Assembaskgrot

The **Assembaskgrot** ("*the great assembly*") is the supreme legislature of Resha, established in 1801. It is located in Hederhelm. The unicameral parliament has 150 members, and is elected every four years based on party-list proportional representation in eighteen constituencies. A member of the Assembaskgrot is known in Reshan as a *Assembaskgrot represaska*, literally "Assembaskgrot representative".

The assembly is led by a president and two vice presidents who form the presidium. The president is elected at the start of each parliament session by parliament members, while one vice president is nominated by the ruling coalition and one by the opposition. Members of parliament are delegated to thirteen parliamentary committees.

Following the 2017 election, there are seven parties represented in parliament: the Social Democratic Party (63 representatives), the Conservative Party (36), the Liberal Party (14), the Peace Party (12), the Green Party (10), United West Resha (9), and the Christian Democrats (6).

## Procedure

### Legislative

The legislative procedure goes through five stages. First, a bill is introduced to parliament either by a member of government or, in the case of a private member's bill, by any individual representative. Parliament will refer the bill to the relevant committee, where it will be subjected to detailed consideration in the committee stage. The first reading takes place when parliament debates the recommendation from the committee, and then takes a vote. If the bill is dismissed, the procedure ends. The second reading takes place at least three days after the first reading, in which parliament debates the bill again. A new vote is taken, and if successful, the bill is submitted to the Queen in Council for royal assent. If parliament comes to a different conclusion during the second reading, a third reading will be held at least three days later, repeating the debate and vote, and may adopt the amendments from the second reading or finally dismiss the bill.

### Royal assent

Once the bill has reached the Queen in Council, the bill must be signed by the monarch and countersigned by the prime minister. It then becomes Reshan law from the date stated in the act or decided by the government. The Reshan constitution specifically grant the Monarch of Resha the right to withhold Royal Assent from any bill passed by the Assembaskgrot, however, this right has never been exercised by any Reshan monarch since 1856.

## Organization

### Presidium

The presidium is chaired by the President of the Assembaskgrot, and consists of president and two vice presidents. The president is elected by parliament members at the beginning of each parliamentary session, and they can serve an infinite amount of four-year terms. One vice president is appointed by the majority leader of the parliament, while the other is appointed by the minority leader, and can serve one term of four-years.

 Majority Vice President
 Minority Vice President

### Committees

The members of parliament are allocated into thirteen committees, of which twelve are related to specific political topics. The last is the Committee on Constitutional Affairs. The standing committees have a portfolio that covers that of one or more government ministers. The Prime Minister, Government Ministers, President of the Assembaskgrot, Minority Leader, and Vice Presidents do not belong to a committee. All committees have 10 members.

### Party groups

Each party represented in parliament has a party group. It is led by a group board and chaired by a parliamentary leader. It is customary for the party leader to also act as parliamentary leader, but since party leaders of government parties normally sit as ministers, governing parties elect other representatives as their parliamentary leaders. The table reflects the results of the 2017 election.

## Elections

Members to Assembaskgrot are elected based on party-list proportional representation in plural member constituencies. This means that representatives from different political parties are elected from each constituency. The constituencies are identical to the 18 counties of Resha. The electorate does not vote for individuals but rather for party lists, with a ranked list of candidates nominated by the party. This means that the person on top of the list will get the seat unless the voter alters the ballot. Parties may nominate candidates from outside their own constituency, but may not nominate Reshan citizens currently living abroad.

The Sainte-Laguë method is used for allocating parliamentary seats to parties. As a result, the percentage of representatives is roughly equal to the nationwide percentage of votes. Still, a party with a high number of votes in only one constituency can win a seat there even if the nationwide percentage is low. This has happened several times in Reshan history.

The Assembaskgrot always serves its full four-year term; the Constitution does not allow snap elections. Substitutes for each parliament member are appointed by the group parliamentary leader if a parliament member must abandon their seat for whatever reason.

## Members

The parliament has 150 members. If a member of parliament cannot serve (for instance because he or she is a member of the cabinet), a deputy representative serves instead. The deputy is appointed by the group parliamentary leader in the case that the parliament leader must abandon their seat.

In the plenary chamber, the seats are laid out in a hemicycle. Seats for cabinet members in attendance are provided on the first row, behind them the members of parliament are seated according to party group.