Courellian Government

Government

Executive

Governor

The Governor of the Republic of Courelli
Incumbent
Joshua B. Thomas
Party Affiliation
United Left
Executive Branch of the Courellian Government
Style	Governor (informal) The Honorable (formal) His Excellency (diplomatic)
Status	Head of State Head of Government
Abbreviation	Gov.
Nominator	Political Parties
Appointer	Election by popular vote
Term Length	Four-year term, renewable once
Residence	Executive Mansion
Seat	Leoncavallo, EN, Courelli
Constituting instrument	Constitution of the Republic of Courelli
Formation	X August 1689
First holder	???
Website	governor.co

The Governor is the head of state and government in the Republic of Courelli. As such, the Governor leads the Cabinet, leads a major political party, and typically commands a majority in the National Assembly. The incumbent wields both significant legislative and executive powers. In the National Assembly, the Governor guides the law-making process with the goal of enacting the legislative agenda of their political party. In an executive capacity, the Governor appoints (and may dismiss) all other Cabinet members and co-ordinates the policies and activities of all government departments.

Article ? of the Constitution establishes the executive branch of the national government. It vests the executive power of the Republic in the Governor. The power includes the execution and enforcement of law, alongside the responsibility of appointing executive, diplomatic, regulatory and judicial officers, and concluding treaties with foreign powers with the advice and consent of the National Assembly. The Governor is further empowered to grant pardons and reprieves, and to convene and adjourn the National Assembly. The Governor directs the foreign and domestic policies of the Republic, and takes an active role in promoting his policy priorities to members of the National Assembly. The power of the Governor has grown substantially since its formation, as has the power of the government as a whole.

In all, 65 individuals have served 67 presidencies spanning 82 full four-year terms.

Joshua B. Thomas, of Einaudi, is the 67th and current Governor of the Republic of Courelli. He assumed office on 10 August 2017.

Powers and Duties

Upon election, a potential Governor's first requisite is to "form a Government" – to create a cabinet that has the support of the National Assembly, of which cabinet members are expected to be a member.

The Governor will appoint all other departmental officers, although consulting senior cabinet officials, without any control from the National Assembly. At any time, the Governor may obtain the appointment, dismissal or nominal resignation of any other secretary, deputy, or other official. The Governor generally co-ordinates the policies and activities of the executive departments, acting as the main public "face" of the Government.

As the Commander-in-Chief of the Courellian Armed Forces, the Governor can declare war with the consent of the National Assembly, and with the Secretary of Defense, may exert power over the deployment and disposition of Courelli's forces.

The Governor makes all the most senior appointments, and most others are made by secretaries over whom the Governor has the power of appointment and dismissal. Ambassadors, Commissioners, senior civil servants, senior military officers, members of important committees and commissions, and other officials are selected, and in most cases may be removed, by the Governor. The appointment of senior judges, while constitutionally still on the advice of the Governor, is now made on the basis of recommendations from independent bodies.

The Governor also appoints officials known as Government Whips, who negotiate for the support of Assemblymembers and discipline dissenters. Party discipline is strong since the public generally votes for candidates on the basis of their party affiliation. Members of Parliament may be expelled from their party for failing to support their Party on important issues, and although this will not mean they must resign as Assemblymembers, it will usually make re-election difficult. Assemblymembers who hold cabinet office or political privileges can expect removal for failing to support the Governor. Restraints imposed by the National Assembly grow weaker when the Governor's party enjoys a large majority in the National Assembly.

However, even a government with a healthy majority can on occasion find itself unable to pass legislation. For example, on 7 November 1996, the Governor was defeated over plans which would have allowed police to detain suspects for up to 90 days without charge. On other occasions, the Governor alters their proposals to avoid defeat in the National Assembly.

Selection Process

Eligibility

The Constitution sets the following qualifications for holding the Governorship:

• be a natural-born citizen of the Republic of Courelli;
• be a resident of the Republic of Courelli for at least 10 consecutive years immediately prior to assuming office;

A person who meets the above qualifications is still disqualified from holding the Office of Governor under any of the following conditions:

• No person can be elected Governor more than twice;
• Upon conviction in impeachment cases, the National Assembly has the option of disqualifying convicted individuals from holding federal office, including that of Governor.

