National Assembly of the Istalian Empire

The National Assembly of the Istalian Empire (Istalian: Assemblea Nazionale dell'Impero Istaliano), often simply called The National Assembly or only The Assembly, is the national legislative body of the Istalian Empire. It is a 681-member unicameral legislature.

History
The Assembly was created in 4571 with the foundation of the Istalian Empire and it's the successor of the previous republican National Congress. The first term of the National Assembly followed the third one of the Congress. During the development of the Imperial reform, it was discussed if maintain the unicameral system adopted by the Fifth Republic or if reintroduce a second chamber, an Imperial Senate, to balance the sostantially increased importance of the National Assembly, thought by the most fanatic of the imperial reform also as an upper chamber in support of the Imperial Authority. These proposal were abandoned due to the opposition of most part of the other political forces and it was approved an unicameral parliamentary system.

Powers
The Assembly since 4575 elections has 681 seats and is elected with a pure proportional system based on five costituencies which perfectly correspond to the five istalian regions. The Assembly is the only government body which can approve the laws, the budget laws, the treaties and which can declared war. The Congress, furthermore, shall elect and approve through a vote of confidence the Head of Government and Cabinet which the Head of State shall then appoint; the Assembly can proceed with a motion of no-confidence through both a costructive or destructive vote of no-confidence against the Prime Minister and the whole cabinet or single Ministers. The electoral system forecast the correction given by an electoral law never abolished, Electoral Law called "Honoris Electoral Law", which allows and promotes the formation of pre-electoral coalition for the parties, especially those which support a common candidate to the role of Head of Government, a system which introduces majoritarian tendencies and a strong coalition responsibility which forces to a greater stability.

President of the National Assembly
He is the speaker of the National Assembly, it is the second-highest ranking office of the Italian Empire, after the Emperor. The main function of the president is to ensure that the National Assembly functions correctly, to guarantee the application of the Assembly's rules of procedure, and oversee the proper functioning of its administrative apparatus. The president judges the admissibility of evidence, maintains order and directs the discussion. The task of directing sessions of the Assembly belongs to the President and to accomplish this he can undertake disciplinary actions like: calling a deputy to order, ordering a deputy to leave the Assembly, and in serious cases, censuring a deputy and suspending them from the Assembly for two to fifteen days.

The President of the National Assembly second most important duty, consist in consulting the political forces of the National Assembly to determine to whom enthrust the duty to form a new Government after each elections.

Finally, the President of the National Assembly must also be consulted by the Emperor before the dissolution of the legislature.

Election
The President of the National Assembly is elected at the beginning of the legislature for the duration of the term. The first sitting is chaired by the oldest member of the Assembly who organizes the election of the President from among the deputies. The election is made by secret ballot at the tribune of the hemicycle. To be elected, an MP must have an absolute majority in the first two rounds, or a relative majority in the third. If there is still a tie, the oldest candidate is elected.

Vice-President
The President of the National Assembly appoints one or more Vice-Presidents of the National Assembly who collaborate with the President and replace him in case of absence by presiding over the meetings of the Assembly. The President, although he has the sole power and authority whether to appoint any Vice President and to dismiss him, or them, at any time, as per gentle parliamentary convention the Vice-President of the National Assembly is appointed among the Assembly's members belonging to the opposition after consultation with its leader, or leaders. Usually are appointed more than a vice president in case of more opposition parties, however, if there are already three vice president from the opposition, a fourth is appointed among the majority parties.

Membership
The current membership of the National Congress after the latest political election of 11 April 4598:

Electoral Records of the National Assembly
       See: Electoral results history of the Istalian Empire

Location
Since its creation in 4571, the National Assembly met in the Palace of the Republic, in Romula, in the larger of the two chambers housed by the Palace, where also the National Congress of the Fifth Republic and the Chamber of Deputies of the previous Fourth Republic met. The Palace was built at the beginning of 43th under at the time Fourth Republic when the previous parliamentary location was judged in critic condition and in need of serious restructuring. The Republic took instead the decision to buil a totally newly building also to bring back together the two Houses, which previously had different meeting places. The new Palace became an iconinic building in the landscape of Romula and of the politic culture of the country.