Politics of Gemurtrak

Since the reintroduction of the monarchy in 1952, Gemurtrak has been classifiable as a Constitutional Monarchy with an executive Monarch at the center of governance. The powers of the government between the Monarch, duchies, and elected government has been a violently debated subject which has developed a highly archaic and chaotic system since the reformation of its democracy. It is notable for being one of the few countries with 3 separate houses of legislation. Much of the systems of governance were only introduced in 1952, with the federalization format being one of the few functions of state brought over from the Osamian Federation

Constitution
The Constitution of Gemurtrak is composed of two sections termed the Unity Edicts and the Rights of the republic. Constitutionally, only the Rights of the republic can be changed by the elected government; however numerous articles implemented across the time of the constitution have allowed work-arounds to remove the absolute power of the Monarch from the Unity Edicts.

Unity Edicts
The Unity Edicts are the first set of articles by which the Monarch and the subsequent powers the state receives from the Monarch are defined and determined. The goal of the articles is the dictation of what defines the state of Gemurtrak and unifies the numerous denominations below the Monarch as well as create a system and protect the core tenets of what a Gemurtrakian is and their rights. The Edicts are the primary source of legitimacy for the Monarch to rule as they deem fit as they regard the Monarch as being the state. Originally, in the former writings of Mazkwat, the Unity Edicts were meant to be impossible to modify or rescind unless done by an acting Monarch due to the core nature of the articles. The nullification or changing of the Edicts is in one form or another, an act of changing what defines a Gemurtrakian as the core functions of the state belong in its hold. Options were given to the Elected government to have power in changing the Unity Edicts, if a near unanimous vote (90%) was reached in both houses of elected government, following the constitutional crisis in the 1950-60’s which granted the elected government an objective right as being a core necessity to the identity of the Gemurtrak people.

Rights of the Republic
The Rights of the Republic are all other sections of the constitution deemed largely malleable in the matter of the function of the state. These articles typically only have power over the electable sections of government, with the powers of the duchies and the Monarch restricted to the articles in the Unity Edicts. The Rights of the Republic have changed numerous times with the most recent changes involving the revocation of the 1980 Safeguard Articles in 2001 after the growing demand to return plurality into the government.

Executive
The executive branch of the Gemurtrakian government consists of two blocs, the unelected Nobility, and the elected & appointed Ministers. Both have high degrees of power in the function and maintenance of the state, with the unelected branch having the final authority.

Head of State
Gemurtrak, as a Monarchy, has a Monarch as the head of state who is granted the title of King/Queen and Emperor/Empress, typically to the discretion of the citizenry, following their coronation. The Monarchy is hereditary, currently following a Primogeniture Inheritance Law following the current Royal family, the Ramizna Family with its current head, Metenyanu, as acting Monarch.

The Monarch theoretically possesses all powers of the state, however the constitution demands some of these powers to be delegated to other members of state and government. In giving these powers, the Monarch has the fundamental right to partially overthrow an action committed by the government under the act of Defending the federation. These include the power to:
 * Overrule the popular decision of a bill in the Legislature
 * Dissolve parts or the entirety of the elected government
 * Dismiss the MR
 * Overrule cabinet choices of the MR

These actions (excluding the dissolution of government) can be overruled by the combined legislature, other powers the Monarch can use cannot be overridden by the legislature, these include the right to:
 * Appoint a member of the Imperial Court of Justice
 * Declare War in an act of defense (Offensive War Declaration can be overridden but cannot be initiated by the legislature)
 * Ratify and create treaties
 * Grant Imperial titles
 * Commission high ranking official in the Imperial Armed Forces
 * Command the Imperial Armed Forces

