States General

The States General (: Staten Generaal), also known as the Lindian Parliament in English, is the unicameral legislature of Lindenholt that meets at the Bewindshof in the capital city Artwingen.

Empire
When King Conrad III died heirless in 1378, Lindenholt entered a with !ThemostpowerfulUmberstate in which the fiefdoms of the Lindian realm were left with a high degree of autonomy. While the kingdom's size played a role, it was mainly the social, cultural and economic differences between Lindenholt and Umbrellia that motivated !theUmberguy to grant the Lindian fiefdoms so much autonomy.

Initially the increased autonomy was well received by the Lindian nobility, however in the early 15th century it became apparent that the lack of a central authority was hurting the Lindian realm. The Lindian Guilder had suffered significant inflation due to a lack of centralised oversight. In addition to this, laws surrounding trade and the navigation of Lindenholt's inland waterways had become a patchwork of different rules, laws and taxes. Several floods, the most destructive of which setting Stokfort's streets under water for weeks, was directly the result of ill-maintained flood defences in a neighbouring state. Normally, the Crown would be responsible for the Realm's flood defences, however the new autonomous system made water management a competence of the fiefdoms directly.

In 1409 the Guldebond's member cities' delegations convened in Stokfort to discuss a solution to the problems brought about by the decentralisation. It was decided that Beutrecht would host the so-called Diet of Beutrecht, that included not only member cities of the Guldebond, but also from the other Lindian fiefdoms. While major problems between the Lindian states were resolved through the Diet of Beutrecht, key issues such as monetary policy could not be agreed upon. A second, third and fourth Diet of Beutrecht were held in the years following the first; the latter of which being deemed the most successful as it led to a petition signed by most of the Diet's attendees, requesting that !theUmberguy officially grant the Diet of Beutrecht privileges over the Lindian realm.

In 1416 !theUmberguy recognised the Rijksprivileges (lit. : Realm privileges), which established the States General, as well as the position of. It had 623 representatives representing the free cities and fiefdoms throughout the Lindian realm. In addition to this, !theUmberguy conceded that from that point onward only locals would be eligible for certain administrative positions within cities and fiefdoms, that the States General could convene at any time without hindrance, that the Lindian language would be the only official administrative language within the Lindian realm, and that the finances of the Lindian realm were to be managed by an independent chancellery. In addition to this, he agreed to stay several months of the year in the capital city of Artwingen.

Elections
Elections are held when the parliament's four year term expires or when a vote of no confidence is passed against the sitting government. All Lindian citizens over the age of 18 are eligible to vote, provided they are registered as living in a municipality or as a citizen abroad and were not disqualified from voting by a court. Candidates must follow the same criteria as voters, in addition to not being a convicted criminal. Independent or write-in candidates do not exist in Lindenholt, instead a registered party has to put a candidate on their list. Candidates are free to form their own party and participate in elections, however they require a minimum of 10,000 registered party members, representation with at least one member in a provincial parliament, representation of at least one member in the States General or a petition that has as many signatures as the previous election's electoral quotient.

Voting happens using a party list system. Candidates are either registered per district (with ballots in each district having a maximum of 5 local candidates per party), or they are on a nation-wide list (with a maximum of 50 candidates). Candidates that receive enough preferential votes to clear the electoral quotient (number of total votes cast, divided by the number of seats) are elected as members of parliament. Any additional votes cast to their name are transferred to the next candidate in line until they have also reached the required number of votes; this process continues until there are no longer enough votes left to clear the electoral quotient twice (circa 150,000 signatures). Parties are free to decide the order in which the votes are distributed, although most commonly the nation-wide candidates come first, followed by local candidates. It is important to note that while local candidates are displayed separately on the ballot, they are technically part of the same list as the national candidates. So, other than where they appear on the ballot, no real distinction is made between local or national members of parliament.

The results of the elections are usually made public on the night of the election and in some cases the morning after. The results must have been verified and made official before the Tuesday after the election, which is when the new parliament goes in to session.

Composition
The current composition of the States General is a result of the 2017 general elections, which were held after the previous parliament had completed its term. The UVD lost its plurality to the LVP, who became the largest party and could form a government. After a short period of negotiations, the first Tulpen cabinet was confirmed by a LVP-UVD-GP governing coalition. Notable for this election was that no parties other than those currently represented, could gather enough support to take part in the elections.

Parliamentary groups and members
Most members of the States General are part of a parliamentary group (called fractie lit. fraction) which are multi-member political parties. As write-in or independent candidates don't exist in Lindenholt, all initial members of a parliament are members of a parliamentary group led by a whip (fractievoorzitter lit.  fraction chairperson). The whip is most commonly the party's lijsttrekker during elections, however as it is common for coalition party lijsttrekkers to take up a cabinet position, these parties' whips are usually other influential MPs.

Members of a parliamentary group can be expelled from their party or leave on their own accord. Leaving MPs will become independent members (eenmansfractie lit. "one-man's-fraction") if they received enough preferential votes to clear the electoral quotient of the previous general election. If the MP in question did not receive enough votes, they will lose their status as MP and the party can select a replacement. When an independent MP joins a party already represented in parliament or creates another political party they will not automatically become MPs for that party, instead they remainin independent members until the next election. If multiple independent members choose to form a political party, they will be recognised as a parliamentary group. Independent members are exempt from certain restrictions that apply to parties that want to participate in general elections, this allows them to defend their seat and to grow their political movement. On the other hand, they do not have the same privileges of a parliamentary group such as membership to the presidium.

Presidium
The States General's presidium performs administrative tasks such as preparing the parliament's agenda, managing its budget and other work. The speaker (voorzitter lit. chairperson) is the presidium's head.

The first sessions of a new parliament are to elect members to the presidium. Each parliamentary group can nominate a single member of parliament to the position of speaker. MPs vote with a secret ballot for who they think is best suited for the post. Typically party politics plays a small role in this process, as candidates with a long parliamentary history, outstanding achievements or otherwise impactful work are preferred. A coin toss between the top two candidates determines who becomes speaker, with the loser becoming 1st deputy speaker. Then, the remaining nominees of each parliamentary group become deputy speakers in the order of votes they received.

Unlike in some countries, members of the States General's presidium retain their status as member of their party and as MP. However, they may not participate in debates when exercising their presidium duties.

Inquiry commission
In order to carry out its duty to oversee the government, the States General can exercise its constitutional right to conduct a parliamentary inquiry. Such an inquiry can be launched if a motion to do so is passed with a simple majority. When passed, each parliamentary group can appoint a single member as their representative to the inquiry commission. MPs can only be part of a single commission at a time. Typically, a new inquiry commission is created for each arising issue, however the first session of a new parliament will see the creation of commissions that relate to the affairs of a each member of the cabinet. Legally these are no different than inquiries surrounding current issues, in practice however they are regarded as permanent.

Inquiry commissions can organise (public) hearings where the participants are under oath. Since the 1980's it has become a criminal offence for those invited to a parliamentary hearing to not cooperate or be absent. From this point onward, the States General has used their right to inquire more as a means to uncover the truth, rather than for its intended purpose of simply informing the parliament. For the latter goal, the States General has introduced the parliamentary research process; which functions similarly to a parliamentary inquiry sans its legal (and penal) basis.