Parliament etiquette in your country

[Charlotte Ryberg]

Inspiration: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-32913113

Even though the Commons is widely know as the Globe Theatre of Politics due to its full circular layout, Minoa's parliamentary etiquette is nearly the same as the UK Parliament, including the rule that 'members must not disturb a Member who is speaking by hissing, chanting, clapping, booing, exclamations or other interruption'.

The UK-style Minoan parliament etiquette applies to national and regional parliaments and city assemblies, for sake for consistency.

So what is the parliament etiquette in your country?

[Shaggtopia]

Parliament meets daily, they meet by party with the exception of party emmesaries who sit in on the meetings of other parties and are not allowed to speak even while being addressed or personally accosted. The meetings are otherwise open forum and often decend into chaos and violence, in fact recent statistics dictate that being a politician in Shaggtopia carries a higher risk of being fatally wounded than being enlisted and actively serving in the military. Party emmesaries bring the issues being discussed most vocally before the Grand Nobody who then makes the Absolute Judgment Call. This is how a law is born.

Given the violent nature of the political process some weapons have been banned from the main meeting hall and committee chambers. All automatic weapons, projectile explosives, and chemical agents are banned in these rooms although it should be noted that they are NOT banned elsewhere on the grounds.

[Davao and Mati]

Parliament meets daily(Both national and Devolved), they meet by party including neutralists or Crossbenchers(in the House of Princes) Meetings are otherwise open forum and peaceful but there are times that violence will strike due to a disfavourable topic however the Lord Speaker(in the House of Commons or Devolved) or the Elected Monarch(in the House of Princes) may alert the Chief Whip and the Disciplinary Committee to discipline all the MP's/MDP/MMP/MVAP/MBUP/MSUP's(House of Commons and Devolved) or elected prince/princess(House of Princes)

Given the violent nature of the political process, All weapons have been banned from the main meeting hall and committee chambers. All automatic weapons, projectile explosives, and chemical agents are banned in the Parliament building.

[Geadland]

The House of Representatives (pictured) is laid out as a hemi-cycle. There is a tradition that left-wing parties sit on the left-hand side of the speaker, while right-wing parties sit on the right-hand side. Senior MPs such as party leaders, ministers, shadow ministers and whips will sit at the front. There is a rostrum at the centre of the room where MPs and visitors stand to making speeches. The speaker sits in a throne-like chair behind the rostrum.

When debates get heated, the chamber can resemble a miniature football stadium, with parties cheering and applauding politicians they support and booing and chanting against those from other parties. This isn't the norm, though. The Senate and local councils have similar procedures and almost never get rowdy at all.

[Formicashig]

Parliament meets on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays although in urgency it can meet on any day except Sunday. The state opening of Parliament will usually occur on a Monday and this is usually the only time Parliament will sit on a Monday.

Members are expected to wear wigs and gowns.

The speaker sits in a throne like chair at the front of the chamber, with the governing party on his right and the opposition on his left.

Usually the order of speaking will be allocated by the speaker beforehand, and members must be silent when the speaker is standing. It is generally expected they will be silent when another member is speaking, although interjections are sometimes allowed at the discretion of the speaker.

[Tolmakia]

By law, the Republican Parliament (commonly known as the Republican Assembly) must have at least "one session" each year, but it usually meets on weekdays. It meets 2:00 - 10:00 PM on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays; 1:30 - 9:00 PM on Thursdays; and 9:30 AM - 3:30 PM on Fridays.

During sessions, members of both houses may decide questions by voice vote. They may shout "aye/content" or "no/not content." They may clap, but only on cue. The tradition of voicing their votes was passed down by the british, while the signal of applause was adopted since members were annoyed at being interrupted by clapping during speaking. Each house is also responsible for disciplining its members.

Cabinet members have the right to appear in either house, usually for speaking on bills. Both houses also have the right to compel members to appear.

Visitors may come and watch from a gallery as the assembly goes on with its procedures.

[Vallermoore]

MPs can clap, cheer and boo, but are not allowed to drown out speeches or swear in the parliament chamber. Weapons in the parliament chamber have been banned for over five hundred years since one MP stabbed another to death in said chamber with a sword during Queen Yocasta's reign. MPs cannot be sued for what they say in the chamber, but may lose their speech rights if they keep on slandering others. They wear suits, no non-suits are permitted. Visitors may view the chamber, but they have to wear gags to keep them quiet and will be arrested if they throw anything into the chamber.

