Minister-President of Marienbourg

Minister-President of Marienbourg
Flag of the Minister-President
Incumbent Gustave Lynch since 1 February 2023
Style	The Most Worthy
Status	Chairman of the Council of Ministers, de facto Head of Government
Member of	Council of Ministers
Reports to	The Duke
Appointer	The Duke
Term length	At His Serene Highness's Pleasure
Formation	1 February 2023

The Minister-President of Marienbourg (Portuguese: Ministro-Presidente de Marienburgo) is the president of the Council of Ministers, the governing body of Marienbourg. The Minister-President exercises a considerable part of the executive attributions conferred to the sovereign Duke by the constitution in his name, acting de facto as head of government of the country. In this way, the Minister-President holds office by virtue of the favor of the Monarch, rather than his ability to command the confidence of parliament, even though his appointment to office is the result of a parliamentary majority.

The office of Minister-President is not provided for in the Constitution of Marienbourg. The sovereign Duke, who constitutionally is the head of government, freely appoints the Minister-President from among the members of the party that has a majority in parliament; the Minister-President need not necessarily be a member of parliament or an elected politician. Although the Minister-President enjoys autonomy of action, real power ultimately resides on the Monarch who can overrule its actions, change the composition of the council of ministers and, dismiss the Minister-President at will and even extinguish the office.

Competences

The Constitution of Marienbourg it does not provide for the office of Minister-President, which is an organic creation instituted by ordinance by the sovereign Duke. Therefore, the position officially does not have stipulated functions beyond what its name makes clear, which is to preside the Council of Ministers. However, unlike absolutist regimes where the occupants of high government offices derive their functions from the will of the sovereign and their personal relations with him, the Minister-President of Marienbourg has autonomy to exercise executive power on behalf of the monarch, even if he retains the ultimate authority. The Minister-President appoints and dismisses members of the Council of Ministers, subject always to the discretion of the sovereign Duke. He co-ordinates the policies and activities of all government departments, and the staff of the civil service. 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 Minister-President or Regent to offer the crown to suitors.

Despite having autonomy of action, all actions of the Minister-President are subject to the Duke's scrutiny since legally all actions of the Minister-President are actions of the Duke taken on his behalf by a third party to which he has delegated said functions and authorities, and he is constitutionally the head of government. The Minister-President holds either daily or weekly audiences with the sovereign. The extent of the Minister-President's ability to influence the sovereign is unknown, but presumably varies depending upon the personal relationship between the sovereign and the minister of the day.

Appointment

The Minister-President is appointed by the Sovereign from among the members of the party holds the majority of seats at the Ducal Diet. Typically the Minister-President is nominated by the party he represents for the office and is formally appointed by the Monarch. However, this is not constitutionally required of the Monarch, who technically can appoint any member of the major party. At the appointment act, upon being requested to "form a government on His Serene Highness' name", the Minister-President shall take an oath of loyalty to the constitution and to the Duke of Marienbourg. From then on the appointed person shall enjoy the right of address of The Most Worthy and the title of Minister-President of the Duchy of Marienbourg. The Minister-President cannot hold any judicial power, but can serve any ministerial office concomitantly, although without the right to accumulate wages.

List of Minister-Presidents

No.	Name	Portrait	Tenure			Political party		Appointer
			From	To	Tenure
I	Gustave Lynch		1 February 2023	9 August 2024	7002555000000000000♠1 year, 190 days		Popular Party	Arthur V
II	Gabriel Torres		9 August 2024	present	7002131000000000000♠131 days		Democratic Union	Arthur V

See also

• Duke of Marienbourg
• Council of Ministers (Marienbourg)