Election

The Governor is elected directly by the qualified citizens of the Republic of Courelli.

The Electoral Board of each Province meets at its Provincial capital -- about six weeks after the election -- to officially compile a report on the votes in their Province. They then send a copy of that report to the National Assembly. The reports are opened by the sitting Lieutenant Governor and read aloud before the National Assembly.

Upon certification of the results by the National Assembly, the results are considered firm and final.

Lieutenant Governor

The Lieutenant Governor of the Republic of Courelli
Incumbent
Sara Robins
Party Affiliation
Social Democrats
Executive Branch of the Courellian Government
Term Length	Four-year term, renewable once
Residence	Courellian Naval Observatory
Seat	Aleotti, EN, Courelli

The Lieutenant Governor of the Republic of Courelli is the second-highest officer of the Executive Branch of the Government, and is the highest-ranking official in the Gubernatorial line of succession.

Powers and Duties

The Lieutenant Governor has several primary duties:

• To cast a vote in the event of a National Assembly deadlock;
• To preside over and certify the official vote count of the Gubernatorial election;

There is a strong convention within the National Assembly that the Lieutenant Governor should not use their position to influence the passage of legislation in a partisan manner, except in the case of breaking tie votes.

Selection Process

Eligibility

The Constitution sets the following qualifications for holding the Lieutenant Governorship:

• be a citizen of the Republic of Courelli;
• be a resident of the Republic of Courelli for at least 10 consecutive years immediately prior to assuming office;
• be at least thirty years old;

A person who meets the above qualifications is still disqualified from holding the Office of Lieutenant Governor under any of the following conditions:

• No person can be elected Lieutenant Governor more than twice;
• Upon conviction in impeachment cases, the National Assembly has the option of disqualifying convicted individuals from holding federal office, including that of Lieutenant Governor.

Election

The Lieutenant Governor is elected directly by the qualified citizens of the Republic of Courelli.

The Electoral Board of each Province meets at its Provincial capital -- about six weeks after the election -- to officially compile a report on the votes in their Province. They then send a copy of that report to the National Assembly. The reports are opened by the sitting Lieutenant Governor and read aloud before the National Assembly.

Upon certification of the results by the National Assembly, the results are considered firm and final.

Legislative

The National Assembly

The National Assembly
File:Courelli National Assembly Seal.png
Speaker of the Assembly
Incumbent
Timothy Woods
Party Affiliation
Social Democrats
Legislative Branch of the Courellian Government
Term Length	At the pleasure of the National Assembly
Office	The Hall of the National Assembly
Seat	Leoncavallo, EN, Courelli

The National Assembly is the legislature of the Republic of Courelli.

The National Assembly is composed of 775 Members, each of whom are elected by and represent a single District. There are currently 155 Districts in the National Assembly, and each District is represented by 5 Members. The Assembly is presided over by a Speaker, normally from the majority coalition, assisted by deputies and parliamentarians from across the represented political spectrum. The term of the National Assembly is two years.

Following a tradition started by the first Constitutional Convention in 1665, the "left-wing" parties sit to the left as seen from the Speaker's seat, and the "right-wing" parties sit to the right, and the seating arrangement thus directly indicates the political spectrum as represented in the Assembly. The official seat of the National Assembly is the Hall of the National Assembly on the banks of Port Gray; the Assembly also uses other neighbouring buildings for office space and recordkeeping.

Exterior of the National Assembly

Legislative Chamber of the National Assembly.

Composition

Party		Political Position	Leader		National Assembly
Governing Majority					430	430
	World Workers	Far-Left		Mary Cox	52	52
	United Left	Left		Joshua B. Thomas	132	132
	Social Democrats	Left		Timothy Woods	103	103
	Liberals	Center-Left		Sally Wilson	61	61
	Greens	Special Interest (Environment)		Judy Meyer	82	82
Minority Opposition					345	345
	Unity	Center		Nancy Howard	24	24
	One Courelli	Center		Carlos Brown	49	49
	Liberty	Center-Right		Paul Cox	48	48
	Conservatives	Right		Charles Allen	128	128
	National Front	Far-Right		David Robinson	16	16
	Dalinian Alliance	Special Interest (Religion)		William Ivey	49	49
	Afafanua Nationals	Special Interest (Secessionist)		Jacob Hughes	31	31

Powers and Duties

The Constitution provides several unique functions for the National Assembly that form its ability to "check and balance" the powers of other elements of the Government.

