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Politics of Sanama

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The political situation of Sanama has changed following the 1707 social-democratic coup in the Sanamati Democratic Party, and the subsequent new constitution. Immediately following the Sanaman Civil War the communalist Sanaman Federation of People's Republics was established, succeeding the Democratic Republic of Sanama in the southern portion of the former state. Due to only being in existence for less than a decade, and in control of Sanama for only six years, the SFPR was in a sense a paper construction, with various committees fighting for power and influence, without actually accomplishing much.

The Sanaman communalist polity was organised into six tiers, from the bottom to the top. Instead of powers and competences being decided at the top and then distributed down, they were instead delegated from the bottom to the top. The people retained the right of direct involvement in political decisions on all levels, primarily through the public remittance system, but also through referendum and citizen initiatives. For example, on the national level the legislature had established a system of committees for various topics, like education, foreign relations and criminal law. When the process to adopt a new guideline was initiated, the committee responsible brought in representatives of various interested parties. For instance, when forming new guidelines for primary education, the committee consisted of representatives from the legislature, teachers' unions, school confederations, parents' associations, and student councils. The committee strived for consensus, but could if all attempts at consensus fail, adopt a proposal by a majority vote. The proposal was then announced to the public for comment. Neighbourhood committees usually organised opportunities for their residents to come together to discuss various issues, as well as proposals for comment. When comments had been received and collated, the legislature either adopted, amended or rejected the proposal. It was also very common for proposals to be initiated on the neighbourhood, commune or communal union level and then "sent up the chain". The people's republics were autonomous in many areas, with a select few reserved for the federation. However, the federation, as well as all tiers, were free to set guidelines, strategies and targets in an effort to coordinate across political boundaries. Guidelines set at the federal level were usually seen as a benchmark for more detailed rules in lower tiers. So while the federation only had a few reserved competences, the legislature was free to make policy on any political issue it so choosed, and these were then treated as an expression of a common national sentiment, not as absolute binding rules. Legislation passed by the people's republics and cantons generally followed the general guidelines set by the federal legislature, but there were also numerous deviations from those guidelines.

The national legislature, named Lhusan Sharamli (Sanaman for national assembly), consisted of 1,750 members, directly elected in single-member constituencies. The assembly met at least twice per year, and fresh elections were to be held every four years. All elections were required to be by secret ballot. The assembly members formed committees based on interest and selection, which in turn formulated national guidelines together with other invited interested parties. Between meetings the assembly was represented by its Select Committee consisting of 175 members. Any urgent measures could be passed by the Select Committee, but those decisions would then need to be ratified at the next general assembly meeting. Among the various selected committees the Coordination Committee played a central part in coordinating policy and arbitrating conflicts within and between other committees. The committee consisted of all the chairs of the other selected committees. Its two chairpersons were the closest communalist Sanama had to formal heads of government, while the chairpersons of the Foreign Relations Committee performed several functions of a formal head of state, such as signing letters of credence and receiving ambassadors.


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