General Congress of the Coalition

310th General Congress of the Coalition

## Meeting place

Central Headquarters of the Coalition

Lantau Island, Hong Kong

Earth, Solar System, The Core

## Constitution

Charter of the Coalition of Congressional Republics

The **General Congress of the Coalition** ( **Abbr.**  ***GCC***), formally the **General Congress of the Coalition of Congressional Republics** ( **Abbr.**  ***GCCCR***) and informally the **Coalition Congress**, is the legislative body of the Coalition of Congressional Republics. It is currently in the 310th session, and coordinates its actions in accordance to Section V of the Charter of the Coalition of Congressional Republics concerning policymaking and legislation. The General Congress meet within the Central Headquarters of the Coalition, a massive government complex hosted on Lantau Island, a leased part of the semi-independent megasprawl of Hong Kong on Earth.

The General Congress is responsible for the creation and amendment all Coalition-wide laws, electing the Secretary General of the Coalition, providing counsel and advice for the appointment of judiciaries on the Supreme Court of the Coalition, and the creation of subsequent organs of the Coalition supranational government. Congressmen are chosen through a two-round system of voting from electors that themselves were chosen by indirect election from member republics of the Coalition; member republics are **not** directly represented in the Congress, but are instead given the authority to guide the supranational state through the machinations of Coalition political parties — this being a stipulation of the Tellus Protocol of 2246 following the Corporate Wars.

The General Congress meets under the supervision of the General Congress President or the Secretary General. The Secretary General can issue a congressional vote only if the Congress finds itself in an event split between non-abstention votes. Elections for congressmen commence every November 1st prior to the start of a new congressional session between the electors of the Electoral Congressional Symposium and finish on November 8th.

Section V of the Coalition Charter stipulates that congressmen must be 20 years old at minimum, a citizen of the member republic they are representing for at least five years, and to be a legal resident of that republic. Congressmen can only be elected ten times to the General Congress, but are not restricted in finding a political position within the Coalition government thereafter.

The size of the General Congress, in the terms of seats, is constantly in a state of flux due to the addition of new member republics, merging of republics, expulsion of republics, and other events.

The legislation issued by the General Congress are sorted into two categories: **laws** and **resolutions**. Congressional **laws** are direct pieces of legislation that all member republics, organizations, and individuals must abide by (unless special clauses and circumstances apply), whereas **resolutions** are recommendations that entities should be expected to follow due to moral, ethical, or humanitarian obligations. All resolutions and laws, however, **must** be separately reviewed approved by the Coalition Corporate Advisory Committee in London prior to being passed to the Supreme Court for judicial review and to the Secretary General for execution; this limit having arose after the application of the Tellus Protocol.

The General Congress was first organized on June 26, 2077, following preliminary elections between former members of the legislatures of the United Nations, Alliance of Independent States of Mars, and the Sol Outer Colonies Association in April. This was done in accordance to the Solar Peace Accords and the nascent Coalition charter following the end of the Second Martian-Terran War. Before 2246, member republics were directly represented in the General Congress, but the Tellus Protocol's effects as a result of the Corporate Wars placed a degree of distance between republics and legislature via the new indirect election method that fostered the birth of the Coalition political megaparty system. This method was seen as direct corporate intervention on politics through potential control of electors in the Electoral Congressional Symposium, and is still a point of contention in the modern day. The modern political groups that interact in the Congress are mainly centuries-old entities such as the New Democratic Party and the Congressional Republican Party, but include more recent groups such as the Alpha Caucus. Non-represented parties exist that have the ability to be elected to Congress (but have never achieved such), such as the Civic Royalists Committee. Other parties have been prohibited from having congressional representation due to controversy, such as the Synthetic Humanoid Active Representation Delegation (SHARD).

## History

The General Congress of the Coalition was established in 2077 following the officiation of the Coalition of Congressional Republics and the end of the Second Martian-Terran War. It was initially composed of representatives from human nations across the Solar System, and was organized along the ideas of *Branwen representation*, which allotted each member republic one representative in addition to one further representative for having a population above 300 million, and one further representative for being in control of one's own respective planemo. A modified version of the Branwen representation system persists in the modern congressional system, attempting to balance both the importance of the coreworlds and the respected right of representation for colonial worlds.

The early years of the General Congress, from 2077 to 2150, were marked by intense debates over the structure and functioning of the new legislative body (especially in regards to compensating new worlds from the Tomorrow Initiative and the overall Planet Rush). Representatives from each member nation had to navigate their different political cultures, interests, and values to reach agreements on issues such as voting procedures, representation, and the distribution of power, which led to the institutionalization of the Branwen representative system. From 2077 to 2083, the General Congress was also focused on passing legislation aimed at rebuilding the war-torn regions of the Solar System, promoting economic growth, and expanding access to education and healthcare for all human colonies. Previously located off the coast of Tokyo, the General Congress (with the rest of the Coalition government) located to the Central Headquarters of the Coalition in Hong Kong following its completion in 2084.

Throughout the 22nd and 23rd centuries, the General Congress continued to evolve, taking on new responsibilities and increasing its centralization through waves of Coalition-spanning laws and resolutions. The General Congress faced its first major crisis in the mid 23rd century due to the Corporate Wars. The General Congress responded to megacorporate actions by passing a series of emergency measures (that were repealed post-war), including the nationalization of corporate assets, the general mobilization of the Coalition Forces Authority, and the subordination of all member nation militaries under the Combined Member National Subcommand to the CFA.

Despite the challenges of the Corporate Wars, the General Congress emerged to cooperate with megacorporations as a result of the Tellus Protocol through the Coalition Corporate Advisory Committee, with a renewed commitment to promoting peace and stability throughout human space. Over the following centuries, the Congress played a key role in negotiating treaties between member nations, facilitating new colonies, regulating interstellar trade, and addressing issues related to immigration and refugee resettlement across national borders...

### Sessions

Each term of the General Congress is split into two sessions, corresponding for that respective year.

However, the General Congress also reserves the right to declare a *special session* that is not normally scheduled. In addition, the Secretary General reserves the power to declare an *extraordinary session* of the General Congress in events that permit the immediate convention of the Coalition legislature.

## Congressional buildings

What is considered to be the "operational location" of the General Congress of the Coalition is within the Central Headquarters of the Coalition, an urban sprawl that covers the entirety of Lantau Island in Hong Kong. More specifically, most congressional buildings are located in the Wilkowski Complex of the headquarters and are on the island's eastern side.

The actual meeting place of congressmen during congressional sessions, whether through physical presence or holographic representation, is in the Iannarelli Grand Congressional Building - a massive domed structure that contains the General Congress of the Coalition Meeting Chamber and supporting logistical offices. However, the bulk of legislative work is done in auxiliary structures such as the Tsang Congressional Office Building, Woo Congressional Office Building, and Blackstone Congressional Office Building, which host congressional committees and support services.