Parliament of Vrachiapolis

The Parliament of Vrachiapolis is the unicameral legislature of Vrachiapolis. Based on the Westminster system, the Parliament is made up of Members of Parliament (MPs) who are elected, as well as Non-constituency Members of Parliament (NCMPs), who are appointed. As of the 2020 general election, 142 MPs were elected to the 10th Parliament, with 8 NCMPs, for a total of 150 seats. MPs are elected to represent constituencies by the first-past-the-post system and hold their seats until Parliament is dissolved.

The Speaker of the Parliament, has overall charge of the administration of Parliament and its secretariat, and presides over parliamentary sittings. The Prime Minister is usually an MP that leads the ruling party in Parliament, while the Leader of the Opposition is an MP who leads the largest party not in Parliament.

Parliament is located on Parliament Hill, a complex of government buildings located on a hill overlooking Central Vrachiapolis in Ikopola.

History
On 31 May 1967, the Constitution of the Vrachiapolis Colony was passed, the first type of constitution in Vrachiapolis, and the first elections of the Legislative Council of Vrachiapolis were held on 2 July. The Legislative Council was the first legislature in Vrachiapolis.

On 15 August 1974, Vrachiapolis declared independence, and the Legislative Council became the Parliament.

Members of Parliament (MPs)
The Parliament of Vrachiapolis is unicameral – all Members of Parliament (MPs) make up a single chamber, and there is no senate or upper house.

Elected members
As of 2020, there are a total of 142 elected MPs elected from 65 constituencies. 32 of those constituencies are single-member constituencies (SMCs), while others are multi-member constituencies (MMCs). Inspired by Singapore, the multi-member constituencies were formed to increase minority representation in government. Most MMCs have 3 MPs: 1 of Turkish descent, 1 of Greek descent, and 1 that is a minority.

Appointed members
In 2008, Prime Minister Paris Chatzimichalis announced the creation of "non-constituency MPs", which is intended to increase opposition party representation in the Parliament.

Speaker
The speaker presides over the Parliament's debates, determining which members may speak and which amendments are selected for consideration. The speaker is also responsible for maintaining order during debate, and may punish members who break the rules of the Parliament.

The current speaker is Miray Akyıldız of the PPP, who became the first female speaker of the Parliament in 2019.

Leader of the House
The Leader of the House is an MP appointed by the Prime Minister to arrange government business and the legislative programme of Parliament.

The current Leader of the House is Dimitris Tselios, who assumed the office on 28 December 2020.

Leader of the Opposition
The Leader of the Opposition is the MP who is the leader of the largest opposition party in Parliament. They are expected to be ready to form a new government if the incumbent government resigns or cannot continue to serve.

The largest opposition party is expected to form a shadow cabinet, in which the members of which serve as opposition spokespersons on key areas of government.

However, due to the PPP's dominance in Vrachiapolian politics, the leader of the opposition existed as a de facto position. Following a heavy loss of PPP seats in the 2020 election, the position of leader of the opposition was de jure created. The current Leader of the Opposition is Hatice Coşkun Kahveci of the National Party.