Thingspeaker of Azmara

Thingspeaker of Azmara
Þingspreker âb Azmaara
Coat of Arms of the Commonwealth of Azmara
Flag of the Commonwealth of Azmara
Incumbent Freidrik Aleksaanderssun since 5 July 2023
Style	The Honourable (diplomatic, outside Azmara)
Status	Head of government
Member of	Government Euclean Conference
Residence	Nysted Place
Seat	Stefansberg, Aalmsted, Azmara
Nominator	Folksmot
Appointer	President of Azmara
Term length	While commanding the confidence of the Folksmot.
Formation	28 October 1915
First holder	Leif Aansgaarsun
Deputy	Deputy Thingspeaker
Salary	€150,000/year
Website	www.thingspreker.az

The Thingspeaker of Azmara (Azmaran: Þingspreker âb Azmaara) is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Azmara.

The office was created upon the passage of the Basic Law of 1915 which served to transition Azmara away from a presidential system towards parliamentarianism as many of the executive powers given to the President under the Basic Law of 1855 were transferred to the position, with the inaugural officeholder being Leif Aansgaarsun of Gold Flame.

The Thingspeaker serves as the head of the Government of Azmara, being responsible for chairing meetings of the body, resolving disputes involving multiple members of the Government and directing the official policy of the Government. While the appointment of the members of the Government is left largely to the Thingspeaker's official wishes, to serve in the office themselves they are required to possess a majority of support within the Folksmot. Due to the fact that no party has won an overall majority in the Folksmot since the implementation of proportional representation in 1933, deals between multiple parties are normally required to take office and as a result every Government since 1933 has had multiple parties represented.

The current Thingspeaker is Freidrik Aleksaanderssun of Gold Flame, who has served since 5 July 2023 as the head of a coalition with the Centre Party, The Radicals and the Green Party.

History

The use of "Thingspeaker" to describe a senior political position dates back to the creation of the Azmaran Confederation in 1623, where the Thingspeaker was the second most important government office after the Chancellor, being appointed by the Chancellor to mediate between the two houses of the Alþing and to carry out the Chancellor's political will. While clearly subordinate to the Chancellor, the position showed elements of parliamentarianism, with the appointment of a new Thingspeaker having to be confirmed by both houses of the Alþing.

While during the brief Republic of Westmarck the position would be abolished in favour of executive power being held collectively by a Directory, a new Thingspeaker position with similar responsibilities existed in the succeeding Kingdom of Azmara. The political setup of the Kingdom gave significant power to the King, who appointed his own Government and had the right to veto and propose laws and dissolve the Alþing at their wish, yet the new Thingspeaker position would serve to try and mediate between him, his Government and the Alþing.

The position would be abolished during the 1855 Revolution as a democratic republic was created in place of the monarchy, as executive power would be held in the hands of a directly-elected President. The Alþing would be retained as an institution, however, yet it was thought that due to the President being elected by the same electorate as the Alþing that it would not need the same mediation.

However, due to an increasingly ideologically fractured Alþing in the early 20th century leading to increasing gridlock between the President and the Alþing, the idea of an executive elected by the Alþing carried increasing appeal amongst the electorate and as such the modern position of Thingspeaker would be introduced in the Basic Law of 1915, to be nominated by the President and confirmed by the Folksmot, its directly elected lower house and to lead the Government in the place of the President.

The position would first be held by the former President of Azmara, Leif Aansgaarsun, of Gold Flame, who would switch office to continue serving as the main executive power of the government. He would be one of three individuals to serve as Thingspeaker under the 1915 Basic Law and would serve between 1915 and 1921, being succeeded by Freidrik Aarnessun of the Azmaran Section of the Workers' International, who would serve between 1921 and 1923, and Þurisas Siimunssun of the National Coalition, who would serve from 1923 to 1932.

After the fall of the National Coalition during the Realignment, the office would be retained in the 1933 Basic Law but both it and the office of President would be reformed to prevent them being used for authoritarian rule, with the President being reduced to a figurehead office and the Thingspeaker being officially designated as a primus inter pares leader of the Government.

Since the enactment of the 1933 Basic Law, the position has been held most often by members of the Workers' Party, with 11 out of 19 Thingspeakers being members of the party and holding it interrupted between 1933 and 1954, yet since then the position has become more competitive, with three Thingspeakers each coming from Gold Flame and the Centre Party and two from the Radicals since 1954.

