Mayor-President of Elstock

Mayor-President of the Free City of Elstock
Bùrméster-przédnik Wòlnégò Gardu Elstók (Elsian) Bürgermeister-Präsident der Freien Stadt Elstock (Tyrnican)
Coat of arms
Incumbent Jón Ritter since 11 March 2018
Office of the Mayor-President
Style	The Honourable
Member of	Council of Elstock
Reports to	Council of Elstock
Appointer	Council of Elstock
Term length	No fixed term
Constituting instrument	Constitution of Elstock
Inaugural holder	Frãcëszk Szolc
Formation	1 January 2000
Website	www.bp.el

The Mayor-President of Elstock (Elsian: Bùrméster-przédnik Wòlnégò Gardu Elstók; Tyrnican: Bürgermeister-Präsident der Freien Stadt Elstock) is the head of government of Elstock. Unlike a prime minister or similar role, the Mayor-President is part of the larger Council of Elstock, the executive body and government of the city-state, acting as first among equals within the Council and its main representative. The current Mayor-President is Jón Ritter, since 2018.

Role and history

The role of the Mayor-President is primarily ceremonial, acting as the most visible member in the Council of Elstock, which hold the majority of administrative power over the government. The Mayor-President is appointed by the Council during its first session after a general election, and typically is a senior member from the largest political party in the chamber, or a party leader. The Mayor-President can resign voluntary or be forced to resign from their position at any time if they lose support in the Council. The position comes with the ability to use a tie-breaking vote if a tie occurs in the Council while voting on bills and policy, but otherwise the Mayor-President de jure retains the rights and responsibilities of a Councilor, following the convention of first among equals.

Unofficially, the position of Mayor-President can have influence on policy and decision-making in the Council, and the position has been leveraged to expand beyond the constitutional restraints of the position, such as Léch Hersz's attempted reforms in 2010 to bring the position closer to that of a prime minister. Since Elstock's independence and the creation of the role of Mayor-President in 2000, debate has occurred on how much influence the Mayor-President has over the Council, with often conflicting opinions between politicians and policy-makers.

List of Mayor-Presidents

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death)	Took office	Left office	Political party	Election
1		Frãcëszk Szolc (1920–2001)	1 January 2000	10 April 2001 (Died in office)	Socialist People's Party	2000
2		Erik Górka (1953–)	10 April 2001	8 March 2009	Socialist People's Party	2003 2006
3		Léch Hersz (1946–)	8 March 2009	11 March 2012	Democratic Union	2009
4		Josef Gottlieb (1957–)	11 March 2012	11 September 2014	One Elstock	2012
5		Édita Szlender (1948–)	11 September 2014	8 March 2015	Socialist People's Party	–
(4)		Josef Gottlieb (1957–)	8 March 2015	11 March 2018	One Elstock	2015
6		Jón Ritter (1967–)	11 March 2018	Incumbent	Socialist People's Party	2018 2021

List of former Mayor-Presidents

As of 2022, only one former Mayor-President, Frãcëszk Szolc, has died, passing away while in office in 2001 at the age of 81.

• 

  Erik Górka
  Served 2001-2009
  Born 1953 (age 71)

• 

  Léch Hersz
  Served 2009-2012
  Born 1946 (age 78)

• 

  Josef Gottlieb
  Served 2012-2014 and 2015-2018
  Born 1957 (age 67)

• 

  Édita Szlender
  Served 2014-2015
  Born 1948 (age 76)