The North PacificBoard

Overview

In South Baba, a province is a constituent political entity, of which there are currently 10. Bound together in a political union, each province holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory and shares its sovereignty with the national government. Due to this shared sovereignty, South Babans are citizens both of the federal republic and of the province in which they reside. Provincial citizenship and residency are flexible, and no government approval is required to move between provinces, except for persons restricted by certain types of court orders.

Provincial governments are allocated power by the people (of each respective province) through the Constitution of the Republic of South Baba and their individual constitutions. In most provincial legislatures, the single house is known as the Legislative Assembly; the exception being Mon Landia, where such chamber is the lower half of a bicameral Provincial Legislature. The legislative assemblies use a procedure similar to that of the House of Assembly of the Republic of South Baba. The head of government of each province, called either the premier or chief minister and generally the head of the party with the most seats, is formally appointed by the speaker of the provincial legislature (who also issues writs of election when required by law). This is the case in most provinces, but in Mon Landia the chief executive (called governor) is relatively independent of the legislature because of the presidential nature of their provincial government. The President of the Republic of South Baba, the country’s ceremonial and non-executive head of state, is elected by an electoral college composed of members of the several provincial legislatures. Provinces are divided into boroughs or borough-equivalents, which may be assigned some local governmental authority but are not sovereign. Borough or borough-equivalent structure varies widely by province, and provinces also create other local governments.

Provinces possess a number of powers and rights under the South Baban Constitution. Legally, the tasks of local law enforcement, health care, education, welfare, infrastructure, and intra-provincial transportation are generally considered primarily provincial responsibilities, although all of these have significant national funding and regulation as well. During the 1990s, the federal system was adopted in order to move towards decentralization, with the national government playing a much reduced role than it initially did after independence. Since the provinces have legal autonomy, each has its own civil and penal codes and judicial body. Their pardon power is jointly exercised by their respective premier and chief justice following a recommendation by the provincial cabinet in question. The police power of each province is also recognized.

Members of the House of Assembly (MHAs) of the Republic of South Baba, however, do not represent the provinces, but rather the citizens themselves. Additionally, with the consent of the House of Assembly, two or more provinces may enter into interprovincial compacts with one another.