Motosui Representative

Motosui Representatives are representatives chosen by their delegations to sit on the Motosui Assembly's lower chamber, formally known as the Nasui. 
There are over 370 Motosui Representatives, hailing from all over the world. They represent all Selkies in theory: they represent Pods (100-200 selkie crews), March Kingdoms, Admiralty outpost clusters, and port cities. They overwhelmingly tend to represent the established elites of those groups, though. 
Not all Representatives are equally powerful, though their votes all count the same. Some reps sit on special Committees, which handle specific topics of interest or act as juries for major court cases. This enables well-connected senior reps to accumulate power on niche issues. No representative can rival the elite power of the Upper-House representatives, the Watakilai, though. 
Representatives tend to align themselves in elaborate chains of patronage and alliance to the representatives of more powerful clans. However, in recent decades, the long-term stability of this patronage system has been disrupted by anti-corruption reforms that ban openly using money to buy or penalize voting and prevent "vassal voting" (using political status to outright claim the voting power of 'lesser' representatives). While patronage is still vital to how the system works, it is no longer everything - and it has weakened the absolute power leadership once had. Now, representatives can choose between overlords with fewer financial and political repercussions. This has shifted patrons to be clearer in their financial and ideological interests - now, the Big Five Clans actually have to sell their ideology-policy packages to the lesser representatives. Once committed, though, representatives don't tend to flip on individual issues; better to vote against ones' interest on a lesser issue than become known as disloyal to all. 
Three big political parties, led by the Five Great Patron Clans, have emerged in recent years: The Federalists (centralizers and militarists), the Judicialists (status-quo commercialists), and Libertaines (decentralizers). Currently, the Judicialists lead the pack and control the Assembly floor, but they often have to work with one or the other opposition party on specific issues. The de-facto head of the Judicialists, Watakilai Lirili Mikiraka, could therefore be deemed the Prime Minister of the Assembly.

Appointment

Representatives are not usually chosen democratically, though they can be; they often represent the most powerful clan or faction within a specific delegation. It depends a great deal on who is choosing them: Representatives come from port cities, Admiralties, and nomadic Pods alike, and no two delegations are the same. For example, one Pod may be very interconnected and able to reliably provide input as to what they want done and who they want representing them generally, while another Pod may struggle to have their many crews all gather in one place, or might be autocratically dominated by a single powerful clan structure. The March Kingdoms, meanwhile, grant some ports the ability to choose their own representatives through guild elections, while others are chosen by the March Exarch directly.
It is considered the right of every delegation to choose their own methods for selecting representatives. What this means in an overlordship context (does the delegation itself keep that right, or does the overlord inherit that power) like in the March Kingdoms' feudal structures is not entirely clear. 
While every delegation can choose a different term of service for their representatives, ten years is the standard for many.

Accoutrements & Equipment

Representatives bear amulets, cowls, and rings emblazoned with their delegation's symbol. They also have veils embedded with white beads, white feather capes, and horn hats of various colors.

Type

Civic, Political

Form of Address

The honorable

Reports directly to

Watakilai

Related Organizations

• Motosui Assembly