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The current Azanian governmental system, created by the Azanian Constitution of 2111, is similar to that of the other democracies on Earth and in known space, but it has some unusual characteristics.

There are four branches to the Azanian government:

Executive - The President and his or her Cabinet
Legislative - Our unicameral Parliament
Judicial - Our court system
Tribal - The various Tribal Councils and their chieftains

These four branches work together to create a complex and volatile political system, a system which has served the people of Azania well for nearly 200 years.

The executive branch of the Azanian government is comprised of the President, currently Lansing Intembe, the Cabinet, the Military, and Criminal Law Enforcement. This branch of the government is responsible for the direction and execution of Azanian national policy and law.

The President is the leader of the country, and is responsible for the initiation of foreign policy, for propogation of national referendums, and for setting the agenda for the progress of the nation. The president is served by a large staff who research, recommend, and monitor these goals.

The Cabinet meets daily and is responsible for overseeing the conduct of the President and frequently directs national policy via recommendations to and limited controls over the President and the Prime Minister.

The Azanian Military is responisble for ensuring the security of Azania and the members of the Azanian Protectorate, for protecting and overseeing the conduct of Azanian commerce, and for control of Azania's borders.

The Azanian Police are responsible for the enforcement of Azanian criminal law. Overseen by the Judicial Branch of the Azanian government, they enforce the laws as as enacted by the Azanian Parliament and interpreted by the courts. One special branch of the Azanian Military, the Fourth Brigade of the Zulu Guards, is responsible for law enforcement and investigation involving foreign nationals and crimes against the state, although the Azanian Police have authority to detain foreign nationals and suspects of treason for a limited time. The Third Brigade of the Zulu Guards is responsible for peacekeeping and law enforcement in the Azanian colonies.

The Azanian Legislative branch is usually referred to as unicameral, having only one "room" or decision-making body, but this is not quite accurate. While the entire Azanian Parliament meets in one room, there are two bodies of legislators - Legislative Parliament and the Tribal Parliament.

Legislative Parliament consists of 170 members elected by open polls every six years, ten members appointed by the Cabinet every four years, ten members appointed by the Supreme Court every four years, and ten members appointed by the Joint Tribal Council every even-numbered year. This is the body whose votes pass laws, ratify amendments, and legitimate the Executive Agenda. Legislative Parliament occupies the lower floor of the Parliament Hall. Meeting for nine months out of every year, Legislative Representatives may serve any number of terms.

Representatives to the Tribal Parliament number one hundred, are selected by the Tribal Councils, and serve as a balance to the Legislative Parliament. This body sits in an upper balcony overlooking the Legislative Parliament. Any piece of legislation must have the support of 25 members of the Tribal Parliament to be introduced as a bill for consideration by the Legislative Parliament, and a simple majority is needed to approve the submission of any amendment to the constitution to Legislative Parliament. A two-thirds majority of Tribal Parliament can strike down any piece of legislation once it has reached the floor of the Legislative Parliament, even if the bill has passed a vote on the floor, but not after the President has signed it into law. Tribal Representatives may introduce a piece of legislation as long as the bill has a sponsor in the Legislative Parliament (and as long as 25 members of Tribal Parliament support the bill). Tribal Representatives may also debate any issue before Legislative Parliament, and, unlike members of Legislative Parliament, there is no time limit to their presentations.

Tribal Representatives may be appointed or recalled at any time, even during session, and serve at the pleasure of their tribe and the Grand Tribal Council.

Parliament is directed by the Prime Minister, currently Tanik Verwoerd, who sets the daily agenda, enforces rules of conduct and Parliamentary Procedure, and who sits on the Cabinet as representative of the Legislative Branch. The Prime Minister is elected by a majority vote in the national polls, and must have served two terms in Parliament to be eligible, although those terms do not have to have been as a member of Legislative Parliament.

The Judicial Branch of the Azanian Government resembles that of most other modern nations in that a Supreme Court of eleven members presides over a system of courts descending to district and local courts across the nation. The difference is that the Azanian Judicial Branch only tries criminal cases. All civil cases are handled by the Tribal courts.

Azania's legal system has been called efficient and fair by most observers, largely due to the fact that it oversees criminal cases only.

The Tribal Branch of Azanian government is the branch which most other nations find confusing. At its implementation in the Azanian Constitution of 2111, most political scientists and the French observers at the Constitutional Congress declared that it would result in anarchy or worse in Azania, possibly even a return to the tribal and racial violence of a century before, but in all actuality, it has worked well for the Azanian people for nearly 200 years.

There are 214 politically-recognized tribes (tribes with voting powers) in Azania, and dozens of others who can submit motions to the Grand Tribal Council but have no vote. The Grand Tribal Council meets for one week every two months and debates issues which have not been solved by the lower Tribal Councils. The "chief" of every tribe sits on the Grand Tribal Council and submits the opinions of his or her tribe, often while linked to his or her Tribal Council via telephone or other means of communication - the tribe may (or may not) be sitting elsewhere taking votes on motions before the Grand Tribal Council.

The individual Tribal Councils themselves enforce and judge civil law in their appointed territories. Tribal Council members are elected or otherwise chosen by the members of their tribes, and non-tribal members can participate in the Tribal Council Member selection process if living within the sphere of influence of the tribe in question, although non-members may not serve on the Tribal Council (they may, however, apply for membership in the local tribe at any time).

The "Tribes" are not necessarily traditional ethnic groups. According to the Constitution of 2111, a tribe is "any group of people who dwell in a contiguous geographic area and share a system of values, a common ethnicity, or a particular cultural or geographic bond." (section 97sub3) The various tribes often do have ethnic associations, but there are many pan-racial and pan-linguistic "tribes" politically recognized by the courts and the Grand Tribal Council.

Only 100 Tribal Representatives are appointed to the Tribal Parliament. A tribe can challenge any other tribe's right to send a representative at any time, and a debate ensues in the Grand Tribal Council. After four hours of debate, a vote is taken, and a simple majority determines the outcome. However, if a challenging tribe does not believe it can build a coalition for a simple majority in a vote, it can challenge the tribe it wishes to unseat to a competition. These competitions cannot involve deadly force, but nearly anything else is within reason, as long as the form of the challenge is approved by a majority of the Grand Tribal Council. Most often these challenges take the form of a race, a soccer game, or, pushing the boundaries of the "deadly force" restriction, a rugby match. Various other competitions from eating contests to cross-stitching have been employed in lighter-hearted moments since 2111. (Most often a simple vote is employed, however.

The Tribal Branch of the Azanian government is the "wild and woolly" part of Azanian politics, and many of our nation's greatest leaders have been shaped by this unique and treasured part of the political process of our nation.

Azanian politics are often puzzling to outsiders. We recommend reading Holst Veerhof's excellent analysis The Spear and the Shield published beginning in the 2298 edition of La Libraire Coloniale.

As a further note, Azania largely does not interfere in the governing of her colonies beyond the appointment of the initial governor and his or her staff and the provision that the Third Brigade of the Zulu Guards is responsible for the majority of law enforcement in the colonies, especially when dealing with crimes involving foreign nationals or crimes against the Azanian state. Some legislation from Parliament affects the colonies, and on these occasions, input is sought from the various Colonial Councils.

Introduction
Executive
Legislative
Judicial
Tribal
Conclusion
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