Government of United Columbus

United Columbus is a parliamentary republic with a dominant executive. Its institutions are real and they bind the Prime Minister, but the state leans heavily on one man and one corporation.

Government of United Columbus
Type	Parliamentary republic, strong executive
Flag	Orange sunburst field carrying the navy-and-cream national seal
Head of government	Prime Minister [Batista Cakewalk](/PFLD-Archives/Meridian-Depthworks-Archives/wiki/Batista-Cakewalk) (in office since the 1910s)
Legislature	[Parliament]], led by the [[High Chancellor](/PFLD-Archives/Meridian-Depthworks-Archives/wiki/High-Chancellor)
Judiciary	[High Court](/PFLD-Archives/Meridian-Depthworks-Archives/wiki/High-Court) (the Council), presided over by the same office
Elections	TBA
Classification	Democratic constitutional state under extreme security strain
Economic backbone	[Parafield Corp](/PFLD-Archives/Meridian-Depthworks-Archives/wiki/Parafield-Corp) (about 80 percent of national power)

Overview

Batista Cakewalk is both Prime Minister and CEO of Parafield Corp. Parliament is co-equal with the executive and can check it but does not outrank it. The state rests on a democratic balance first built by Batista's grandfather.

Flags of the state

State	Flag	Description
Meridian Commonwealth (1612–1789)		Navy field divided by a cream cross, with an orange sun disc
People's Union of Meridia (1789–1881)		Red field with gold trim, black hoist band and a hexagonal section with a star
United Columbus (1881–present)		Orange sunburst field with the navy-and-cream national seal

Checks and balances

• Mutual override. The High Court and the Prime Minister can each overrule the other, but only with strong reasoning.
• Deadlock. If the Prime Minister and the High Court cannot agree, the proposal is either scrapped (rare) or put to public consultation and expert advisory opinion.
• Parliament. Controls the budget, sanctions classified national projects, holds oversight hearings and can compel disclosure. See Parliament.
• The Council. The High Court is the constitutional court and the third leg of the balance Columbus Needlemouse built in 1881. It is presided over by the High Chancellor, who also heads Parliament, so the legislative and judicial checks on the Prime Minister sit in the same hands. See High Court.

History of the state

• 1612: The Meridian Commonwealth. One of several Kanji states of the era, a loose union of settlements around Meridian. It is the one that endures and becomes the ancestor of United Columbus.
• 1789: The People's Union of Meridia (the Old Regime). The Commonwealth collapses into a single-party state ruled by the General Revolutionary Committee. It is authoritarian, and its system resembles communism.
• 1881: United Columbus. Batista's grandfather, Columbus Needlemouse, takes over, dismantles the Old Regime and its ruling committee, and builds the democratic balance of powers: Parliament, the executive, and the High Court as the third leg. Committee loyalists flee abroad. The state is renamed United Columbus after him and in honor of the united provinces.
• 1890s: Parafield Woodworks is founded and helps fund the new government. See Parafield Corp.
• 1910s: After his grandfather's death, Batista becomes Prime Minister. He took the post out of fear that the country would slide back into authoritarian rule. He does not enjoy politics.

Parafield and the state

Parafield Corp supplies about 80 percent of national power after the 1967 Synthetic Fusion Reactor. Parliament tolerates executive leeway to avoid disrupting that supply. The Prime Minister also leads the company, which is an open conflict of interest. See Parafield Corp.

Wartime exception

United Columbus stayed out of the First World War. During the Second World War the General Revolutionary Committee kidnapped and tortured Batista. Before he was rescued, he killed about 95 percent of the organization including its leader out of rage. After being rescued and while he recovered, Parliament was enraged after hearing what happened and voted to enter the war in force beside the Allies. It was the first full military engagement in the nation's history. The elected body backed its leader, which makes the retaliation a sanctioned act and not a rogue one.

Open questions

• Elections. TBA. Whether the Prime Minister faces real elections decides how the state is classified.
• Term limits and removal. Undefined.
• Succession. Leo Cakewalk holds recognized succession rights (see High Chancellor). The High Court has no established procedure for certifying a successor to the executive office.

Notes

• The Kanji species is nearly as old as humans, but not quite. Kanji humans live extremely long, so Batista's decades in office span generations.
• Soldiers are elite long-lived Kanji and troops trained by them.

Cat-Organizations Cat-Parliament