Minister-President of Ebenthal

Minister-President of Ebenthal
Ministerial standard
Incumbent Bernardo Barcelos
Style	The Most Worthy
Member of	Konkrëse Cabinet
Reports to	House of Councillors Monarch
Seat	Brauncastel
Appointer	Monarch
Term length	At His Majesty's Pleasure
Constituting instrument	Constitution
Inaugural holder	Adriano Moreira
Formation	11 August 2014
Final holder	Bernardo Barcelos
Abolished	1 April 2024
Deputy	President of the House of Councillors
Salary	𝕮55.992 (annually)

The Minister-President of Ebenthal (Portuguese: Ministro Presidente de Ebental), formerly called Prime Minister, was the constitutional co-head of government of the Kingdom of Ebenthal. The Minister-President advised the Sovereign on the exercise of his royal prerogative, chaired the Council of Ministers and selected its members. The Minister-President held office by virtue of the ability to command the confidence of both the House of Councillors and the King, who actively scrutinize the workings of the Government.

The office of Minister-President was established by the Constitution of Ebenthal, whereby it replaced the originally called Grand Vizier, effectivelly strengthening the position of the co-head of government and establishing a new dynamic of checks and balances between the two co-heads of government. The Monarch appointed as Minister-President the person most likely to command the confidence of the House of Councillors, even though this is a convention and not a legal bind; this individual was typically the leader of the political party or coalition of parties that holds the largest number of seats in that chamber. However, on rare occasions, if the party or coalition that forms a majority in the lower chamber did not reached an acceptable nomination for the position, the Minister-President could be appointed from among the members of the upper house, the House of Aristocrats, provided that he commanded the confidence of the members of the lower chamber.

The office of Minister-President did not have a term length; they remained in power as long as they were able to maintain the trust of the both the House of Councilors and the Monarch. They could be removed from power by a motion of no confidence voted and approved in the lower chamber, or by royal decree promulgated by the Monarch, which could not only dismiss the Minister-President and his cabinet altogether. The office was disestablished and replaced by that of Archchancellor of Ebenthal on 1 April 2024.

History

The office of Minister-President (PM) was de facto established as Grand Vizier on 11 August 2014 through the Declaration of Foundation, Independence and Sovereignty, and the first PM Adriano Moreira, 1st Marquis of Jännerach, was appointed two days later. Quickly the Ebenthaler politics became partisan and Jännerach joined the Worker's Party. It was only in 26 October 2015 that the Constitution of Ebenthal was promulgated and the office of the Grand Vizier was officially established. Through the course of the Ebenthaler history, such as during the civil war, rump or alternative PMs were temporarily empowered through coups d'ètat; that was the case when Nilo Moreira, 1st Count of Versteckburg, proclaimed himself King and Acting Grand Vizier. In other occasions, such as during the Mateusian Crisis, the government's institutions refused to grant their acknowledgement to Vinicius Lahad, 1st Count of Lahad, who had just been appointed PM by King Matthew I. Following the crisis, Ebenthal entered a brief interregnum on which a PM was appointed by Raphael Sousa, 1st Prince of Soussen, the then acting Regent. By the end of 2019 King Arthur II of Ebenthal was enthroned and changed the office's denomination to that of Prime Minister and initiated a policy of gradual transfer of powers and responsibilities to his co-head of government and to parliament, turning the country's parliamentary system into a quasi-Westminster model-parliament and effectivelly establishing a flawed democracy. With the enactment of the Ebenthaler Constitution of 2024, the office of Prime Minister changed name to Minister-President. Nonetheless, a few months lates, with the promulgation of the Definitive Pact, the office was disestablished and replaced by the more powerful Archchancellor of Ebenthal.

Competences

The constitution designated the Minister-President as the co-head of the Government of Ebenthal and defined his competences as the highest exercise of authority in matters concerning the government aside of the Monarch. The Minister-President appointed and dismised the Ministers of State, and co-ordinated the policies and activities of all government departments, and the staff of the civil service. The Minister-President held several other powers, including the casting vote in the case of a tie in the House of Councillors, he can create and regulate government agencies, propose bills and he was the head advisor to the Monarch. On the event of the Monarch's inability to exercise power, if he has not appointed a Regent, the Minister-President automatically became Regent (it is the only constitutional case where the premier enjoys full executive power as both sole head of government and acting head of state). In the possibility of the inexistence of a Monarch, it was the prerogative of the Minister-President or Regent to offer the crown to suitors.

The Minister-President held weekly audiences with the Sovereign. The extent of the Sovereign's ability to influence the nature of the ministerial is unknown, but presumably depended upon the personal relationship between the Sovereign and the Minister-President of the day. The Minister-President, being a member of one of the houses of parliament, also took part weekly in ordinary session and may be called to answer the questions made by the Monarch, the parliament and the justice. As co-head of government the Minister-President was also de facto co-holder of the executive power, invested upon the Monarch by the constitution but exercised through the Minister-President alongside with the cabinet on the Monarch's name.

