Executive Order 1 (Safiria)

The following shall replace Title I of the Safirian General Code as the Constitution of the Safirian Republic:

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Article I. Name. 1. The Constitution recognizes this land as the Safirian Republic. 2. Safiria is the acceptable short form. 3. The three letter code SFR may be used to refer to Safiria in tables of statistics. Article II. Construction of Government. 1. The Government shall have two branches, an Executive and a Legislative. Article III. The Executive. 1. All supreme executive, legislative, and judicial powers are vested in the President. As such, the President may: (a) Appoint the Prime Minister. (b) Summon, prorogue, and dissolve Parliament. (c) Appoint justices to the Federal Criminal Court. (d) Appoint Members of the Senate. 2. The following terms shall apply to election of the President: (a) They may be any Safirian citizen who has attained the age of 35 and who is entitled to vote in the next general election. (b) They shall be eligible for two consecutive six-year terms. (c) They shall be elected by a Federal Convention, which shall: (1) Consist of the membership of the House of Commons and Senate and an equal number of members appointed by the legislatures of each state according to proportional representation. (2) Meet not later than thirty days before the expiration of the term of office of the President or, in the case of premature termination, not later than thirty days after this date, at the behest of the Prime Minister. (3) Name as President the candidate to whom they give the most votes after two ballots. (d) They shall begin serving their six-year term with the first convention of Parliament following their election. 3. An otherwise eligible citizen may not become President if they: (a) Are a member of the Government or of a legislative body of the Republic or any of its states. (b) Continue to hold any other salaried office, engage in a trade, or practice a profession after the first 4. Should the President in any way become unable to exercise the powers of his office, an Interim President shall be appointed by the Senate. 5. The President represents the Republic in its international relations. He concludes treaties with foreign states on behalf of the Republic and accredits and receives envoys. 6. The President has the sole power to pardon any person convicted by a Federal court. 7. Either house of Parliament may impeach the President before the Supreme Court for willful violation of the Constitution or any other Federal law. The motion for impeachment must be brought forward by at least two-thirds of the members of the initiating house of the Parliament. The decision to impeach requires a majority of two-thirds of the members of both houses of the Parliament. The prosecution is conducted by an Impeachment Committee made up of members appointed from all of the parties represented in each house of the Parliament. Article IV. The Legislative. 1. The Legislative Body shall be known as the Safirian Parliament. 2. The Parliament shall have a House of Commons and a Senate. 3. The House of Commons shall: (a) Create any laws by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. (b) Ratify any treaties by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. (c) Expel any member of their body, with a 2/3 vote. (d) Elect from amongst themselves a Speaker. 4. The membership of the House of Commons shall be as follows: (a) Each state shall return a minimum of four MPs per each, whom shall be elected for a term concurrent with that of the President, and not more than one MP for every 12,000 electors. (b) Each territory shall return two MPs per each, whom shall be elected for a term concurrent with that of the President. 5. The Senate shall: (a) Create any laws by and with the advice and consent of the House of Commons. (b) Ratify any treaties by and with the advice and consent of the House of Commons. (c) Expel any member of their body, with a 2/3 vote. (d) Elect from amongst themselves a President pro tempore. 6. Any power not expressly granted to any other body, whether in this Constitution or any other law of Safiria, is reserved for the Parliament. Article V. The Prime Minister. 1: The Prime Minister shall: (a) Be appointed by the President for a fixed term not to exceed six years, and may not be elected more than thrice consecutively at any one time. (b) Section III(2)(a) shall not be construed as to prohibit a Prime Minister from serving four or more nonconsecutive terms. (c) Form a cabinet to advise them on the issues of Safiria. (d) Shall devise the Bill of Supply for ratification by the legislative bodies. (e) Shall advise the President on any dissolution of the House of Commons not less than 60 days after the previous election. (f) Should the Bill of Supply fail to be passed by both houses of Parliament, the Prime Minister shall be forced to resign and the House of Commons dissolved. Article VI. The Speaker of the House of Commons. 1. The Speaker shall: (a) Preside over the House of Commons. (b) Maintain an impartial mind, without a partisan affiliation after election. (c) Rule on the initial constitutionality of all proposed laws, and any blocking of such bills are final until the end of term. (d) If a bill is blocked two sessions in a row, the Prime Minister may order the bill to be put to a referendum. Article VII. The President pro tempore. 1. The President pro tempore shall: (a) Be elected by and from the membership of the Senate. (b) Preside over the Senate in the absence of the Prime Minister. (c) Maintain an impartial mind, without a partisan affiliation after election. (d) Rule on the initial constitutionality of all proposed laws, and any blocking of such bills are final until the end of term. Article VIII. Issues of Legislation. 1. Each state has exclusive legislative power on the following issues: (a) Internal transportation networks not part of a national system. (b) Internal structure of government. (c) Statewide planning. (d) Internal economic affairs. 2. The federal government may override the states on the following issues: (a) Education. (b) Health care. (c) Welfare. (d) Social affairs. (e) Law enforcement. (f) Environmental affairs. 2. The federal government has exclusive legislative power on the following issues: (a) Transport. (b) Planning. (c) External affairs. (d) Defense. (e) Security. (f) Constitutional affairs. (g) Justice. (h) National economic affairs. (i) Any matter in which there is a clear national interest. Article IX. The States. 1. The citizens of each state shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the other states. 2. No state may be carved out of any other state(s) without the consent of the concerned states and of Parliament. 3. Parliament may admit additional states at its discretion in the form of a treaty. Article X. Ratification. 1. This Constitution shall not be amended without the consent of 2/3 of all Safirian citizens in a binding referendum.

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Sockpuppetry (i.e. the operation of multiple accounts with malicious intent) is hereby criminalized; the punishment is a permaban.

Lese majeste (i.e. libel or slander of a current or former President) is hereby criminalized; the punishment is WOM +40.

In honor of the (out-of-character) founding of Safiria on 18 April 2010, Foundation Day shall be celebrated as a national holiday on 18 April. As such, no Government offices will be open on that day, and citizens are encouraged to take the day off from work.

All current members of the House of Lords are stripped of their peerages and shall continue to serve in the Senate for life or good behavior.

All Acts of Parliament that received Royal Assent during the Empire shall persist as laws of the Republic, but with all references to the Monarch replaced with references to the Presidency, et al.