We Didn't Start It. We Reported It.

LATEST
Emperor and Empress Consort Expecting a Daughter
New Micronational Archive Proposed to Preserve Community’s Digital History
Editorial: It’s a Small Community. Everybody ‘Knows’ Each Other, and Nobody Likes Each Other.
Austenasia Establishes Relations with the Republic of Venemaa
Plans for Full Release of ‘GUM Logs’ Abandoned
Emperor Delivers Address Marking Austenasia’s Eighteenth Anniversary
2 min read
Facebook
X / Twitter
Reddit
Print
Email
This article is more than 2 years old

Constitutional Amendment Proposed

2 min read

His Imperial Majesty the Emperor yesterday issued an Imperial Decree formally proposing an amendment to the Austenasian Constitution of 2011.

The decree formally proposing the amendment, including the full text of the proposed changes, can be read here.

The amendment is comprised of two parts.

The first would revise the system currently in place for the parliamentary representation of non-residential subjects, changing the geographically-based first-past-the-post Divisions system to a proportional, list-based system.

This means that more non-residential subjects would be able to stand for Parliament and be elected Representatives, and would not be prevented from doing so due to geographical considerations.

This would drastically improve democratic equality for non-residential subjects, who only gained parliamentary representation last year. They are currently represented in Parliament by four Representatives, whereas residential subjects (of which there are roughly the same amount) are represented by ten.

The second part of the amendment would implement various other, relatively minor reforms, mostly relating to the monarchy and Senate. An explanation of what the ten changes proposed by this part of the amendment would bring about can be read here.

Under new rules established in 2021 for constitutional amendments, approval by the Monarch and the House of Representatives – which previously came last – now comes first.

The Emperor has approved the amendments, and the proposals are now before the House of Representatives. A near-unanimous supermajority in support – under the House’s current set-up, 12 out of 14 votes – is required.

The amendments will then pass on to the Senate, where a simple majority vote is required to organise a referendum and arrange for the implementation of the amendments if approved by the people.

The referendum – provisionally planned, if approved, to take place on 12 February alongside the upcoming general election – needs a majority of Austenasia’s subjects to give their support, or a simple majority of those voting if a turnout of least 66% is achieved.

Two constitutional amendments have been enacted in the past, the First in September 2015 and the Second in January 2018.

If passed, the changes proposed on Monday would be jointly known as the Third Amendment, a name originally given to a different set of revisions which were unsuccessfully proposed in 2020.

About this article

Additional context relevant to this article.

What is the Monarchy? The Austenasian Monarchy is the constitutional institution headed by the Emperor of Austenasia, who serves as Head of State. The Crown represents the continuity and constitutional authority of Austenasia and has formed part of the Empire’s constitutional structure since its foundation in 2008. The office of Monarch is distinct from that of the Prime Minister, who serves as Head of Government and leads the day-to-day administration of Austenasia. The powers and constitutional arrangements of the Crown have changed during Austenasia’s history.
What was the Senate? Under the Constitution of 2011, the Senate was a constitutional body primarily responsible for holding the Monarch accountable and was separate from Austenasia’s legislature. Established in 2018, it exercised powers relating to matters including regency, treaties, constitutional amendments and the line of succession. Legislative authority was separately exercised through Parliament and the House of Representatives. This institution should not be confused with the present Senate established under the Constitution of 2026, which serves as Austenasia’s legislative body and succeeded to functions formerly vested in the House of Representatives.
What was Parliament? Parliament was the legislative branch of Austenasia under the previous constitutional system. It was a unicameral legislature whose representative house was the House of Representatives. Under the Constitution of 2026, Parliament and the House of Representatives ceased to form the legislative structure, with legislative functions instead exercised by the present Senate.
Historical constitutional framework The Constitution of 2011 is no longer the Constitution of Austenasia. It was repealed and replaced by the Constitution of 2026, which entered into force on 25 July 2026. References in this article to provisions of the Constitution of 2011 describe the constitutional arrangements in force at the time of publication and may not reflect current Austenasian law.