Advisory Council

Advisory Council
Type	Unicameral council with right of legislative veto
Elections
Latest term started	7-3 59 PC
Length of term	2 years
Term limits	None
Next Election	7-3 61 PC
Structure
Seats	5
Political groups	Dux-aligned •   Isola (1) Confidence and supply •   Independent (1) Dux-opposed •   Mare (3)

The current composition of the Advisory Council. Blue denotes city-provinces won by candidates of Mare, while red shows those won by Isola. Grey shows victories made by independents. Tolia, already held by the Alessandro Spadi, is shown in white.

The Advisory Council is a chamber of government in the Republic of La Rossa. It is composed of five members, each hailing from a city-province not directly represented by the Dux. Although its decisions are usually non-binding, criticism from the Council has long been taken as a warning sign that the end is near for unpopular Duxes. A 4/5ths vote, representing a majority of city-provinces, is able to halt a Dux's decree, preventing it from coming into power. In that, it differs from legislatures around the island, having no power to make laws itself, only to prevent them. After the island of La Rossa joined the IgRS, Dux-aligned Advisors have seen an increased role as representatives to the international community.

Formed for the first time in 106 TT, after the short-lived chaos of the Spirit Revolution, Council elections have typically been held across the nation one month after the crowning of the Dux. The reign of Dux Falcone in the years following La Denunzia was the only period since the Council's inception in which Advisors were appointed, instead of being directly elected.

In addition to being able to halt unpopular decrees, Advisors tend to see an important role in their own local governments. Although the governments of the city-provinces vary in their structure, owing to their own regional identities, all tend to include the locally-elected Advisor to some extent. The government of Tolia, for instance, gives complete, absolute power to the local Advisor, checked only by the Dux, while the local governance of Salino sees power split between the Advisor and the local Council. In Padeno, the Advisor's role tends to be most ceremonial, with executive decisions bound by the local legislature. On the other hand, the role of the Advisor of Padeno on a national level is among the most powerful, representing the most populous city-province.

Members

The last elections for the Advisory Council were held on 7-3 63 PC across all of the nation's city-provinces, excluding Tolia. The elected Council has shown significant opposition to the reigining Dux, Template:Dux current. Due to the Council's role and structure, it makes little sense to speak of Council majorities and minorities, as only a vast and unlikely 4/5ths majority is capable of meaningfully affecting the Dux's lawmaking. Nonetheless, the existence of such a majority lies solely in the hands of Advisor Bartolomeo Marone, thought to be the only meaningful swing vote on the Council.

City-Province	Advisor	Party	First Elected	Votes	Votes (%)
Buglio	Feliciano Buonestrotti di Buglio	Mare	61 PC	362,117	54.2%
Lorma	Bartolomeo Marone	Independent	51 PC	171,012	47.4%
Mineria	Tommaso Buonfico	Mare	61 PC	443,691	55.6%
Salino	Salvo Gramuglio	Mare	63 PC	540,192	51.3%
Tolia	Gabriella Tritone	Isola	57 PC	364,251	77.4%

Qualifications

Any person over the age of 16 that is a citizen of the city-province in which they wish to run is allowed to nominate themselves for office, and any such nomination is required to be accepted if a petition with a thousand signatories is presented. Apart from the petition requirement, the requirements necessary for qualification have not differed for those surrounding voting rights. Prior to La Denunzia, Advisory positions were restricted to only men of age possessing property. Although La Rossa has no legal concept of citizenship, even after the Second Calming, Rossan officials are required to ask for proof of residence within the city-province of candidacy for the nomination to be accepted. Following 63 PC guidelines, residence of at least four years is required for a candidacy to be accepted.

Elections

Elections for the Advisory Council are held every two years, one month after the ceremonial crowning of the Dux. Although they are organized locally in each of the city-provinces, all regional election commissions are required to follow a set of national guidelines, ensuring that the elections are free and fair, and that no citizen that is of age is prohibited from casting a ballot. Following 63 PC guidelines, at least four years of residence are required for a vote to be cast. The winner is decided by a simple plurality vote, with the candidate with the highest share of the vote taking the seat. Although multiple candidates are allowed to nominate themselves, Rossan politics have seen a trend towards having only two major candidates in any of the city-provinces.

Meetings

It has traditionally been rare for all five members of the Advisory Council to meet together in the same building, owing to the island's terrain and the city-provinces' decentralized nature. Meetings, when they occurred, typically revolved little around political duties, and were mostly scheduled around ceremonies. Meetings between individual Advisors, however, remained common, as did meetings between the Advisors and the Dux. To ensure a constant line of access between the Dux and the Advisors, telegraphs were utilized since early into the Advisory Council's existence to quickly spread news of new decrees, as well as Advisory disagreements, and eventual vetoes. Since the invention and adoption of the radio, communication has become even quicker, and discussion over new decrees ever easier.