The Koningsberg Palace is where the Congress is located
The Congress (Dutch: Congres) is the bicameral legislative body of Brunant, consisting of the Senate (upper chamber) and the House of Representatives (lower chamber). Both chambers meet at the Koningsberg Palace in Koningstad.
History[]
Predecessors to the modern-day Congress include the Republican Estates and the Royal Courts. From the mid-17th century until 1784, Brunant had no official legislative body and its government was only formed by ministers appointed by the monarch and headed by the Chief Minister. In 1784, James Carrington invaded Brunant and installed himself as president; he abolished all other political functions.
Following Carrington's death in 1802, King Ambroos I, with the help of monarchists and reformists, was able to sideline Carrington's son and successor David James Carrington. He wrote a constitution and installed a new legislative authority, which comprised of two chambers: the Congress. Its upper chamber was the Senate, which consisted of both nobles and clergy, who were senators for life. The lower chamber was the House of Representatives; its members were appointed by the monarch. During the 19th century, the way the members of the House were chosen as representatives changed many times. Some of its members were elected by the Senate or the monarch and some were locally elected by parish governments.
In 1882, however, the first democratically elections were held. Since then, the Prime Minister forms a government cabinet and takes responsibility before the Congress and not longer before the president. Since then, congressional members are elected in different ways.
Composition[]
The Congress consists of 124 members:
- 24 senators, which are elected by the instant-runoff voting method
- 100 representatives, which are elected by proportional representation
For more information about how Congress members are elected, see here.
The President of the House leads the meetings in the House, but also acts as president of the Senate when necessary since the Senate does not have a president. The current president is Reinier Vervoort of the Free Liberal Party.