The Minister-President of Ebenthal enjoyed the power to set guidelines for all fields of policy, effectively arrogating nearly all major decisions to himself. Consequently, ministers were treated as mere extensions of the Minister-President's authority and enjoyed of less autonomy. Further empowering the former Minister-President in place, he set the number of cabinet ministers and dictates their specific duties, although he could abrogate them to his own office.

Restrictions

It was out of the Minister-President's competences to legislate over any matter concerning the nature of the Crown. He had no authority over the country's awards and decorations other than those specifically defined, he cannot change or propose bill on the subject of succession to the throne, morganatic and non-morganatic marriage or protocol, he was binded by law to acknowledge all the titles and styles formally adopted by members of the Royal Family, he had no power to rule over noble titles. Additionally, the Minister-President could not be formally a member of the Royal Family, e.g., if any Prince or Princess of the Royal House wishes to become Minister-President, they should forfeit their positions.

Appointment

The Minister-President was appointed by the Sovereign from among the members of the party or coalition that held the majority of seats in the House of Councillors, the lower house of the parliament. Typically the Minister-President is nominated by the party or coalition he represents for the post and is formally appointed by the Monarch. However, this is not constitutionally required of the Monarch, who technically can appoint any member of the majority party or coalition.

However, the Minister-President could not be appointed among the members of a party that does not have a majority of seats in the chamber and is not in a coalition. If an opposing coalition has more seats in parliament than the ruling party, the Minister-President can be appointed from the members of that coalition in order to avoid a minority government. Nevertheless, if the parties fail to form a coalition, the Minister-President could be appointed from among the members of the party that individually holds the most seats in parliament, even if the other parties total more seats, thus forming a minority government.

At the appointment act, upon being requested to "form a government on His Majesty's name", the Minister-President would take an oath of loyalty to the constitution and the King of Ebenthal. From then on the appointed person would enjoy the right of address of The Most Worthy and the title of Minister-President of the Council of the Kingdom of Ebenthal.

List of heads of government

No.	Name	Portrait	Tenure			Political party		Appointer
			From	To	Tenure
Grand Vizier
I	Adriano Moreira The Marquis of Jännerarch		13 August 2014	24 May 2015	7002284000000000000♠284 days		Worker's Party	Arthur I
II	Igor Torres The Count of Luseff		24 May 2015	9 January 2016	7002230000000000000♠230 days		Conservative Party	Arthur I
III	Raphael Viana The Count of Verdefort		9 January 2016	21 October 2016	7002286000000000000♠286 days		Conservative Party	Arthur I
IV	Alfonso Marques The Baron of Alphöns		21 October 2016	15 May 2017	7002206000000000000♠206 days		Conservative Party	Arthur I
V	Gabriel Silva The Count of Balten		15 May 2017	10 May 2018	7002360000000000000♠360 days		Moderate Party	Arthur I
VI	João Koehler The Baron of Koehler		10 May 2018	17 October 2018	7002160000000000000♠160 days		Moderate Party	Arthur I
VII	Rodrigo Falcão The Marquis of Falkner		17 October 2018	24 June 2019	7002250000000000000♠250 days		Moderate Party	Arthur I
VIII	Vinicius Lahad The Count of Lahad		24 June 2019	27 September 2019	7001950000000000000♠95 days		Conservative Party	Mateus I
			First Prime Minister to be criminally convicted.
IX	Felipe Saint The Marquis of Savaßi		27 September 2019	29 December 2019	7001930000000000000♠93 days		Moderate Party	The Prince of Soussen (as Regent)
Prime Ministers
X	Raphael Sousa The Prince of Soussen		29 December 2019	29 June 2020	7002183000000000000♠183 days		Moderate Party	Arthur II
			Previous Head of Government as Regent
XI	Fernando Toledo		29 June 2020	8 March 2021	7002252000000000000♠252 days		Conservative Party	Arthur II
			First royal to serve as Prime Minister.
XII	Gabriela Amorim The Duchess of Guterfolg		8 March 2021	8 September 2021	7002184000000000000♠184 days		Worker's Party	Arthur II
			First woman to act as Prime Minister
XIII	Henri Sãens		8 September 2021	5 December 2022	7002453000000000000♠1 year, 88 days		Moderate Party	Arthur II
			First commoner to serve as Prime Minister
XIV	Rupert Ruschel The Baron of Sommerlath		5 December 2022	12 April 2023	7002128000000000000♠128 days		New Democrats	Arthur II
			First Prime Minister of non-Brazilian origin.
XV	Henri Sãens		12 April 2023	30 July 2023	7002109000000000000♠109 days		National Party	Arthur II
			First Prime Minister to serve twice.
Minister-President
XVI	Bernardo Barcelos		30 July 2023	present	7002602000000000000♠1 year, 236 days		New Democrats	Arthur II