National Council of Colora

The **National Council** (Vasalonian: *Cunsell Nacional*) is the unicameral parliament of Colora. It consists of 25 members who are elected through proportional representation.

The National Council was formed in 1910, when Colora became a constitutional monarchy. The current president of the National Council is Alessandro Chimenes. Members of the National Council are elected every five years by all adult Colorian citizens through party-list proportional representation. Elections can occur earlier if the Prince chooses to dissolve parliament early and hold a snap election, although he typically only does so at the advice of the Chief Counsellor.

## Tasks

The National Council makes up the legislative branch of the Colorian political system. Unlike in other parliamentary systems, the National Council holds very few powers. Most councillors serve in parliament on a part-time basis; the National Council meets no more than once a week, and councillors can draft no legislation of their own besides the quarterly budgetary proposal. Instead, councillors vote to approve or reject policy proposals drafted by the Chief Counsellor and other counsellors of the executive branch. Oftentimes, this is merely a formality and very few proposals are rejected.

Members of the National Council are the only political office elected directly by Colorian citizens. Due to the demographics of Colora, many Colorians are dual citizens, and focus more on the politics of their other country of citizenship; this has led to Colorian politics being seen as much less important, both on a global and domestic scale.

## Electoral term

Elections for the National Council are constitutionally mandated to occur every five years, always within the month of September. The constitution also allows for snap elections, which may occur any time when the Prince declares one; unlike in other countries, the Prince may declare a snap election whenever he chooses, regardless of whether the Chief Counsellor requests one; however, a snap election has never occurred in Colorian history.

## Election

All candidates looking to stand for election to the National Council must hold Colorian citizenship, be at least 30 years old, and have resided in Colora for at least five consecutive years prior to seeking office. Until 1980, only men could seek election; this restriction led to Colora being subject to widespread international pressure until it was struck down.

Elections use a party-list proportional representation system with no electoral threshold. Each party will win a percentage of seats directly corresponding with the percentage of the vote they receive. All seats are awarded at-large, with no electoral constituencies.

## Organization

Due to the nature of Colorian politics, there is typically very little organization within the National Council. There are no standing committees, and the National Council does not even have a governing coalition. The main form of organization are parliamentary groups; each party represented in the National Council will form their own parliamentary group, who hold monthly meetings to discuss their party platform and what proposals to support.

The presiding officer of the National Council is the president, who is almost always the leader of the largest parliamentary group. The president holds few powers, merely presiding over debate.