The Constitution of the Divine Republic of Kresimiria is the foundational legal document of the nation. Enacted on May 27, 1921, it was drafted by the six members of the Revolutionary People’s Council following their victory in the Kresimirian Unification War.
The document establishes a unique political system that combines elements of a theocracy with a democratic republic. It is noted for its internal contradictions, featuring both highly authoritarian state controls and some of the most socially progressive individual rights codified in the region.
History and Enactment
The rapid ratification of the constitution was made geographically possible by the Treaty of Sinj. Because the treaty formally secured Kresimirian borders and forced Boskenmark to abandon its claims to the south, the Centralist framers felt sufficiently secure to implement their most controversial domestic policies. The treaty’s absolute subjugation of the south directly emboldened the framers to include the Faith Restriction Clause, legally disenfranchising the newly annexed Bosken population.
The constitution was proclaimed as part of the establishment of the Divine Republic, formalizing the new state’s existence. The text is divided into five main sections, outlining the nature of the Republic, the structure of government, the distribution of power, the legislative process, and the rights and duties of citizens.
Though intended to be a permanent framework, the constitution has been formally amended on several occasions to adapt to political and social crises. Any amendment requires 12 senators (previously 14, amended in 1933) in a special session attended by all members of the Assembly and the Chancellor.
Key Structural Provisions
The Republic (Articles 1-2)
This section establishes Kresimiria as a state based on the divine values of Kresimirianism and its sacred texts, the Books of Kresimir. It names Sinj as the capital and grants a “special status of Divinity” to five other historically significant cities.
The Government (Articles 3-10)
This section details the structure of the state’s main political bodies:
- The Assembly: A unicameral legislature of 20 Senators, with two elected from each of the ten districts for ten-year terms.
- The Chancellory: A head of state, the Divine Chancellor, who is appointed for life by the Assembly.
- The Electoral System: Outlines the ranked-choice voting method and, most notably, contains the Faith Restriction Clause (Article 5), which limits suffrage to adherents of Kresimirianism.
Electoral System
General elections are held every ten years on May 27th, which is declared a national holiday strictly forbidding work to ensure all eligible citizens have the opportunity to vote. Voting is strongly encouraged due to the divinity certificate process, but it is not compulsory. The electoral system has several features distinct from other parliamentary systems:
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Suffrage: Voting is restricted to citizens aged 14 and over who are certified adherents of the Divine Faith of Kresimirianism. Eligibility is proven by a “Divinity Certificate” issued by a local religious official (a Diviner). This constitutionally disenfranchises all non-adherents, and is commonly known as the Faith Restriction Clause of the Kresimirian Constitution. There is an exception to this - the divinity certificate is not required for voters within District X (Moraviskameja), a constitutional amendment demanded by ethnic Boskens under the 1961 Treaty of Brod Moravice.
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Candidacy: Constitutionally, political parties were explicitly outlawed prior to 1922 (though this was amended prior to the first elections in 1922 to allow them in practice), and the constitution originally mandated all candidates to run as independents to prevent division. Candidates must reside in the district and apply by May 13th along with a ten gold piece deposit, which is refunded if they achieve over 5% of the vote. The order of candidates on the ballot is decided by random dice rolls rather than alphabetical order.
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Voting Method: Voting is conducted using paper ballots. To cast a valid vote, a voter must show their certificate, then write their full name in block capitals on the ballot and sign it. They then rank their top four preferences by marking “1”, “2”, “3”, and “4” next to candidates’ names. If a ballot contains a wrong number of preferences or is illegible, it is deemed invalid. A candidate is also strictly forbidden from voting in an election they are participating in.
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Vote Counting and Results: Voting locations close on the night of May 29th, giving electoral officers 14 days to count the ballots. The counting process works via a specific ranked-choice system: all candidates except the top four highest-voted are eliminated immediately. Then, the first-preference ballots of the eliminated candidates are redistributed based on their 2nd, 3rd, or 4th preferences. Ultimately, the top two candidates with the highest total votes are elected as the district’s two Senators and given 28 days to travel to the Assembly in Sinj.
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Vacancies: If a sitting Senator dies or voluntarily resigns, their seat immediately triggers a by-election. Previously, it was offered to the candidate who came in third place in the previous election. If they declined, it went down the list. Only if none of the previous candidates are available and willing was a special election called within 21 days for that district. (This was amended in the 1924 Electoral Succession Act.)
