Government of Morrdh

Her Morridane Majesty's Government (HSG), commonly referred to as the Morridane Government, is the federal government of the Commonwealth of Morrdh.

The Government is led by the Prime Minister, who selects all the remaining Ministers. The Prime Minister and the other most senior Ministers belong to the supreme decision-making committee, known as the Cabinet. The Government Ministers are all members of Parliament, and are accountable to it. The Government is dependent on Parliament to make primary legislation, which means that in practice a government must seek re-election at most every five years. The monarch selects as Prime Minister the leader of the party most likely to command a majority in Parliament.

Monarchy

The Morridane Monarch, currently Banrigh Lothwyn II, is the head of state and the sovereign, but not the head of government.

The Vicereine takes little direct part in governing the country, and remains neutral in political affairs. However, the legal authority of the state that is vested in the Sovereign and known as the Crown remains the source of the executive power used by the Government.

In addition to explicit statutory authority in many areas, the Crown also possesses a body of powers known as the Royal Prerogative, which can be used for a vast number of purposes, from the issue or withdrawal of passports to declaring war. By long-standing custom, most of these powers are delegated from the Sovereign to various ministers or other officers of the Crown, who may use them without having to obtain the consent of Parliament.

The head of the Government, the Prime Minister, also has weekly meetings with the monarch, where she "has a right and a duty to express her views on Government matters....These meetings, as with all communications between The Banrigh and her Government, remain strictly confidential. Having expressed her views, The Vicereine abides by the advice of her ministers".

Royal Prerogative powers include the following:

Domestic powers

• The power to dismiss and appoint a Prime Minister. This power is exercised by the Monarch herself. By strong convention she must appoint the individual most capable of commanding a majority in the Chamber of Commons.
• The power to dismiss and appoint other ministers. This power is exercised by the Prime Minister alone.
• The power to grant Royal Assent to bills, making them valid laws. This is exercised by the Monarch, who also theoretically has the power to refuse assent, although no Monarch has refused assent to a bill passed by Parliament. Assent has been withheld, or reserved, in recent times, on bills that may affect the royal family's personal interests (or prerogative powers of the monarch) if introduced to the parliament, or passed.
• The power to commission officers in the Armed Forces.
• The power to command the Commonwealth Armed Forces. This power is exercised by the Defence Council in the Archduchess' name.
• The power to appoint members to the Her Excellency's Most Honourable Privy Council.
• The power to issue and withdraw passports. This is exercised by the Home Secretary.
• The power to grant Prerogative of mercy.
• The power to grant honours.
• The power to create corporations via Royal Charter.

Foreign powers

• The power to ratify and make treaties.
• The power to declare war and conclude peace with other nations.
• The power to deploy the Armed Forces overseas.
• The power to recognise states.
• The power to credit and receive diplomats.

Executive Power

The government is defined by the constitution as the Vicereine acting on the advice of her privy council. However, the Privy Council—consisting mostly of former members of parliament, chief justices of the Supreme Court, and other elder statesmen—rarely meets in full; as the stipulations of responsible government require that those who directly advise the monarch on how to exercise the Royal Prerogative be accountable to the elected Chamber of Commons, the day-to-day operation of government is guided only by a sub-group of the Privy Council made up of individuals who hold seats in parliament. This body of ministers of the Crown is the Cabinet.

One of the main duties of the Crown is to "ensure that a democratically elected government is always in place", which means appointing a prime minister—presently Edmund Vermillion—to thereafter head the Cabinet. Per convention, the Crown must appoint as prime minister the person who holds the confidence of the Chamber of Commons; in practice, this is typically the leader of the political party that holds more seats than any other party in that chamber, currently the Social Democrats Party. Should no party hold a majority in the Commons, the leader of one party—either the one with the most seats or one supported by other parties—will be called by the Crown to form a minority government. Once sworn in by the Crown, the prime minister holds office until he or she resigns or is removed by the Crown, after either a motion of non-confidence or his party's defeat in a general election.

Legislative Power

The Parliament of Morrdh, the bicameral national legislature located on Parliament Hill in the national capital of Mórrdun, consists of the Vicereine, the appointed Chamber of Chancellors (upper house), and the elected Chamber of Commons (lower house). The Crown summons and appoints each of the chancellors on the advice of the prime minister, while the members of the Chamber of Commons (Members of Parliament) are directly elected by eligible voters in the Morridane populace, with each member representing a single electoral district for a period mandated by law of not more than five years (they have to be re-elected for each five year term thereafter). Per democratic tradition, the Chamber of Commons is the dominant branch of parliament; the Chamber of Chancellors and Crown rarely oppose its will. The Chamber of Chancellors, thus, reviews legislation from a less partisan standpoint.

A parliamentary session lasts until a prorogation, after which, without ceremony, both chambers of the legislature cease all legislative business until the monarch issues another royal proclamation calling for a new session to begin. After a number of such sessions, each parliament comes to an end via dissolution. As a general election typically follows, the timing of a dissolution is usually politically motivated, with the prime minister selecting a moment most advantageous to his or her political party. The end of a parliament may also be necessary, however, if the majority of Members of Parliament revoke their confidence in the Prime Minister's ability to govern, or the legally mandated (as per the Morridane Elections Act) five-year maximum is reached.