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Parliament of the Imperial Republic of AH.com

The Parliament of AH.com is the supreme legislative body of His Administratorness’ Government, granted with the power of creating and voting upon Acts of Parliament. The Parliament is bicameral, consisting of an 10 Member Landsraad and a 15 Member Lower House.

The Parliament convenes to discuss various matters of import to AH.com (and quite a lot that aren't). However, most of this usually results in people heading off to the AH.com Bar for drinks and a punch-up.

Elections to Parliament occur every August, usually foreshadowed by a flurry of electioneering, propaganda, intimidation, backstabbing, lies and outright dirty tricks. Voting in these elections, as well as during votes on legislation and referendums, is overseen by the Electoral Officer - a position that has tradtionally been held by Douglas.

In the event of a hung Parliament, it is expected that the largest party will join with one or more of the smaller parties to form a governing coalition. Both the 2006 and 2007 Elections resulted in hung Parliaments with no party in overall control of the chamber. Coalition governments were formed in both cases however, with the Evil Party being the senior member of the ruling coalition in both instances. In 2008, the Evil Party won total control of Parliament and formed a government on its own. With the number of elected parties dropping off significantly, it had been predicted that AH.com may become a one-party state ruled by the Evil Party. However, the 2009 General Elections saw a resurgence in parties, which cost Evil its absolute majority. Evil still maintained a plurality of Parliamentary seats and was able to form a minority government without forming a coalition with another party.

Following several attempted coups in 2008 and 2009, the Imperial Guard was established to protect the Houses of Parliament from further attacks.

Lower House of the Parliament of AH.com

The Lower House of Parliament consists of 15 elected members serving 1 year terms, from which are chosen the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister by the President of AH.com. The Lower House was established as the only house of Parliament on August 9, 2006.

Since August 2009, the Prime Minister is Maverick and the Deputy Prime Minister is 09camaro, both of the Evil Party.

Since September 20, Benkarnell has been Liaison to the Landsraad.

Committees and Commissions

Through Acts of Parliament, committees and commission may be established to more intimately debate and discuss particular issues.

Currently Active:

The Military Hardware Purchase Committee was established on September 2, 2009 by the 1st Committees Bill of 2009. Its purpose is “discuss and decide which military hadrware exactly the AH.com Armed Forces use.” Douglas heads the committee as an MP and as Minister for War and Peace.

The Flag Committee was also established on September 2, 2009 by the 1st Committees Bill of 2009. It is charged with carrying out the provisions of the Flag Bill and choosing a flag for AH.Com. Currently the committee is choosing finalists from the AH.Com Flag Selection Contest run by OAM47.

Defunct

The AH.com Extraterrestrial Affairs Commission was established on May 5, 2008 following the passage of the Extraterrestrial Affairs Act. Its powers and purpose has never been stated, although presumably it is meant to oversee and advise Parliament on Extraterrestrial Affairs. Emperor Qianlong was appointed Extraterrestrial Affairs Commissioner on May 22, 2009.

The Banking and Finances Committee was established January 27, 2009 following the signing of the Banking and Finances Act. The goal of this committee is to establish a backing for the Ianite Dollar (IDL) by examining possible backings for the currency/real-life currencies that the IDL could be pegged to. After two-weeks of deliberation following the appointment of members, they shall submit their recommendation to Parliament in the form of a bill establishing backing for the IDL. No member has been appointed to this committee. Should the Banking Reform bill be passed, this committee will be permanently dissolved.

The AH.comtropa Institute Committee was established on February 13, 2009 following the signing of the AH.comtropa Institute Committee Act for the purposes of drafting legislation for the creation of an AH.comtropa Institute. On May 21, Parliament appointed Emperor Qianlong to be President of the AH.comtropa Institute. maverick, TheDarkServant, Nekromans and LightInfa were also appointed to the Institute Committee, which appears to have been reorganized into the actual Institute.

The Committee for the Preparation of a New Landsraad Act was established on August 5, 2008 following the passage of the Landsraad Committee Act. It is a four member committee created specifically to write up a bill which will establish the powers of, the organization of, the composition of, and the votes of the proposed Landsraad of AH.com by August 15, 2008. Such a bill was proposed on August 15, but Parliament voted to send it back to committee for further consideration. The members of the committee are Susano of the Federalist Federation of Federalists, VulcanTrekkie45 of the Yorkshire Socialist Party, President Sargon and, following Douglas's resignation from Parliament and this committee, TheDarkServant of the Evil Party. This committee ceased to exist following the signing of the Landsraad Act of 2008 by President Sargon on September 5, 2008.

Landsraad of AH.com

The upper house of Parliament is the Landsraad, which consists of 3 British members, 3 American members, 2 German members, 1 Chinese member, and 1 International member totaling 10 seats. Members of the Landsraad serve one year terms, elected by the Peerage of AH.com. No member may serve in both the Landsraad and Lower House simultaneously. Any bill passed by the Lower House may be brought to a vote by the Landsraad if at least three of its members object to it and a simple majority will veto the legislation. This veto can be overturned by “a second reading” of the bill in the Lower House.

The Landsraad was established with the signing of the Landsraad Act of 2008 by President Sargon on September 5, 2008. The first elections were held March 21, 2009 for temporary members and will be followed by normal elections in August 2009 alongside the Lower House and Presidential elections. The first session opened on April 14, 2009.

The Landsraad is chaired by the highest ranking noble currently serving, titled the Speaker of the Landsraad. Since April 14, 2009, the current Speaker of the Landsraad is Zyzzyva, Duke of Aberdeen (FFF).