[Liberty and Alderney]

Lobbyists and criminals can give nice gifts to members of the council. Its not bribery, its courtesy!

[Wallenburg]

Delegates to the National Assembly are expected to dress formally and not attack one another on Assembly grounds. Guards regularly share the Assembly with politicians, preserving order and minimizing the risk of an assassination. Consuls from each major party oversee the Assembly and present most legislation. Delegates may not speak unless at the lectern or called upon by a consul or the speaker.

[Novus Niciae]

Dress: Wearing a toga is expected for all members of parliament, a purple cloak is also expected for senators. They must fit the parliamentary style guide for togas and cloaks as all members are expected to appear the same.

Method of address: Representatives are called an honorable member followed by the name of their seat. Senators are called learned members. Ministers may also be referred to by their ministry. Personal names are not used in the houses except when a new member is being introduced for the first time. Again this is to represent that members set aside their personal goals and act for the good of the republic.

Behavior: Cheering and catcalling is frowned upon and expected to be kept to a minimum and it is to cease immediately if the speaker calls for silence. Members of the general public may ask questions during question time which is two hours long and held on the first day of every month. Citizens are expected to submit their question in written form for the relevant minister to answer. Non-citizens may submit questions but the questions of citizens will be answered first.

Procedures: Speech length is restricted to half an hour for non ministers and one hour for ministers speaking about their area of expertise to prevent filibustering. Voting is performed by a secret ballot using the terminal on the member's desk.

[Greater Mackonia]

-Members of the Csion may not threaten each other with weapons while tea is being served. Only when all members have finished drinking their tea may firearms be brandished or used within the Csion.
-Members of the Csion must be present for the daily swearing of oaths or may not attend any meetings for that day.
-All coup coup d'état s must be registered at the Coup Office and must not cash with other coup d'état.

[Nina-]

By the Nina Constitution The Nina Parliament (commonly known as Nina House) must have at least one session each month, It must meet on on weekdays. It meets 2:00 - 10:00 PM on Mondays, 2:30 - 10:30 on Tuesdays, and Wednesdays; 1:30 - 9:00 PM on Thursdays; and 9:30 AM - 3:30 PM on Fridays.

During sessions, members of both houses may decide questions by computer vote. They use a computer that has yes or no and they click on yes or no. They may clap, but only on cue. The tradition of voicing their votes was eliminated in 2010 while the signal of applause was eliminated since members were annoyed at being interrupted by clapping during speaking. Each house is also responsible for disciplining its members.

Cabinet members have the right to break a tie.

Visitors may come and watch from a gallery as the assembly goes on with its procedures.

[Havenburgh]

for a near direct democracy here in Havenburgh, the Parliament which is called the national assembly meets every day except for Saturday and Sunday. the usually convene from 8am to 4pm, in which all .embers must be treated with outermost respect. since all meetings are open to the republic (some are not, but those arnt posted to the people) there are etiquette officers to make sure the public stays courteous even though we never had a problem. when assembly members are speaking, there is absolute silence from the rest of the room. Same whenever a regular person is speaking.

[Tierra Prime]

The Emperor calls the Imperial Senate to session three or four times a week, depending on his schedule. If he is unable to attend a meeting, the chancellor will take over his duties as his official representative. When the Emperor speaks, the senate chamber must remain silent. Anyone who intentionally disrupts the Emperor is removed from the Imperial Palace by the Emperor's guards and sent back to their constituency to face a public recall. If they survive the recall, they must formally apologise to the Emperor before they can resume their seat. Should the senator in question refuse to apologise, they will be stripped of their position and sent home in disgrace, effectively ending their political careers.

The regional assemblies function in much the same way, with the local prince acting as the Emperor's official representative. Should the Emperor attend a session of a regional assembly, he will formally open it in the presence of the local prince, who will then bow before the Emperor. Once the Emperor and the prince have taken their seats, the representatives may speak. Both the Emperor and the prince will answer questions from representatives, so long as order is kept. Should a representative intentionally interrupt the Emperor, the procedure outlined above applies. These rules apply to the princes also, who are usually protected by a regiment from the Imperial Guard, though the Emperor may pardon issue a pardon if he is present.

