Tapani Parliament

The Tapani Imperium's traditional lower house, the Tapani Parliament consists of a representative member from each Low Vor House, plus a number of non-noble Tapani elected from among their home settlement based upon sentient population in the most recent census¹: for every up to five hundred thousand² permanent residents³, one citizen who has been listed in that census area on three consecutive censuses can be elected to represent the interests of the settlement.

The Order of Solicitors are the final arbiter of who qualifies as a Tapani citizen for purposes of the census count.

The Tapani Ministry of Information, a component of Emperor Gregor Vortapani's executive branch, is responsible for conducting the census, keeping the records, and reporting relevant information to any arm of government which has a use for this information, including tax assessment, various ministries of resource management, and the Bureau of Ships and Services for transportation systems management.

History

Before Independence Day, this body was known as the Tapani Great Council, and the Council of Counts was then (on official documentation) considered a sub-council. In practice, the Great Council had always been the body where new bills were officially introduced, proposals to repeal existing laws were made, treaties were ratified, and elections were overseen; the Council of Counts has always been the body which conducted the final vote determining whether a debated bill became law, whether a proposed Count's Heir is confirmed into office, and how to manage police and military issues for the Tapani Federation.

When Emperor Gregor assumed his throne, then Prime Minister Aral Vorkosigan became his Regent. For the first year of Gregor's reign, most of the political focus in the Tapani government centered on "restoring the Imperium" to its original system. ⁴

Infrastructure

The Tapani Parliament is located at Vasilisa Castle, number 6 on the Estalle Island map. Formerly it was the Great Council Chamber⁵. It is conveniently located to the monorail station, for visitors and employees, plus it has well-guarded underground access from the arrowhead-shaped repulsorlift parking facility nearby.

Vasilisa Castle was originally the Empress's Castle during the latter Twelve Kingdom Era, traditionally serving as the equivalent of a "District Residence" for Procopia Province. It has been meticulously rebuilt whenever new technology would enhance its ability to withstand orbital bombardment, tsunami, or other major hazards. An open secret is that, deep within the subterranean levels of Vasilisa Castle, enough emergency supplies and space exist to hold double the total population of Estalle Island for a period of up to one standard month. ⁶ The building has proven that it can withstand a direct orbital strike or a tsunami, provided the apertures are sealed and built-in force fields activated at least a few seconds before impact.

During the Federal Era, Vasilisa Castle was often considered the de facto Capitol Building for the Tapani Sector.

Founding Date

23 Elona 12721

Type

Governmental, Senate/Parliament

Alternative Names

"Parliament"; formerly, "Great Council"

Demonym

Member

Government System

Democracy, Parliamentary

Parent Organization

Tapani Imperium

Related Ethnicities

• Low Vor
• Tapani

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¹ The Tapani Census is performed on any year of the Tapani Calendar ending in a 0. Data is collected under the direction of the Tapani Ministry of Information, the entire process overseen by the Order of Solicitors.

² In some districts, the citizen listed as the 500,001^st wins a prize of some sort. The original reasoning for that prize was to compensate the most likely target of aggressive wooing by other districts ... or even of hostile actions by Houses in rival political coalitions.

³ "permanent resident" being defined as the same citizen having been documented on the census as resident on that world for 2 or more consecutive censuses

⁴ Legal scholars with the patience to research deeply, and with enough good fortune to discover the right documents, will recognize Imperial Princess Katianna Vortapani's voice in the precise, accurate description of a long-lost governmental balance. Even more thorough legal history scholars might notice that -- likely after long analysis with Admiral Vorkosigan -- she deliberately left out a few of the original arrangements which contributed to the attacks on her family of origin.

⁵ ((For those comparing our version to the Lords of the Expanse source material: Yes, we swapped the Senate Building and the Great Council Chambers on the map. It made more story sense for us to put the Council of Counts closer to the Emperor's Palace. We have not swapped the outlined shapes of any buildings yet.))

⁶ Everyone knows it. No recording or documentation mentions it. Tourists from outside the sector might not recognize in sufficient time that Vasilisa Castle, being the equivalent of the "District Residence" in a situation where one ought not expect the Emperor Himself to take such risks, is the default emergency shelter. ⁷

⁶ If the tourist is not bright enough to follow the fast-moving crowds of Tapani natives, the tourist is not going to survive anyhow.