposition
Vacant		New Switzerland		10
Francisco Arrais	National Party	New Switzerland	8 March 2021	11
Gabriel Carvalho	National Party	Lüttenhausen	12 October 2022	12
Oskar Andersen	Independent	Amsee	30 July 2023	13
Alessandro Rosas	Republican	Sanktstaat	22 January 2024	14	Indirectly elected
vacant		Grünhufe		15	To be elected
vacant		Harram		16	To be elected
vacant		Guterfolg		17	To be elected
Special seat
Lukas Degermark	Independent	Swedish minority	22 January 2024	18	Indirectly elected
Non-voting delegate
vacant		Süden-Süden		19	To be elected

References