Luthori

[Ligbruderkrieg]

Government's SAEA passes both chambers with relative ease, changing Luthori's political landscape.
May 5664



The Senate, the most dangerous institution to any Labour government - is gone. No, the Senate in itself isn’t gone, but the Labour Party’s bold agenda of reform finally caught up to the old institution - once considered an unbreakable Conservative stronghold that even the most dedicated of Reformist Conservatives couldn’t break the institution into something that answered their most radical wishes. Upon entering office as Prime Minister of Luthori, Mrs. Kathy Miles, Leader of the National Labour Party, stated that her main priority as Prime Minister was to see the completion of her dream of reforming the Senate into a more “representative” body of the population, instead of the body we once had. This reform alongside the High Court reform bill was considered to be her main priority before shifting to economic reforms to strengthen her position before the 5662 local elections and the 5663 Senate elections which would seal the control of the Senate for 5 years. The Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Institutional Reform had to deal with two proposals, either forming an independent, unelected upper house tasked with overseeing every bill passed by the Chamber of Representatives and their members appointed by the Emperor under advice from the Prime Minister and with political barred from having representation in the upper house or having an directly elected upper house, with the Senate having the same electoral weight than the Chamber of Representatives and Senators elected directly by the people at the same time as the Chamber of Representatives for 5-year terms.

Another issue was the representation of peers within the Senate, the Labour Party officially wrote in its party manifesto the need for the end of representation for both life and hereditary peers alongside Archbishops of the Holy Luthori Church. The Conservative Party opposed such a “radical” move and proposed, in light of the strength of the Labour Party in both Houses of Parliament, that the Senate be transformed into a fully unelected House aimed at “checking” the actions from the lower house. Opposition Leader Hawkins stated that the Tories were “open” to negotiations about the future of the upper house with the Government, as the future grew increasingly bleak for the Senate without reform - plagued with gridlock, a paralyzing electoral system - a near total dominance from the Conservative Party due to the presence of both hereditary and life peers in the upper house. All these issues plaguing the Senate - Prime Minister Miles promised to sweep away the “old order” and create a “new” “representative” house.

Secretary of State for Institutional Reform, Gregory Bercow proposed the “Senate Appointment and Election Reform Act” in the Chamber of Representatives - this Act aimed at transforming the Senate into a fully-elected body, with the same electoral weight as the Chamber of Representatives. This new body would be composed of 200 Senators, a sharp decrease from the currently sitting 600+ Senators and these Senators would be elected through directly elected by the Luthorian people every 5 years, at the same time as the general elections for the Chamber of Representatives. Due to the directly-elected nature of the reformed Senate - the dissolution of the body will now be available to the Prime Minister, as the Emperor will gain the prerogative to dissolve the Senate at the same time as a dissolution of the Chamber of Representatives. This move will trigger early elections for both Houses of Parliament. To the Prime Minister - this Bill is the “single-greatest” bill to strengthen our democracy, for the Conservatives, the sudden reversal of the status quo was too much to handle, and alongside the Liberal Party, the Moderates and other moderate right-wing moderates in Parliament, voted against the Bill in the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate, but to no avail, with the Government’s steamrolling the Bill to passage in the Senate before bringing it to the Emperor, who gave his assent to the Bill afterwards.

To summarize. The Senate in this post-SAEA environment will look like this:

• - The Senate will continue working as usual until the 5665 general election - where all Senators’ term will be ended and new Senators will be elected.
  
• - The Senate will be composed of 200 members elected through direct universal suffrage.
  
• - The Senate will be elected through regional proportional representation - avoiding a single-party majority like in the Chamber of Representatives, each province will be tasked with electing 40 Senators.
  
• - The Senate will hold the same electoral weight as the Chamber of Representatives - as in, any law passing the Chamber must pass the Senate before becoming law. The Chamber will no longer have the upper hand compared to the Senate.
  
• - The Senate will not be able to propose a no-confidence motion as the Government remains responsible before the Chamber of Representatives.
  
• - Any dissolution of Parliament means that both the Senate and Chamber of Representatives are dissolved and up for election.