Congress of People's Deputies

Congress of People's Deputies of Arvor Съезд народных депутатов Арвора
[[Image:{{{Legislature_logo}}}\|200 px\|{{{logo_description}}}]]
Type
Type	Unicameral
Leadership
Speaker	Tatyana D. Eldarova
Deputy Speaker	Andrei V. Ivanov
Structure
Seats	864
[[Image:{{{Legislature_composition}}}\|300 px]]
Political groups	ADS
Length of term	5 years
Elections
Voting system	Two-round
Last election	7687
Next election	7692
Meeting Place
[[Image:{{{Legislature_image}}}\|250 px]]
Palace of Congresses, Cherenovsk

The Congress of People's Deputies, formally the Congress of People's Deputies of Arvor (Съезд народных депутатов Арвора), is the unicameral legislative body of Arvor.

Functions

The Common Charter recognises the Congress as the "highest organ of State power." The entire 864 membership stands for election every five years using the first past the post electoral system and meets at least three days a week throughout the year, with adjournments for major bank holidays. Members, known as deputies, are not term limited. The Congress appoints its speaker and grants assent for nominations to seats on the Council of Ministers and Central Court of Justice, the director generals of major state agencies, the heads of state statutory firms, and promotions to top military ranks.

Every five years when the new Congress is sworn in, up to five candidates from among the deputies can declare their candidacy for the premiership. This vote is held using the two-round system on the first session in the new year immediately after inauguration. Each deputy represents one of the nation's constituent raions, of which each oblast contains eighteen.

The Congress meets in the Palace of Congresses in the Dmitrovsky okrug of the capital city of Cherenovsk. The term "Dmitrovsky" remains a common metonym used in reference to the legislature itself.

Under the provisions of the Common Charter, the Congress is the highest government organisation and the representative body of the people. It has the power to draw up and amend laws. It also has the responsibility to legislate and implement state plans and budgets. All active programmes are brought up for review every five years, by law, with the exception of certain welfare services, old age pension, veteran's benefits, and key national security operations. Those that are believed to be functioning as intended and within budget are re-approved for continuation, while all others are terminated, and funding re-assigned. Additionally, it has the sole power to initiate or conclude wars - the premier must request a declaration of war, which the Congress must approve by a majority vote. If the declaration is approved, it is passed on to the president for their signature, after which they will formally announce the state of war in an address to the nation. Treaties and all other instruments to end a state of war must likewise be approved prior to receiving the president's signature and proper declaration being made.

The Congress can legislate laws on all issues within the limits of the Common Charter. It cannot, however, enact laws contrary to the strictures of the Bill of Guarantees. During sessions, deputies will refer to one another in debate as "my esteemed comrade(s)". When being recognised by the Speaker, they will be called upon as "the esteemed comrade for <raion>".

Key Officers

Speaker

The Speaker is the most senior, ranking officer of the Congress. Any person who serves in this role serves three key functions. First, they preside over debates and determine which members may speak and what business is selected for consideration. Second, they are responsible for maintaining order during debate, and may punish members who break the rules of the Congress. Thirdly, they hold the casting vote in all sessions. By convention, the casting vote is issued in accordance with precedence, rather than in line with personal opinion. The precedent is always to vote in favour of further debate, or, where it has been previously decided to have no further debate or in some specific instances, to vote in the favour of the status quo. For example, the Speaker would vote against a closure motion, the final passage of a bill, or an amendment.

The Speaker is, by virtue of their office, one of the most senior officials in the ADR. A Speaker is selected after every election cycle, and an incumbent can seek re-election to the speakership after each election without limit on the number of terms they may serve. On any given day when the Congress sits, the Speaker manages the daily agenda and addresses tactical matters in reaction to impediments such as management, negotiation with members on important issues such as the order in which bills are to be debated, and the time allotted.

Chief Clerk

This officer is responsible for overseeing the small staff of ten clerks who sit at the table in front of the Speaker's dais and keep the written record of Congress sessions. This record, known formally as the Yegorov in honour of Dmitri Oskarovich Yegorov, the first Chief Clerk, is not a word-for-word transcript of debates. Its terms of reference are those set by select committee in 7568 RH, as being a report which, though not strictly verbatim, is substantially the verbatim report with repetitions and redundancies omitted and with obvious mistakes (including grammatical mistakes) corrected, but which, on the other hand, leaves out nothing that adds to the meaning of the speech or illustrates the argument. Each clerk at the table enters minutes onto a computer terminal and they are compiled at the end of day. Printed copies of each year's minutes, bound in green leather, are maintained in the Library of the Congress.

Chief Teller

Whenever the Speaker calls a motion to a vote, the Chief Teller and the six tellers under their supervision are responsible for tallying the ayes (да, da) and nays (нет, net) of every deputy. Each of the six clerks is responsible for the tallying of a section of the chamber, recording the votes accordingly beside each member's name. As with the minutes of a session, these votes are recorded into the Yegorov. The tellers sit at a table on the tier above the clerks and just below the podium.

Committees

As of 1 Vetrun 7690 RH, the Congress maintains 22 standing committees, all but one of which are responsible for oversight and legislative control of a specific facet of government business and functions. Each of these committees consists of 18 deputies who are selected by Congressional leadership during the first session following each general election. A deputy can be removed from their committee assignment by the order of the Speaker if a majority of the membership of said committee votes to request their removal as a result of violation of specific rules and prohibitions. This has only rarely occurred.

The last of these bodies, the Continuing Committee (Постоянный комитет), is responsible for managing the affairs of the Congress between sessions and is composed of twenty of the most senior deputies. Among their duties is the confirmation of general election results and ensuring the transition of offices, committee assignments, and other business at the start of every new Congress.

Standing committees

Continuing Committee

Committee on Appropriations
Committee on the Budget

Committee on International Affairs
Committee on the Armed Forces
Committee on Security and Intelligence
Committee on the Judiciary
Committee on Banking and Finance
Committee on Economic Affairs
Committee on Health and Public Safety
Committee on Labour and Workers' Affairs
Committee on Housing and Communities
Committee on Welfare and Social Security
Committee on Trade and Commerce
Committee on Education, Science, and Technology
Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Nutrition
Committee on Energy
Committee on Industry and Mining
Committee on National Infrastructure
Committee on Transportation
Committee on Conservation and Forestry
Committee on Culture Sports, and the Arts

Candidacy and elections

In order to qualify to seek a seat in the Congress, an individual must meet the following criteria:

Be a native-born citizen of the ADR.
Be at least 25 years of age at the beginning of the calendar year in which elections will take place.
Have been a resident of the raion in which they intend to stand for election for a minimum of 15 years at the beginning of the calendar year in which elections will take place.
Have no criminal convictions for any offence of Class C or above. There is no statute of limitations on this stricture.

Any would-be candidate must make their final decision on whether or not they intend to run, and then submit a written declaration to their intent to stand for election, to the elections commission in their oblast by the end of the second month of the calendar year within which the election will take place. The campaign season lasts third month until a week before Election Day. All campaigning takes place on the local level, in the individual raions, and is very grassroots. Each candidate will typically have a small team of friends and family who they work with closely to co-ordinate their campaigning and spread the word of their candidacy. Candidates typically engage the electorate through meetings with residents of the gorods within the raion, by speaking at community events and local social outings, and via short local radio and telescreen messages.

Election Day, as the first day of the last month of the year is known, is a bank holiday whether or not it is an election year. Polls open every morning at 0700 and close every night at 1900. All businesses are either closed, or in the case of those critical services which must remain open even on a holiday, additional time is given to allow staff to go and vote.