Grand Assembly (Chisei)

The Grand Assembly, also known as the Taigikwe (Shirakawan: 大議會 たいぎく ゑ  ) or Takika (Saramosiri: 大議會 たきか), is the supreme  of Chisei. The assembly is, and meets in the Grand Assembly Building of the Royal City, Eito. There are 739 total seats in the Assembly, and elections are held every 3 years using a with.

The Grand Assembly was founded in 1825, under the Kafō Constitution that was adopted in the aftermath of the Taifei Revolution, though it had been preceded by the Oai of Saramosir and the Kokkwe of Shirakawa, elected assemblies consisting of landowning gentry, though these were regional and largely advisory in nature.

The Kafō Assembly reached the height of its political influence during the period known as the Kōshin Democracy, but declined in the late 19th century as Chiseian government became increasingly oligarchic and authoritarian. By 1895, the two major parties, the National Reform Association and the Salt and Iron Party, decided elections in advance and alternated periods in government. This was known as Nitō Tōsei (二黨頭制, lit. 'Two Party Head System'), and contributed to growing unrest within Chisei at the start of the 20th century. After the disastrous outcome of the 1918 - 1923 First Escar-Varunan War, the civilian government of Chisei was overthrown in a military coup, and the Grand Assembly was dissolved soon after in 1927. It would not meet again until the restoration of civilian government 27 years later, under the 1954 Meiwa Constitution, which instituted the assembly in its modern form.

The Prime Minister of Chisei and the ministers of the Great Council are appointed by the Chancellor on the advice of the Assembly, and may also be dismissed by the Assembly, and consequently the majority of the Assembly largely determines the choice of government. The Prime Minister in turn has a significant influence on the legislative agenda.

Qualifications
The Constitution of Chisei dictates that in addition to popular support, candidates to the assembly must be subject to a process of via examination, though the specifics of this process are left to legislation and decisions of the Kōshīn, or Examination Commission. Constitutionally defined as minimum requirements are fluency in the state languages of Shirakawan and Saramosiri, knowledge of present constitutional arrangements, a high standard of literacy and numeracy and an evident commitment to 'legitimate constitutional government'. Candidates must also be Chiseian citizens.

On account of its vague wording, the last requirement is the subject of significant constitutional debate in Chisei, and has been challenged on numerous occasions; the Iwakura Case in 1961 successfully established the precedent that the disqualification of left-wing and nationalist candidates (who did not advocate violence or illegal political activity) from election on the basis of 'anti-constitutionalism' conflicted with another principle defined in the Meiwa Constitution, the prohibition of discrimination based on "race, creed, sex, social status, family origin, education, property or income" in electoral law.

Under the 1825 Decree on Ranks and the 1956 Examinations Act, all civilian state officials in Chisei, elected and appointed, are categorized under the Sennin Wisei (選任位制, 'Appointment Rank System'). The system is divided into six tiers (階 kai or ka) - royal, national, state, provincial, sub-provincial and municipal - with each tier being further subdivided into three ranks (位 wi), numbered in descending order. The rank system regulates ceremonial precedence and pay, but most importantly it is tied to the civil examination system, which are used to determine which individuals are qualified for appointment to offices of particular rank (with specialised exams for bureaucratic positions, as well as general ones for elected posts). Advancement through the ranks requires passing the relevant exams of all previous ranks within the same specialisation, and in some cases holding ranks for a given amount of time.

Since the 1997 Assembly Rank Act, Assembly Representatives are classified as Officials of National Second Rank (國階二位 Kokkai Niwi or Kokuka Niwi). Candidates are required to hold a Kokkai degree (usually requiring 1 - 3 years of fulltime study, depending on prior knowledge of Shirakawan and Saramosiri and legal experience) and have held for 3 years an office of National Third Rank, First or Second State Rank, or Provincial/Municipal First Rank. In addition they must have passed the National Assembly Representative Exam.

Taking into account qualifications for prior held offices, an absolute minimum of 12 years of study and experience are required for election to the Grand Assembly; however the mean average time between entering politics and election for members of the 60th Grand Assembly (2016 - 2019) was 36.3 years. The sennin wisei and examination process has been criticised in Chiseian society for a variety of reasons, such as that it is seen as favouring a, that it discriminates against those who do not speak one or both of the two state languages, and that the pool of candidates elected are inherently out of touch with the experience of regular people, and inherently corrupt on account of dedicating their entire careers to politics. Defenders of the system argue that it is an effective check on, guarantees candidates are proficient and dedicated to their role, and that national-level politicians in countries without such systems such as Yamatai also trend towards being older and more experienced.

