Constitution (alternate version)

From Roach Busters

Revision as of 02:58, 4 February 2009

Chapter
The National Congress

Part I: General

Section 1. Legislative power shall be vested in the National Congress, hereinafter referred to as Congress, which shall consist of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies.

to be continued

Part II: The Senate

Section 1. The Senate shall be composed of members appointed by the legislatures of each of the states of the Republic. Each state shall appoint ten senators, in the manner determined by the constitution of the state concerned.

Section 2. The term of office for Senators shall be six years.

Section 3. A Senator may be removed at any time from office by the legislature of the state from which he was appointed, by a vote of two-thirds of the members of the legislature concerned. In the event of such removal, the state legislature shall, as soon as practicable, appoint a Senator to hold the seat until the completion of the period for which the person in whose stead he is appointed would have held the seat.

Section 4. No person shall serve as Senator for more than two terms, consecutive or otherwise.

No Senator who has previously resigned his seat or been recalled by the legislature from which he was appointed shall be eligible for re-appointment to the Senate.

Section 5. The Senate shall, before proceeding to the dispatch of any other business, choose a Senator to be President of the Senate, and as often as the office of President becomes vacant the Senate shall again choose a Senator to be the President.

The President of the Senate shall cease to hold office if he ceases to be a Senator and he may be removed from the Presidency of the Senate by a vote of two-thirds of the members of the Senate, or he may resign as President of the Senate by writing under his hand addressed to the President of the Republic.

Prior to or during the absence of the President of the Senate, the Senate may choose a Senator to perform his duties in his absence.

Section 6. A Senator may, by writing under his hand addressed to the President of the Senate, resign his seat, which thereupon shall become vacant.

Whenever the seat of a Senator becomes vacant, whether in consequence of his resignation or otherwise, the legislature of the state from which the Senator was appointed shall, as soon as practicable, appoint a Senator to hold the seat until the completion of the period for which the person in whose stead he is appointed would have held the seat.

Section 7. All questions in the Senate shall be determined by a majority of votes of Senators present other than the President of the Senate or the presiding Senator, who shall, however, have and exercise a casting vote in the case of an equality of votes.

Part III: The Chamber of Deputies

Section 1. The Chamber of Deputies shall be composed of 150 members, directly chosen by the voters of the Republic in constituencies delimited as hereinafter provided.

Section 2. (1) ______ shall be divided into as many constituencies as there are members of the Chamber of Deputies in such manner as the competent authority, acting with the approval of each house of Congress signified by resolution, may prescribe.

(2) No constituency shall form part of more than one state and the boundaries of each constituency shall be such that the number of inhabitants thereof is as nearly equal to the population quota as is reasonably practicable, provided that the number of inhabitants of a constituency may be greater or less than the population quota in order to take account of means of communication, geographical features, the distribution of different communities, and the boundaries of the states.

(3) The competent authority shall review the division of ______ into constituencies at intervals of not less than five and not more than ten years and may alter the constituencies in accordance with the provisions of this section to such extent as it may consider desirable in the light of the review: Provided that that authority may at any time carry out such a review and alter the constituencies in accordance with the provisions of this section to such extent as it considers necessary.

(4) Where the boundaries of any constituency established under this section are altered in accordance with the provisions of this section, that alteration shall come into effect after the expiration of the full term of all the members of Congress approving such alteration.

(5) In this section "population quota" means the number obtained by dividing the number of the inhabitants of _____ by the number of constituencies into which _____ is divided under this section.

(6) For the purposes of this section the number of inhabitants of _____ or any part thereof shall be ascertained by reference to the latest census of the population of _____.

(7) In this section "the competent authority" means the Electoral Commission of the Republic or such other authority consisting of a chairman appointed by the President of the Republic, and of members appointed in like manner to represent the states (each state being equally represented) as may be established in that behalf by Congress.

Section 3. (1) Every constituency established under Section 2 shall return to the Chamber of Deputies one member who shall be directly elected in such manner as may be prescribed by Congress.

(2) The registration of voters and the conduct of elections shall be subject to the direction and supervision of the Electoral Commission of the Republic.

Section 4. The term of office for Deputies shall be four years.

Section 5. A Deputy may be recalled by the electorate of the constituency from which he was elected, as provided in this Section.

A petition to recall the Deputy must be signed by not less than fifty thousand electors of the constituency concerned, and delivered to the President of the Chamber of Deputies.

An election to determine whether to recall the Deputy and, if appropriate, to elect a successor shall be called by the President of the Chamber of Deputies and held not less than 30 days nor more than 60 days from the date of certification of sufficient signatures.

If a majority of the electorate votes in favor of recalling the Deputy, the Deputy shall thereupon resign his office, and, if there is a candidate, the candidate who receives a plurality shall succeed the Deputy. The candidate elected to succeed the Deputy shall hold his seat until the completion of the period for which the Deputy in whose stead he was elected would have held the seat.

If a majority of the electorate does not vote in favor of recalling the Deputy, a new petition to recall the Deputy may not be submitted sooner than 100 days after the conclusion of the election last held for the purpose of deciding whether to recall the Deputy.

Section 6. No person shall serve as Deputy for more than three terms, consecutive or otherwise.

No Deputy who has previously resigned his seat or been recalled by the electorate of his constituency shall be eligible for re-election to the Chamber of Deputies.

Section 7. The Chamber of Deputies shall, before proceeding to the dispatch of any other business, choose a Deputy to be President of the Chamber of Deputies, and as often as the office of President becomes vacant the Chamber of Deputies shall again choose a Deputy to be the President.

The President of the Chamber of Deputies shall cease to hold office if he ceases to be a Deputy and he may be removed from the Presidency of the Chamber of Deputies by a vote of two-thirds of the members of the Chamber, or he may resign as President of the Chamber of Deputies by writing under his hand addressed to the President of the Republic.

Prior to or during the absence of the President of the Chamber of Deputies, the Chamber may choose a Deputy to perform his duties in his absence.

Section 8. A Deputy may, by writing under his hand addressed to the President of the Chamber of Deputies, resign his seat, which thereupon shall become vacant.

Whenever the seat of a Deputy becomes vacant, whether in consequence of his resignation or otherwise, the President of the Chamber of Deputies shall, as soon as practicable, call an election in the constituency from which that Deputy was elected, to elect a successor. The person elected to succeed that Deputy shall hold his seat until the completion of the period for which the person in whose stead he was elected would have held the seat.

Section 9. All questions in the Chamber of Deputies shall be determined by a majority of votes of Deputies present other than the President of the Chamber of Deputies or the presiding Deputy, who shall, however, have and exercise a casting vote in the case of an equality of votes.