The Governor can make certain appointments only with the advice and consent of the Assembly. Officials whose appointments require the Assembly's approval include members of the Cabinet, heads of most federal executive agencies, ambassadors, Justices of the Supreme Court, and other federal judges. Typically, a nominee is first subject to a hearing before a Assembly Committee. Thereafter, the nomination is considered by the full Assembly. The majority of nominees are confirmed, but in a small number of cases each year, Assembly Committees purposely fail to act on a nomination to block it. In addition, the Governor sometimes withdraws nominations when they appear unlikely to be confirmed. Because of this, outright rejections of nominees on the Assembly floor are infrequent.

The National Assembly also has a role in ratifying treaties. The Constitution provides that the Governor may only "make Treaties, provided two thirds of the National Assembly concur." However, not all international agreements are considered treaties under Courellian law, even if they are considered treaties under international law. The National Assembly has passed laws authorizing the Governor to conclude executive agreements without action by the Assembly. However, executive agreements are not mentioned in the Constitution, leading some scholars to suggest that they unconstitutionally circumvent the treaty-ratification process. However, courts have upheld the validity of such agreements.

The National Assembly has the power to elect the Governor or Lieutenant Governor if no candidate receives a majority of votes in the general election, but must choose from the two candidates with the highest numbers of votes.

The National Assembly can overthrow the executive government (that is, Governor and cabinet Secretaries) by a motion of no confidence. For this reason, the Governor and their cabinet are typically from the dominant coalition in the Assembly. In the case of a Governor and Assembly from opposing parties, this leads to the situation known as cohabitation.

While motions of no confidence are periodically proposed by the opposition following government actions that it deems highly inappropriate, they are purely rhetorical; party discipline ensures that, throughout an Assembly term, the government is never overthrown by the Assembly. Since the formation of the Republic, there has only been one single successful motion of no confidence: in 1909, the National Assembly ousted Gov. Charles Springer and his Government.

The Speaker

The Constitution authorizes the National Assembly to elect a Speaker of the National Assembly, who presides over the National Assembly. The Speaker is, by custom, the Member of the Majority Party with the longest record of continuous service.

The Speaker (or designee) sits in a chair in the front of the Assembly Chamber. The presiding officer calls on Members to speak (by the rules of the Assembly, the first Member who rises is recognized); rules on points of order (objections by Members that a rule has been breached, subject to appeal to the whole chamber); and announces the results of votes.

Judicial

Article ? of the Constitution establishes the Supreme Court of the Republic of Courelli and authorizes the National Assembly to establish inferior courts as their need shall arise. All judges are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the National Assembly, and serve a lifetime term - although a judge who commits an offense while in office may be impeached in the same way as any other officials of the government.

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court adjudicates matters pertaining to the Government, disputes between Provinces, and interpretation of the Constitution, and may declare legislation or executive action made at any level of the government as unconstitutional. There have been instances in the past where such declarations have been ignored by the other two branches. The Supreme Court's power extends to cases arising under the Constitution, an Act of the National Assembly; a treaty; cases affecting ambassadors, ministers and consuls of foreign countries; cases and controversies to which the Government is a party; controversies between Provinces (or their citizens) and foreign nations (or their citizens). The Supreme Court is also tasked with hearing appeals from the decisions of Provincial Courts.

Provincial Courts

Below the Supreme Court are the five Provincial Courts, established by the National Assembly in 1723, which are the general trial courts for law, and for certain controversies between Provinces. The Provincial Courts' power extends both to civil actions for damages and other redress, and to criminal cases arising under law.

Other Courts

Other courts, such as the bankruptcy and tax courts, are specialized courts handling only certain kinds of cases.