Elections
The basic provisions for elections to the Grand Assembly are defined in the Kafō Constitution, which outlines that elections must take place "every 3 years, or within 20 days of the early dissolution of the Assembly". suffrage is "universal without discrimination" for all Chiseian subjects over the age of 17, with the Meiwa Constitution of 1954 further guaranteeing and explicitly forbidding the use of force or monetary incentives to manipulate voting.

The Meiwa Constitution adopted the current system of, also used for chancellorial elections. Elections for the Grand Assembly take place in. To be elected in the first round, a candidate is required to secure an absolute majority of votes cast, and also to secure votes equal to at least 25% of eligible voters in their constituency. If no candidate is elected in the first round, those who account for in excess of 12.5% (1⁄8) of the registered voters are entered in the second round of voting, with the winner being the candidate that achieves a of votes. If no three or more meet such conditions, the two highest-placing candidates automatically advance to the second round of voting – at which, the candidate who receives the most votes is elected.

Since the 2007 election, there have been 739 seats in the Grand Assembly. These include 283 seats in Shirakawa, 194 seats in Saramosir, 107 seats in Geusyo, 69 seats in Uraan and 34 seats in Kitahashi. The Eito Royal Capital Province (including the city of Eito itself) holds 29 seats. 2 constituencies are located in the Kyōtsu commandery, and 1 in the Takanashi commandery. 20 representatives are elected by the Overseas Citizens Assembly, a 100-member elected by Chiseian citizens living overseas (including members of the Chiseian diaspora, deployed members of the Armed Forces, and residents of certain overseas territories.)

Constituencies are drawn by the independent Royal Electoral Boundary Commission, with redistricting subject to approval by the Grand Assembly and relevant National Assemblies, and sometimes referenda in certain autonomous territories. Prior to 1997 constituency sizes varied wildly, with some constituencies in Wanshu having over 500,000 voters, while rural constituencies in northern Saramosir had only 40,000. The 1997 Assembly Elections Act partially amended this issue, declaring that constituencies should ideally represent 150,000 registered voters each, with no more than 20% variation between constituencies. However the subsequent attempts by the Boundary Commission to implement the reccomendations of the act were defeated several times in the National Assemblies of Saramosir and Geusyo, largely due to opposition by the Federalist Party (then in opposition) and some major regional parties which feared the reforms would harm their electoral performance. Further attempts at redistricting have also not been made since 2005, and as a result there are once again increasing disparities between rural and urban constituencies, in addition to the wildly varying seats that avoided 1997 reforms.

The 1956 Elections Act dictates that first round elections take place on the tenth day of the third month in the Chiseian calendar (between April and May in the ), with second rounds taking place exactly 10 days later. In years where the Assembly elections coincide with a chancellorial election, as in the 2016 election, the first rounds of the general election will be scheduled alongside the first round of the chancellorial election, on the tenth day of the fourth month (between May and June), with the two second-round elections also taking place simultaneously 10 days later.

Employers are legally required to provide paid leave to employees who request it on election days, without prior notice; election days are thus de-facto holidays, with many businesses being closed.

Chiseian media (including newspapers, radio and television) and political parties are legally forbidden from running political advertising or "opinion-based" electoral reporting in the 5 days running up to and on the days of both rounds of elections, though polls and data on turnout are usually allowed. The Committee of Electoral Affairs of the Tosatsuin is the primary electoral authority in Chisei, responsible for monitoring the conduct of elections and maintaining their integrity.

Current legislature
The 2019 Chiseian general election saw the split of the Royalist Party of Chisei over a controversial electoral alliance with the Golden Banner Party. The fallout of this major political collapse, the decline of the Golden Banner itself amid growing scandals and splits in the leadership, growing discontent under the Federalist-Poromosiri government of Makino Shikayu and a surge in the vote share of left-wing and regionalist parties helped propel a coalition consisting of the New Citizens Party (a Royalist center-left breakaway under the leadership of veteran assembywoman Nishioha Kyōka) as well as the Social Front and regionalist Northern Welfare Party into power.