Council of Lords
Alongside the Hereditary monarch is the Council of Lords, who are the last remnants of the system of nobility in Gemurtrak. There are four members of the Council (granted the title of duke), each the heads of their respective families and attend with their collection of advisors. The four families that make up Council are the only noble families granted permission to attend the council, all other houses are disallowed except in the event of a dead family line. The Council of Lords act as the leaders of their respective duchies and the states within those duchies while holding some power over the elected state leaders. The primary function of the Council being a board of advisors for the Monarch, who will gain information from their own personal advisors made up of the Minister of the Republic and his cabinet, as well as the opinions of the Dukes, their state leaders, and their own cabinets. Their powers however remain only within the states under their control and the actions of these states within the Chamber of States. The Council of Lords, and it’s individual members have the right to:
 * Approve or disapprove of a State leaders cabinet
 * Partially determine the budget of their respective states
 * Can overrule legislative decisions in their states
 * Can demand a vote change of members of the Chamber of States in their respective states (this excludes full legislative votes such as overruling the Monarch)

Head of Government
The Minister of the Republic (MR), alongside their cabinet, is the only elected part of the executive government and is the head of government for Gemurtrak. The MR is typically the party leader of the majority party within the Chamber of Ministers and is elected every 4 years with no term limit. Once elected, the Monarch appoints them the powers of the MR office which the Monarch has the right to remove or overrule. The Minister of the Republic must be a member of the Chamber of Ministers, be a successfully elected seat, and not a serving commissioned rank of the Imperial Armed Forces. The powers the MR include the right to:
 * Assemble a cabinet
 * Recommend choices for the members of the Imperial Court of Justice
 * Represent the Monarch in the event of Death, disappearance or ineptitude.

Cabinet
The Minister of the Republic has the right, appointed to them by the Monarch, to form a cabinet consisting of the heads of Duties as created by the agreement of the legislature and MR. A member of the cabinet is granted Duty Bearer and is designated the head of the department of the respective duty. The cabinet members must all be seated members of the Chamber of Ministers and have to be permitted the position by the Monarch, who typically grants the power to do so towards the MR. The cabinet consists of the following active Duties excluding the Deputy MR:
 * Duty of the Treasury
 * Duty of the Army
 * Duty of Health
 * Duty of Justice
 * Duty of Foreign Affairs
 * Duty of Internal Management
 * Duty of Public services
 * Duty of Rural Affairs and Development
 * Duty of Commerce
 * Duty of Industry & Urban Affairs
 * Duty of Culture & Tourism
 * Duty of Environmental Affairs
 * Duty of Socialist Cooperation efforts

Judiciary
The courts of Gemurtrak are broken into 3 separate blocs, each domination above having superior control over the Judicial decisions of those below. The Gemurtrakian judicial system has immense power, being the only branch in which the Monarch bears no power over the outcomes decided within it. The Monarch possesses the right to appoint judges (within the Imperial Court of Justice), however the Monarch has no control on their final decision and cannot force actions within the court.

Imperial Court of Justice
The Imperial Court of Justice is the highest legal power in Gemurtrak and possesses a high level of authority over the legal conditions of the federation. The Imperial Court is a collection of 10 members, 4 of which are selected by the Monarch, 1 by each Duke, and 2 selected by the 2 most popular parties (by total seats) in the legislature. They remain seated until 30 years of service, turning 80, self resignation, or death. A member can only serve for a single term, disallowing anyone who has served 30 years but is under 80 from serving again. All members cannot be removed following appointment except for an impeachment which requires 90% support ratio in both houses to go through. The seated members of the Imperial court have supreme command over the daily Judicial functions of Gemurtrak, possessing the authority to interpret and codify the constitution and other overarching federal laws.

The Imperial Court of Justice is the only Judicial branch with the power to legally charge and oversee a case involving a member of nobility. The Imperial Court’s primary focus of jurisdictions are towards the following:
 * Breaches of Federal or Constitutional Law
 * Between Duchies or States within multiple Duchies
 * Between an individual or group of individuals against the Federation
 * Concerning political representatives of other countries
 * Nobility or Members of noble title
 * Cases from lower courts may also become of interest to the Imperial court through appeals or through the escalation of legal action.

