House of Peers (Mobius)

The House of Peers (Chambre des Pairs; Kammer der Gleichaltrigen) is the upper house of the Jesston State Hall, the legislature of Mobius. Its 133 Peers Temporal are elected on lists by the members of the upper houses of the nineteen regional legislatures every four years, a week before the congressional election. All states have seven peers regardless of size or population. The ten Peers Spiritual represent the major religions in Mobius, and are elected based on the seniority of their position.

The House of Peers enjoys less prominence than the lower house, the House of Congress, which is elected on a direct universal ballot, and upon the majority of which the Privy council has to rely: in case of disagreement, the House of Congress can in many cases have the last word, although the House of Peers keeps a role in some key procedures such as constitutional amendments and, most importantly, legislation about itself.

The House of Peers came to be in 1976 after the Knothole Accords, and, as in many other countries, the upper house was assigned to moderate the lower house, although for a long time as an ally of the executive. The present selection mode of the House of Peers came to be in 1998 when the upper house was reformed so as to give each and every state exactly seven Peers Temporal. It has a sense of independence as a "guardian of the institutions" and "guardian of liberties", favoured by the fact that Peers Temporal are on average older than members of the House of Congress, and join the house later on in their career. Debates in the House of Peers tend to be less tense and generally receive less media coverage.

Because its elections are of the party-list proportional representation system, its composition has closely resembled the composition of the House of Congress. The upper house has historically been opposed by the far-right while the moderate right and left defends it, and controversies over the House of Peer's role are revived from time to time.

The Peer Speaker is to step in as acting King of the Mobians in case of incapacitation or a vacancy, which has never happened yet. The current holder is Warren, Lord Wilson.

The House of Peers is housed inside the House of Peers chamber in the Jesston State Hall in Jesston.

Name
Although this body is officially called the "House of Peers" in English, this is not a direct translation of its official French and German names, the "Room of Peers" and the "Chamber of Peers", respectively. Colloquially, this chamber is simply referred to as the "Peers". Members of the House are referred to as "Peers" or "Lords".

History
Mobius' first experience with an upper house was the establishment of the Mobian Assembly in 1974. A new senate was created, on the model of the United States Senate. At first it was a directly-elected upper house until 1975 when it became an indirectly-elected upper house. The Knothole Accords lead to the formation of the House of Peers in 1976, on the model of the Dutch Senate, and the British House of Lords.

The PDP has held control of the House of Peers since the 2000 congressional election, and has retained it ever since.

Powers
Under the Constitution of Mobius, the House of Peers has nearly the same power as the House of Congress. Bills may be submitted by the administration or by either house of Parliament. Because both houses may amend the bill, it may take several readings to reach an agreement between the House of Congress and the House of Peers. When the House of Peers and the House of Congress cannot agree on a bill, the administration can decide, after a procedure called a "joint parity committee", to give the final decision to the House of Peers, whose majority is normally on the privy council's side, but as regarding the constitutional laws the administration must have the House of Peer's agreement. This does not happen frequently; usually the two houses eventually agree on the bill, or the administration decides to withdraw it. This power gives the House of Congress a prominent role in the law-making process, especially since the administration is necessarily of the same side as the House of Congress, for the House of Congress can dismiss the administration through a motion of censure.

The power to pass a vote of censure, or vote of no confidence, is limited. New cabinets do not have to receive a vote of confidence. Also, a vote of censure can occur only after 10 percent of the members sign a petition; if rejected, those members that signed cannot sign another petition until that session of Parliament has ended. If the petition gets the required support, a vote of censure must gain an absolute majority of all members, not just those voting. If the House of Congress and the House of Peers have politically distinct majorities, the House of Congress will in most cases prevail, and open conflict between the two houses is uncommon.

The House of Peers is also the representative of the states and often defends the regions and mayors, see the article 24 of the Constitution.

The House of Peers also serves to monitor the administration's actions by publishing many reports each year on various topics.