[Forlini and its Dominion]

The Parliament of the Empire of Forlini consists of three houses: The Council of Families, The Senate and the House of Representatives. The Parliament meets on weekdays at 9am, opened with a non-denominational prayer led by a Chaplain. This prayer duty is rotated among chaplains of major religions in Forlini (Church of Forlini Priests, Catholic Priests, Imams of Shia Islam, Jewish Rabbis, and Buddhist Monks).

The Empress opens the Parliament every year known as the State Opening of Parliament and delivers the Empress' speech outlining the work of the government for the year while sitting on the throne, on an elevated dais.

Senators and Representatives wear business attire while Lords and members of the peerage of Forlini wear parliamentary robes made from scarlet superfine faced cloth, a durable tightly woven wool fabric, they were finely trimmed with three-inch wide bars and two-inch wide gold oak leaf lace.

The number of bars and gold reveals the wearer’s rank:
Duke - 4 rows
Marquess - 3½ rows
Earl - 3 rows
Viscount - 2½ rows
Baron - 2 rows

The parliamentary etiquette of Forlini is akin to that of the British Parliament. MPs may not swear and has parliamentary immunity inside the premise of Parliament. It is illegal to carry weapons inside Parliament except for parliamentary police.

[The Northern Kingdoms]

Parliament is divided into two houses: Upper House and Lower House.

Parliament meets everyday except Sundays, 09:00-17:00 on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 13:00-21:00 on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Legislators are seated on a semi-circle area (outer circle, or an escalated part of the semi-circle for Upper House), and, for the Upper House, Council of Royals members, known as peers, are seated in the inner circle. As of now, seating goes as follows:
-Leftists, except for libertarians (as a result of lack of space in the left side), are seated to the left part of the semi-circle (left of the speaker, that is). The order from farthest to nearest, left to right: Sonacists, Communists, Liberals and Progressives
-Rightists and libertarians are seated to the right part of the semi-circle (right of the speaker, that is). The order from farthest to nearest, right to left: Fascists, Nationalists (Conservatives) and Libertarians


Diagram for the Upper House Legislators


Diagram for the Lower House Legislators

Legend:
Gray: Sonacist Party (0 UH seats, 1 LH seat)
Red: Communist Party (1 UH seats, 2 LH seat)
Brown: Liberal Party (36 UH seats, 149 LH seat)
Green: Progressive Party (37 UH seats, 148 LH seat)
Blue: Libertarian Party (53 UH seats, 206 LH seat)
Yellow: Nationalist Party (23 UH seats, 92 LH seat)
Teal: Fascist Party (0 UH seats, 2 LH seat)

Everyone wears business attire, but peers wear sashes across their left shoulders. These sashes have a gold border, but the color of the sash depends on the rank of the peer:
Duke - Red
Marquess - White
Earl - Blue
Viscount - Purple
Baron - Green

Name calling, insulting and jeering is not allowed in parliament. However, cheering (except on speaking), booing (also except on speaking) and clapping (albeit a bit on cue) is allowed. Only parliamentary guards are allowed to carry weapons. Visitors may visit the parliamentary chamber, but on a special viewing area.

[Delkora]

Seating: The Parliamentary chambers have a semi-circular design with a podium at the front of the room. The government coalition sits on the left side of the room from the podium's perspective, and the primary opposition sits to the right of them. Other opposition parties sit to the far right.

Method of Address: Members are referred to as "the honorable member from [name of constituency]." Cabinet ministers are referred to as "the honorable minister of [name of ministry]."

Behavior: During speeches, silence is expected and strictly enforced. The debates that follow, however, can get rowdy.

Dress: While there is no official dress code, members generally wear business-type clothing.

Procedures: The first session of the year is opened with a speech from the King, and subsequent sessions are opened with brief speeches from the chancellor and his cabinet, in which they relay important information and report on their progress in various areas. Legislation is then read, and an hour or two is allotted for speeches relating to the legislation. Another hour or two is allotted for a debate led by the party leaders, which other members can get involved in once recognized by the Chair. After debate, votes are cast electronically from member's seats.

[Oceania Oriental]

We have no Parliament but court behavior is regulated strictly by old laws and Oceani tradition. People are expected to keep each other socially in-line. In our culture, though, elaborate, classy, profanity-laced insults are commonplace.