Supreme Federal Court
The supreme federal court manages most legal affairs surrounding multi-state issues that do not require the intervention of the Imperial court and it’s authority, which is commonly reserved for actions that affect multiple duchies or the entirety of the Federation. The Supreme Federal Court has a far more democratically elected group of judges compared to its superior. The court is split into 4 separate groupings, each associated with a duchy, the judges selected for these courts are chosen by the state leaders and permitted by the Duke of the respective duchy. The Duke also elects a singular judge who is deemed the head judge of the specific court group.

These 4 groups work individually within the jurisdiction of their duchy. Each duchy follows their own code of law which focuses on legal matters involving financial concerns, multi-state legal connections, and corporate functions, to name a few. These courts also manage other federal concerns denoted to them by the Imperial Court of Justice should the matter fall into their area of jurisdiction. These matters such as customs, Immigration, and other laws involving the movement and activity of people, services, and products, follow legal code set out by the Federal government and not by the state members of the duchy so as to ensure consistent ruling between multiple duchies. The Federal Courts have primary jurisdiction over the following:
 * Multi-state legal affairs (homicides within multiple states, theft in one state and perpetrator in another)
 * Corporate entities and their affairs
 * Bankruptcy
 * Immigration & Customs

State Court of Affairs
The state Court of Affairs handles smaller legal affairs in relation to events within a state border and its subdivisions. Single state affairs, such as those of defamation, theft, murder, and an assortment of petty crimes. Multi-state affairs are placed into the efforts of the Federal courts

Legislature
The Imperial Chambers is the collective term of the collective houses of public governance consisting of two chambers (3 if the Council of lords is included): The Chamber of Ministers and the Chamber of States. Both have public elections held every 4 years where all seats are voted upon. Both chambers functionally act for the purpose of presenting, discussing and approving/disapproving bills (with greater authority given to the chamber of states).

Chamber of States
The Chamber of States is the upper house of the legislature and possesses the highest degree of authority in the legislature. There are a total of 72 seats allotted for state representatives (3 per state), 4 seats for chief representatives, who represent a duchy in the chamber, 6 seats for representative members of Autonomous Administration Zones, and 4 members representing all Crown Administration Territory (namely Suzhya). This collection of 86 members act as the representatives for their direct state and the duchy of which they're under. The chamber acts as an area for discussion between states and for handling business of that nature including the concern of bills and their effect on a state, as well as the important yearly budget which is determined and subsequently split between the duchies and the central government. Of the 86 seats, each State Premier is automatically placed into one of 3 seats for each state. The Minister of the Republic occupies 1 seat of the Crown territory representatives. The Minister of the Republic can be leader even without popular control of the Chamber of States. Candidates must come from the state or duchy which represents the state of the seat available and must have represented a seat within the state for either 1 elected term or 2 election cycles.

Chamber of Ministers
The Chamber of Ministers is the lower house of the legislature And is representative of the whole federation and its civilians. There are 350 total seats representing 100,000 people per seat. The chamber of Ministers is the only house of legislature to present bills that can be voted upon (excluding the budget which is exclusively a right of the Chamber of States). Each member is elected for a 4 year term with unlimited terms. A party who holds the most seats is regarded as the leading party of the country with its head minister given the title of Minister of the Republic. The party with the second most seats in the Chamber of Ministers is deemed the opposition. Under Imperial decree 214-01, members of the Chamber must not be active commission ranked military Officers and must not ever have possessed the rank of !field marshall, !general or !lieutenant general.

State council
The state council is the legislative branch of every state with each having control over the lawmaking decisions within the state as well as having the primary authority to determine the state budget. This can be overruled by the duchy Duke should complications occur. Each state has a different number of seats based on population. Members of a state council are permitted 2 four year terms as the standard. However, other states may have more terms permitted.

Political parties
With the reintroduction of the Monarchy in 1952, the Monarchist Interest Party has existed as a political representation of the power of the Monarchy. Although regarded as a multi-party government, excluding recent years, Gemurtrak has been under the dominant control of the MIP and thus typically regarded as a one-party state by some international authorities. All members of the legislature must run under a state approved party and cannot run independently even under a self made party, needing at least 3 seats they can contest to qualify.