Hi everyone, I am a newbie who just bought the Haqqislam starter set. After reading the N3 background book, I am still kind of confused with Haqqislam's political system. What are the Khanate, Caliphate, Shanate, and Sultanate? Are they special autonomous regions or just normal provinces of Bourak? Since the central Bourak government is led by a president, how does this presidential/republican system co-exist with all the regional monarchies under it? Are we a monarchy or republic?
It seems that the Haqqislam government is kinda like today's United Arab Emirates, where you have several hereditary states under the leadership of a nominal president. Is my understanding correct?
In terms of government we are informed by the RPG variously that: "Haqqislam is a parliamentary democracy, with its form of government defined by the Constitution of Bourak (which was, itself, heavily influenced by the Concords of Tubruq which were created in the aftermath of Khadivar’s assassination). Bourak is divided into semi-autonomous democratic regions. The four major regions are the Al Medinat Caliphate, the Funduq Sultanate, the Iran Zhat Al Amat Shanate, and the Gabqar Khanate. The Majlis is the parliament of Haqqislam. The lower majlis is divided into four separate houses, one for each of the major regional governments. The Majlis al-Bourak is the upper house, with its members evenly divided between the major ethnic groups and selected by national popular elections. National law requires agreement between the Majlis al-Bourak and at least two of the regional Majlis. The Hachib (President) is elected by a nationwide popular vote. The diwâns are the large bureaucracies largely responsible for running the Haqqislam government. These agencies are deliberately firewalled from each other (and often have overlapping remits) in order to keep power divided. There are more than a dozen major national diwâns, in addition to temporary diwâns formed by decree or law for specific, short term purposes. The major diwâns include the Diwân al Jund (War Office), Diwân al Kharâj (Tax Office), the Diwân al Mazalim (Trade Office), the Diwân al Hachib (Presidential Ministerial Office), and the Diwân al Rasa’il (which can be literally translated as the Communications Office, but which is actually in charge of national quantronic security, coordinating activities with ALEPH, and maintaining the official record of all laws). Also notable is the Diwân al Nawal (which serves as the regional government of Nawal Island) and the Diwân al Paradiso (originally founded to govern Haqqislam’s holdings on Paradiso, but now in charge of all colonial holdings and exploratory efforts)."
