Government of Ebenthal
His Majesty's Government Governo de Sua Majestade | |
|---|---|
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| Polity type | Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy |
| Constitution | Constitution of Ebenthal |
| Formation | 2014 |
| Legislative branch | |
| Name | Konkrëse |
| Meeting place | Raych Halle |
| Upper house | |
| Name | House of Aristocrats |
| Lower house | |
| Name | House of Councillors |
| Executive branch | |
| Head of State | |
| Title | King |
| Currently | Arthur II |
| Head of Government | |
| Title | Prime Minister |
| Currently | Henri Sãens |
| Appointer | King |
| Cabinet | |
| Name | Cabinet of Ebenthal |
| Leader | Prime Minister |
| Appointer | Prime Minister |
| Headquarters | Raych Kabinett |
| Judicial branch | |
| Tribune of Truth | |
| Seat | Malmünd |
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| This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Ebenthal |
| Constitution |
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Justice
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Local government
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The Government of Ebenthal (Portuguese: Governo de Ebenthal), officially His Majesty's Government (Portuguese: Governo de Sua Majestade) and often referred to as the Central Government (Portuguese: Governo Central), is the structure responsible for the central administration of the Kingdom of Ebenthal. The current construct was established through the Constitution of Ebenthal in 2014, wherein the Ebenthali crown acts as the central piece of the unitry and parliamentary politics, being thus the foundation of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the Ebenthali government. Further elements of governance are outlined in the rest of the constitution, which includes written statutes, court rulings, and unwritten conventions.
Ebenthal's politics are divided in three powers. A pecualirity is that Ebenthali constitution determines that both the Monarch and the Prime Minister are co-Heads of Government, with the executive power upon the two of them, even though it is activelly exercised by the latter. Although the constitution determines the city of Malmünd as capital, the government is divided between that city and Minen.
Government structure
Monarchy
As per Article 1st of the Constitution, Ebenthal is a constitutional monarchy under a parliamentary system, wherein the role of the monarch is both legal, practical and political. The monarch is constitutionally designed sole head of state, interpreted as the own incarnation of the state, to whom all powers of the state are vested in, and from whom all political powers as derived, at the centre of a construct in which the power of the whole is shared by multiple institutions of government acting under the sovereign's authority.
According to the constitution, the role of head of government is divided between the monarch and the prime minister, and the practical politics work pretty much similar to a semi-presidential system. Thus the monarch is the sole responsible to sanction or vetoe laws enacted by the parliament. As sovereign, the monarch have a limited participation in all the powers, such as the power to commute a criminal sentence. The monarch's own powers also include summon, prorogue and dissolve the parliament at will. He's also responsible for appointing the Prime Minister, the Seneschal, all members of the upper house, the House of Aristocrats, the President of the provinces, as well as justiciars. Negotiations and ratifications of treaties, alliances and declaration of war are also powers exclusive to the monarch.
Executive
The constituion defines that the executive power is vested upon and emmanates from the monarch, and is exercised mainly by the Prime Minister on the monarch's behalf. The Prime Minister and Monarch are deemed co-heads of government, sharing their portions of the executive power.
The Prime Minister is formally appointed by the monarch among members of the majority party or coalition in the House of Councillors, the parliament's lower house. Should no party hold a majority in the house, the leader of one party—either the one with the most seats or one supported by other parties—will be called by the monarch to form a minority government. Once sworn by the monarch, the Prime Minister holds office until resign or be dismissed either at the monarch's will or through a motion of no-confidence by the parliament. His duties are to form a ministerial cabinet to rule the country's affairs cohesively alongside the Konkrëse, much like the British Prime Minister.
The monarch, on the other hand, holds a fair share of the executive, being the sole responsible for the formal enactment of laws and holding the power to dismiss any minister of the Prime Minister's cabinet.
Legislative
The legislative power emmanates from the monarch and is vested upon the Konkrëse, the national bicameral legislature. The Konkrëse is formed by an upper houser, called House of Aristocrats, whose 14 members are nobles appointed by the monarch to serve life-long terms, and a lower house, called House of Councillors, whose 14 members are freely elected through universal suffrage to serve 6-month terms with the possibility for unlimited re-election, mixing elements from both aristocracy and democracy. Each administrative division provides 2 members for each house. Members of the upper house are unnoficially called "Lords of the Congress" or "Lords of the Parliament" and are headed by the Lord Speaker, while members of the lower house are called "Councillors" and are headed by the Councillor Speaker.
An uniqueness of the Ebenthali system of government is that both upper and lower houses share powers to an unusual extent through convention, although this was mostly imposed by the king. While the House of Councillors is tasked with providing the country's political head of government, the prime minister, it is the House of Aristocrats who works de facto as the primary house, being main responsible for enact the country's politics. Nonetheless its actions reflect mostly the debates and opinions at the House of Councillors. This way, there is a relative stability and balance.
Judiciary
The sovereign is responsible for rendering justice for all his subjects, and is thus traditionally deemed the fount of justice, however, he does not have powers to personally rules judicial cases. Instead, this power is exercised on his name through the Tribune of Truth, the country's sole court as well its oldest unaltered institution. It is composed by five members, being four Truchsesses and one Seneschal, all appointed by the Sovereign. The Tribune is responsible for hear appeals, judge over the legality of parliamentary decisions or even the Royal Family's actions, judge military and government officials as well in any degree of law and ennact sentences.
The judiciary power is widely regarded as Ebenthal's most independent power, as even the person of the monarch is under its authority and he, regardless of being the source from which the judiciary power emanates, has very little hold of its administration. The monarch can, however commute sentences.
Administrative divisions
Article 2 of the Ebenthali constitution defines the country as an unitary state formed by six provinces and the capital, which has the status of Free City. The political power exercised by each administrative division over its own territories varies according to regional self-management needs and those of the Ebenthali State. Nevertheless, all provinces enjoy a great degree of autonomy, exercising great control over their hierarchies and administrative structures. Provinces can even choose whether or not to have a local parliament, in both cases having legislative abilities. These legislative abilities may only enact organic laws relating to topics explicitly reserved for them by the constitution, such as education, local officers, municipal government, charitable institutions, and "matters of a merely local or private nature", while any matter not under the exclusive authority of the provinces legislative power holder is within the scope of the central parliament's power.
All administrative division, except for New Switzerland which is uniquelly governed as an hereditary absolute monarchy, are governed as devolved governments by a President who is either appointed by the Monarch or universally elected, depending on the State needs and how it sees fit. Of the seven administrative divisions, three are city-states, and in such cases the provincial government prevails, nullifying the possibility of the existence of a double government - provincial and municipal.
