Ministry of Occult Affairs

The Ministry of Occult Affairs (MOA) is a department of the Government of the Federal Republic of Concadia responsible for the governing of the occult community at a federal level and for providing services tailored to the specific and unique needs of occult peoples. Under the constitution, the responsibilities of the state towards occult peoples are shared between the Federal and sub-federal governments.

## History

Unlike most other western nations, the occult and non-occult communities in Concadia have been integrated and co-existing for nearly a millennia. Under the historic medieval Kingdoms, wizards, witches and warlocks often advised the various monarchs, and non-human races lived among humans.

Since the election of the first SLP government in 1912, the approach to occult governance has changed, with a representative and inclusive approach being taken, as opposed to the more dictatorial methods of ages past.

Prior to the SLP government of 1912, laws were passed by the federal and sub-federal legislatures that governed the lives of occult peoples, meaning that in order for occult peoples to have a say in government, they needed representatives in those legislatures. This caused an issue, as occult peoples were a minority within the population, and there was still a significant amount of prejudice against occult peoples among the general public, meaning that electing occult legislators was almost impossible. It is important to note that whilst there were serious difficulties in achieving this, the first occult legislator was elected as a Senator for Padia at the 1875 general election. Despite this and the election of more occult legislators as time went on, having a truly representative government for occult peoples was proving impossible.

Under the Occult Peoples Self Government Act 1913, the Ministry of Occult Affairs was established, which would act as the body responsible for the governance of all occult peoples within Concadia. The structure was modelled off of the secret occult governments of other nations and was designed to give occult peoples a voice and government of their own, whilst not excluding them from the rest of government.

Under the Act, the Secretary of Occult Affairs must be of occult decent, wether that mean they are a magical person or a non-human. Whomever is selected by the Prime Minister must be approved by the newly established Tionólasarl, which would be the occult parliament. It would operate within the Ministry and its members, MTs, would be directly elected from the occult populous.

Within the Ministry there would be departments that operated as the occult equivalents to many of the regular government departments.

Such an overhaul to the structure of occult governance meant that the MOA became the largest government ministry, tied with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for its size and number of employees.

## Structure

The Ministry is led by the Secretary of Occult Affairs, who is appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister with the approval of the Tionólasarl. The Secretary is a member of the House of Commons and must be of occult decent. They report to the Commons and the Tionólasarl and act as the liaison between the federal and occult government. It is important to note that the Secretary is not the head of the occult government.

The head of the occult government is elected by the Members of the Tionólasarl at the beginning of each session. The Occulta Praesidis is the head of government. They report to the Tionólasarl and the Secretary.

The Tionólasarl can initiate its own legislation, however, it must be approved by the House of Commons in what has become known as the 'Relevance Test'. Once passing the Tionólasarl, the Commons must check to ensure that the legislation is only relevant to occult peoples. If it passes the test, it is sent to the President for Assent. If it fails, the Commons sends it back to the Tionólasarl and instructs it to amend the legislation to ensure it can pass the relevance test.