Minister-President of Ebenthal

From MicroWiki, the free micronational encyclopædia
  (Redirected from Grand Vizier of Ebenthal)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Minister-President of Ebenthal
Ministerial standard
Incumbent
Bernardo Barcelos

since 30 July 2023
StyleThe Most Worthy
Member ofKonkrëse
Cabinet
Reports toHouse of Councillors
Monarch
SeatBrauncastel
AppointerMonarch
Term lengthAt His Majesty's Pleasure
Constituting instrumentConstitution
Inaugural holderAdriano Moreira
Formation11 August 2014
DeputyPresident of the House of Councillors
Salary𝕮55.992 (annually)

The Minister-President of Ebenthal (Portuguese: Ministro Presidente de Ebental), formerly called Prime Minister, is the constitutional co-head of government of the Kingdom of Ebenthal. The Minister-President advises the Sovereign on the exercise of his royal prerogative, chairs the Council of Ministers and select its members. The Minister-President hold 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 is 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 appoints 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 is 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 does not reach an acceptable nomination for the position, the Minister-President can be appointed from among the members of the upper house, the House of Aristocrats, provided that he commands the confidence of the members of the lower chamber.

The office of Minister-President does not have a term length; they remains in power as long as they are able to maintain the trust of the both the House of Councilors and the Monarch. They can 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 can not only dismiss the Minister-President and his cabinet altogether, as he cannot dismiss ministers individually.

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.

Competences

The constitution designates the Minister-President as the co-head of the Government of Ebenthal and defines his competences as the highest exercise of authority in matters concerning the government aside of the Monarch. The Minister-President appoints and dismiss the Ministers of State, and co-ordinates the policies and activities of all government departments, and the staff of the civil service. The Minister-President holds 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 is 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 becomes 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 is the prerogative of the Chancellor or Regent to offer the crown to suitors.

The Minister-President holds weekly audiences with the Sovereign. The extent of the Sovereign's ability to influence the nature of the ministerial is unknown, but presumably varies depending 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 takes 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 is 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 enjoys the power to set guidelines for all fields of policy, effectively arrogating nearly all major decisions to himself. Consequently, ministers are treated as mere extensions of the Minister-President's authority and enjoys of less autonomy. Further empowering the Minister-President, he set the number of cabinet ministers and dictates their specific duties, although he cannot abrogate them to his own office.

Restrictions

It is out of the Minister-President's competences to legislate over any matter concerning the nature of the Crown. He has 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 is binded by law to acknowledge all the titles and styles formally adopted by members of the Royal Family, he has no power to rule over noble titles. Additionally, the Minister-President cannot 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 must forfeit their positions.

Appointment

The Minister-President is appointed by the Sovereign from among the members of the party or coalition that holds 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 cannot 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 will 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 shall take an oath of loyalty to the constitution and the King of Ebenthal. From then on the appointed person shall 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
284 days Worker's Party Arthur I
II Igor Torres
The Count of Luseff
24 May
2015
9 January
2016
230 days Conservative Party Arthur I
III Raphael Viana
The Count of Verdefort
9 January
2016
21 October
2016
286 days Conservative Party Arthur I
IV Alfonso Marques
The Baron of Alphöns
21 October
2016
15 May
2017
206 days Conservative Party Arthur I
V Gabriel Silva
The Count of Balten
15 May
2017
10 May
2018
360 days Moderate Party Arthur I
VI João Koehler
The Baron of Koehler
10 May
2018
17 October
2018
160 days Moderate Party Arthur I
VII Rodrigo Falcão
The Marquis of Falkner
17 October
2018
24 June
2019
250 days Moderate Party Arthur I
VIII Vinicius Lahad
The Count of Lahad
24 June
2019
27 September
2019
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
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
183 days Moderate Party Arthur II
Previous Head of Government as Regent
XI Fernando Toledo 29 June
2020
8 March
2021
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
184 days Worker's Party Arthur II
First woman to act as Prime Minister
XIII Henri Sãens 8 September
2021
5 December
2022
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
128 days New Democrats Arthur II
First Prime Minister of non-Brazilian origin.
XV Henri Sãens 12 April
2023
30 July
2023
109 days National Party Arthur II
First Prime Minister to serve twice.
Minister-President
XVI Bernardo Barcelos 30 July
2023
present 342 days New Democrats Arthur II

References