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Oversight and Integrity: Electoral locations must be accessible within one hour by foot, with one electoral officer per thousand citizens. The Superior Tribunal holds absolute authority to investigate allegations of electoral fraud and nullify results.
Distribution of Power (Articles 11-24)
This section establishes the executive and judicial branches:
- Federal Councils: A cabinet-like system of administrative departments (e.g., Defence, Divinity, Health) headed by Councillors appointed by the Chancellor.
- Judiciary: A four-tiered judicial system headed by the Superior Tribunal, the Republic’s highest court and final interpreter of the constitution.
Rights and Duties of Citizens (Articles 31-43)
Part V of the constitution is its most discussed and paradoxical section, containing a mixture of progressive individual liberties and strict authoritarian duties.
Progressive Social Rights
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Article 31 (Abortion): Grants citizens the “absolute right to terminate a pregnancy at any point… until the child is born,” one of the most liberal abortion laws in the world at the time of its writing. This serves as the operational mandate for the Council for Health’s reproductive services division.
- Article 32 (Discrimination): Forbids discrimination based on “sex as born, identity, or expression.”
- Article 33 (Marriage): Guarantees the right to marriage regardless of “orientation, number of participants, or sexes or presentation of the participants,” legally recognizing same-sex and polyamorous unions.
These progressive rights are not secular innovations but are derived directly from the Book of Markos, which states that believers must have ‘authority over their body’ and ‘equality in preference,’ validating same-sex unions and abortion rights within the state religion.
Authoritarian State Controls
- Article 34 (Religion): Mandates that all citizens must adhere to Kresimirianism.
- Articles 39-42 (Speech, Labor, Assembly): Creates limits on unauthorized publications, labor strikes, and public gatherings, with severe penalties for violations. Citizens are constitutionally required to report “subversive content” to the authorities. (It previously prohibited strikes entirely, but this was amended in 1983 by Ljubo Sanjakorin.)
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Article 37 (Conscription): Establishes mandatory military conscription with no right to conscientious objection.
- Modern Application: Following the 2015 Digital Sovereignty Act, the physical “Divinity Certificate” described in Article 5 has been largely replaced by a digital ID embedded within the mandatory KresiX National App. Possession of a functional KresiX device with a valid digital ID is now the de facto method for exercising citizenship rights, including voting.
Major Amendments
The constitution has been formally amended on several key occasions:
- 1922 (Political Parties Act): Proposed by Filip Novak, this was the first amendment. It struck down Article 6, Clause 1, which had banned political parties. The change was made before the first election to accommodate the reality of emerging political blocs.
- 1924 (Electoral Succession Act): An emergency amendment passed in the wake of the assassination of Senator Ivana Simuna. It temporarily suspended and permanently altered Article 8, which had proven unworkable, allowing a special election to be held directly.
- 1933 (Amendment Procedure Act): Proposed by the RPP government, this amendment lowered the threshold required to amend the Constitution from a two-thirds majority (14 Senators) to a three-fifths majority (12 Senators). It effectively removed the ability of the liberal opposition of the 1932 Assembly to block constitutional changes, leading to the 1933 National Security Act later that year.
- 1933 (National Security Act): Proposed by the RPP government and supported by the Sons of Kresimir, this amendment expanded Article 35, giving the Council for Internal Affairs broad powers to restrict freedom of movement for citizens deemed a threat to national security or religious unity.
- 1942 (Chancellor’s Authority Act): A major shift in the balance of power, this amendment to Article 26 granted the Divine Chancellor veto power over any legislation passed with fewer than a four-fifths majority.
- 1961 (Treaty of Brod Moravice): The most significant amendment concerning citizen rights. As a core provision of the Treaty of Brod Moravice, this act amended Article 5 to waive the faith-based voting requirement for all citizens residing in District X (Moraviskameja).
- 1983 (Workers Rights Act): Proposed by Ljubo Sanjakorin, this amendment to Article 42 legalized trade unions and the right to strike, reversing decades of prohibition on labor organization.
- 1988 (State Enterprise Act): Proposed by Blue Dawn leader Ljubo Sanjakorin’s government, this amendment clarified and expanded the powers of the Council for Development, formalizing the creation of state-owned enterprises and strengthening the government’s role in the industrial economy.