Political Structure of the Provinces

New Sarovia’s four provinces – Vurgos, Cuive, Preuze, and Preuze Tella – each possess a developed political structure, broadly regarded as a more limited form of the federal government in the City of Sarholm. Each provincial government is organized in accordance with the Charter of the Provinces Act of 311 AS, and revolves around three units: the Lorde-Doiamera, the Assembelle Legeielle, and the Office of the Ministoro-Leddor. Each of these entities interact with each other in different and important ways to ensure the maintenance of good government in each province.

The Lorde-Doiamera, or Lord-Lieutenant, usually a nobleman or noblewoman with a title associated with their home province, is the “head of state” of a province, directly appointed by and representing His Imperial Majesty the Emperor and acting in a similar way towards each provincial government as the Sovereign does on a federal level. Their primary responsibilities are to call elections for the province and to give assent to bills passed by Legislative Assemblies. Lords-Lieutenant also award honours and decorations for civilians within the province.

The Assembelle Legeielle, or Legislative Assembly, is, as the name suggests, the legislative organ of a province. Assemblies create, by democratic debate and vote, Provincial Ordinances. These are bylaws that determine how the province is governed. One MLA (Member of the Legislative Assembly) represents 15 members of a province, meaning that depending on size, certain provinces may have more than the minimum of three MLAs. MLAs are elected in two ways: either via a general election, where the entire Assembly is dissolved and all seats are up for election at once, or via a by-election, a smaller-scale poll taken to fill a single vacant seat.

Finally, the day-to-day enforcement of Provincial Ordinances is the responsibility of the Office of the Ministoro-Leddor, or Chief Minister. The Chief Minister is an MLA elected from amongst the Legislative Assembly; after provincial general elections, all MLAs must convene to vote on which of them will command the confidence of the Assembly – or in layman’s terms, serve as a “team leader” – and as such, become the Chief Minister. The Chief Minister, similar to the Prime Minister at the federal level, has complete authority to enforce Provincial Ordinances as he or she sees fit within the bounds of provincial and federal law. Chief Ministers may also appoint members of their province to serve as provincial staff and assist in the governance of the province, provided this is backed up by an Ordinance.

Provincial Governments