Luthadel Assembly
| Luthadel Assembly | |
|---|---|
| Founder | Elend Venture |
| Leaders | Elend Venture, Ferson Penrod |
| Headquarters | Former Canton of Finance building[1] |
| Type | Council |
| Era | Post-Collapse |
| World of Origin | Scadrial |
| Universe | Cosmere |
The Luthadel Assembly is the ruling council of Luthadel that is established as part of King Elend Venture's new government after the Collapse.[2]
Structure and Powers
The Assembly consists of seven nobles, eight skaa workers, and eight merchants. Elend set up this structure so that the common people would be able to outvote the nobles. In practice, however, the merchants held themselves separate from and above the other skaa. The King of the Central Dominance presides over the Assembly and has a vote of his own, and also exercises a casting vote when the Assembly is evenly divided on a matter. If the throne is vacant, the Assembly elects a chancellor to preside and exercise the casting vote.[3]
Elend intended the Assembly to be an advisory council, whose members could voice concerns to the king and make sure the peoples' voices were heard.[3][2] He also, however, wanted the Assembly to be able to keep the king from becoming a tyrant, and gave it a fair measure of counterbalancing power.[3]
Most notably, the Assembly has the power to depose the king, which requires a unanimous vote, except for that of the king. After the king is deposed, the Assembly has one month to choose a new king, after which the throne reverts to the previous king, who then cannot be deposed for another year.[4] Once the throne is vacant, the chancellor will hold nominations for the throne at an Assembly meeting. All members can nominate one person, and the Assembly must hold the nominations at least three days before it conducts the final vote. A nominee does not have to be a member of the Assembly, and can even be the king who was just deposed.[3] A two-thirds majority is required to elect a new king from the list of nominees.[5] The Assembly can also choose a new king if the previous one dies without an heir,[6] likely by a similar method.
The Assembly can also suspend its own authority to surrender the city, which requires a two-thirds vote;[1] expel a member, which requires a unanimous vote;[7] and also had authority over more mundane matters, such as who would be in control of the food stores.[1] Surrendering the city to Ashweather Cett without a king would have required a unanimous vote.[8]
Members of the Assembly
“The Assembly was only twenty-four men, but getting them to agree on anything was almost more challenging than any of the problems they argued about. ”
—Elend's thoughts[2]
The following table lists the known members of the Assembly:
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History
Origin
After the Lord Ruler's death, Elend gave a speech to the skaa and convinced them to stop rioting and instead set up a new government based on democratic ideals. Once the rioting stopped, Elend was named the new king and led the negotiations and drafting of a new constitution.[9] As a firm believer in democracy, Elend created the Assembly so that the people could have some control over the country, and so that the king could both receive advice and have his power limited.[2][3] The Assembly met in the building that formerly housed the Canton of Finance.[1]
The Siege of Luthadel
When King Straff Venture brought his army to Luthadel to retake the city from his son, the Assembly became a threat to Elend's ability to function as king. Taking into consideration the coming winter, the scarcity of food and wood/oil to heat the tenements and, before all, the fact that there were only twenty thousand, mostly untrained, of their soldiers in the city, the Assembly decided to give the city to Straff. With effort, Elend was able to convince the majority of the Assembly to give him time to set up a meeting with his father.[2] Then a second army arrived to Luthadel, headed by another king, Ashweather Cett, making the Assembly even more nervous.[10]
When a meeting with Straff was finally arranged, the Assembly scheduled a meeting at the same time, knowing that Elend couldn't participate and—in his absence—deposed him.[11] In a later Assembly meeting, the Assembly was to nominate candidates for being king. Ferson Penrod, Elend, and Cett—who turned out to be among the meeting's audience—were nominated. In the end, Straff Venture bribed the Assemblymen to accept Penrod, and Penrod to give the city to him, so Penrod won the election.[12]
After the Battle of Luthadel
At the end of the Battle of Luthadel, Vin forced King Ferson Penrod to swear allegiance to Elend. Elend and Vin reigned as High Emperor and Empress of the New Empire, while Penrod was allowed to keep his throne,[13] and the Assembly retainedd its power, subject to an imperial veto.[14] Elend later used the Assembly as a model for setting up parliamentary councils in the other cities he brought into his empire.[15][16]
Notes
- ↑ a b c d The Well of Ascension chapter 10#
- ↑ a b c d e The Well of Ascension chapter 3#
- ↑ a b c d e The Well of Ascension chapter 31#
- ↑ The Well of Ascension chapter 28#
- ↑ The Well of Ascension chapter 38#
- ↑ The Well of Ascension chapter 20#
- ↑ The Well of Ascension chapter 34#
- ↑ The Well of Ascension chapter 32#
- ↑ The Final Empire epilogue#
- ↑ The Well of Ascension chapter 11#
- ↑ The Well of Ascension chapter 27#
- ↑ The Well of Ascension chapter 39#
- ↑ The Well of Ascension chapter 55#
- ↑ The Hero of Ages chapter 5#
- ↑ The Hero of Ages chapter 32#
- ↑ The Hero of Ages chapter 44#