[Ifoutan]

While clapping, hear-hearing, vocalizing agreement or despise is allowed during informal meetings; however, once a formal meeting is called then all members of the National Assembly must not vocalize or clap while someone is speaking and may only speak when voting or being given the floor by the President.

[New Vudnia]

Members of parliament may not attempt to stop another member from speaking through the use of loud noises, filibusters, or physical assault. They may however, show support for a member by clapping, giving a hearty harumph, or simply standing up.

Weapons deadlier than a pen knife are banned in parliament, but members are free to pelt each other with crumpled up pieces of paper. this is a common occurrence.

All parliament members must show up for work every day, if they do not, their pay is docked unless they are using one of their seven designated sick days. Parliament does not meet during national holidays.

[Stormaen]

Given that Stormaen's political system is based off of the UK's, it'll be no surprise it largely adheres to the parliamentary procedures of the British Parliament.

[Anollasia]

The Council of Legislation is laid out as a semi-circle. Parliament meets everyday except for official holidays.

[Themiclesia]

Our only constitutionally required body that serves a conciliatory, legislative function is the tri-annual assembly of the lords (state rulers) at the king's palace. This is a rubber-stamp for the policies that have already been implemented in a majority of states. As a result, no disputes arise during the assembly, so no firm rules of etiquette are required.

[Gandoor]

Gandoor's parliament (officially referred to as The Forum of the Democratic Republic of Gandoor) consists of one house with 1000 Members of the Forum. The Forum is arranged in a half-circle seating arrangement. The seating arrangement is as follows (going from leftmost seats to rightmost seats): Gandoor Communist Party, New Democratic Party, Gandoor Freedom Group, People's Party of Gandoor. Within each political party seating, Members of the Forum are seated based upon the yon (Gandoor's administrative divisions) they represent, with Members that have served longer being seated to the left and newly elected Members being arranged in alphabetical order by last name.

The Forum is required by law to meet at least three times a week for sessions that must be a minimum of 35 minutes in length. The Forum does not meet on public holidays nor weekends.

There is no official dress code for Members, but there is an expectation to dress respectively while the Forum is in session.

Similarly, there is no rules regarding conduct, but Members can be removed for "conduct unbecoming a politician". In general, things such as using curse words, making noise, and the like are frowned upon, but not officially against the rules.

The Forum is open to visitors Monday through Friday from 10am until 8pm (even when the Forum is not in session). When the Forum is in session, visitors are seated in a special visitors box, which has a maximum seating capacity of 300, in order to watch the session. This is done to prevent anyone from interrupting the Forum. When the Forum is not in session, visitors may take tours into the actual chambers themselves.

[Magical Equestria]

Equestria's Parliament superficially resembles that of Great Britain, in that it's divided into two houses: The House of Burgesses is an elected assembly of Earth pony representatives from the various cities and towns, and the House of Peers is a smaller body of hereditary "peers of the realm" consisting of the various feudal, aristocratic Unicorn families. (Pegasi, recalling their militaristic history, do not participate in the democratic process. They are led by a military hierarchy that reports directly to the Princess.)

That said, the Equestrian parliament is far removed from Great Britain's. There is no Prime Minister; her majesty Princess Celestia is both head of state and head of the government. In many ways the parliament is a rubber-stamp; it mainly has authority due to the Princess's seeming disinterest in the day-to-day workings of her government. Both Houses have an elected (for Burgesses) or appointed (for Peers) Speaker that maintains order and keeps things running, except in those very rare occasions where the Princess herself may address Parliament.

As for etiquette: Burgesses generally wear simple formal dress, which for an Earth pony is usually just a collar and tie. The Unicorn Peers wear more elaborate get-ups usually reflecting their family's rank and status. The main difference in dress is that Burgesses never wear hats, while Peers are expected to. (A good way to tell a Peer's status is by how ridiculous his or her hat looks.)

The House of Burgesses is a noisy, rancorous place, with plenty of arguing and cat-calling across the aisle. By contrast, the House of Peers is a regular snooze-fest, an "old boy's/girl's club" where the various Unicorn aristocratic Peers take turns making long, stentorian speeches while the others try to stay awake and look interested.