List

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Party		Elections	Government	President (Tenure)
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
Thingspeaker of the Commonwealth of Azmara
4		Hjalmer Alekssun (1883-1965)	25 January 1933	3 September 1947	14 years, 7 months and 9 days		Workers' Party of Azmara	1933	H. Alekssun II	Vacant
								1936	H. Alekssun III	Frei Mikelssun (1934-1940)
								1939	H. Alekssun IV
								1942	H. Alekssun V	Aleksander Siimunsun (1940-1952)
								1945	H. Alekssun VI
5		Mâþijas Aansgaarsun (1900-1991)	3 September 1947	11 November 1954	7 years, 2 months and 8 days		Workers' Party of Azmara	1948	M. Aansgaarssun I
								1951	M. Aansgaarssun II
6		Helmut Freidrikssun (1902-1980)	11 November 1954	12 October 1957	2 years, 11 months and 1 day		Centre Party of Azmara	1954	H. Freidrikssun I	Henrik W. Þurleifssun (1952-1964)
(5)		Mâþijas Aansgaarsun (1900-1991)	12 October 1957	1 November 1960	3 years and 20 days		Workers' Party of Azmara	1957	M. Aansgaarssun III
(6)		Helmut Freidrikssun (1902-1980)	1 November 1960	3 October 1963	2 years, 11 months and 2 days		Centre Party of Azmara	1960	H. Freidrikssun II
7		Frei Jorśsun (1914-1979)	3 October 1963	31 October 1966	3 years and 28 days		Workers' Party of Azmara	1963	F. Jorśsun I
8		Eryk Aansgaarssun (1916-2000)	31 October 1966	12 October 1969	2 years, 11 months and 12 days		Centre Party of Azmara	1966	E. Aansgaarssun	Loki Aarnessun (1964-1970)
(7)		Frei Jorśsun (1914-1979)	12 October 1969	12 January 1973	3 years and 3 months		Workers' Party of Azmara	1969	F. Jorśsun II
9		Aleksaander Mâþijassun (1916-2009)	12 January 1973	20 October 1975	2 years, 9 months and 8 days		The Radicals	1972	A. Mâþijassun	Leif Alekssun (1970-1973)
10		Stefan Mâþissun (1923-1999)	20 October 1975	15 October 1981	5 years, 11 months and 25 days		Workers' Party of Azmara	1975	S. Mâþissun I	Aleksander Wiljâmssun (1973-1985)
								1978	S. Mâþissun II
11		Aarne Leifssun (1931-2018)	15 October 1981	13 October 1987	5 years, 11 months and 28 days		Gold Flame – Azmaran Liberal Party	1981	A. Leifssun I
								1984	A. Leifssun II
12		Herman Jonssun (1940-)	13 October 1987	4 October 1990	2 years, 11 months and 21 days		Workers' Party of Azmara	1987	H. Jonssun	Jana Eryksdohter (1985-1997)
(11)		Aarne Leifssun (1931-2018)	4 October 1990	1 September 1993	2 years, 10 months and 28 days		Gold Flame – Azmaran Liberal Party	1990	A. Leifssun III
(12)		Herman Jonssun (1940-)	1 September 1993	12 January 1999	5 years, 4 months and 11 days		Workers' Party of Azmara	1993	H. Jonssun II
								1996	H. Jonssun III
13		Jorś Mâþijassun (1947-)	12 January 1999	3 May 2003	4 years, 3 months and 21 days		Workers' Party of Azmara	1999	J. Mâþijassun I	Rygin Leifssun (1997-2003)
								2002	J. Mâþijassun II
14		Eleina Helmutsdohter (1958-)	3 May 2003	29 September 2005	2 years, 4 months and 26 days		Workers' Party of Azmara	—	E. Helmutsdohter	Liis Helmutsdohter (2003-2009)
15		Helmut Þurisassun (1961-2007)	29 September 2005	19 December 2007	2 years, 2 months and 20 days		The Radicals – Azmaran Democrats	2005	H. Þurisassun
16		Stefan Aansgaarssun (1949-)	19 December 2007	1 August 2008	7 months and 13 days		Centre Party of Azmara	—	S. Aansgaarssun
17		Niina Hermansdohter (1957-)	1 August 2008	7 June 2011	2 years, 10 months and 6 days		Workers' Party of Azmara	2008	N. Hermansdohter
18		Jon Jorśsun (1961-)	7 June 2011	2 February 2014	2 years, 7 months and 26 days		Gold Flame – Azmaran Liberal Party	2011	J. Jorśsun	Lorens Aansgaarssun (2009-2015)
19		Sofija Freidriksdohter (1971-)	2 February 2014	19 May 2017	3 years, 3 months and 17 days		Gold Flame – Azmaran Liberal Party	2014	S. Freidriksdohter
20		Eryk Jorśsun (1959-)	19 May 2017	13 July 2020	3 years, 1 month and 24 days		Workers' Party of Azmara	2017	E. Jorśsun	Maarija Ryginsdohter (2015-2021)
21		Sofija Anasdohter (1981-)	13 July 2020	5 July 2023	2 years, 11 months and 22 days		Workers' Party of Azmara	2020	E. Jorśsun
22		Freidrik Aleksaanderssun (1969-)	5 July 2023	Incumbent	1 year, 4 months and 17 days		Gold Flame – Azmaran Liberal Party	2023	F. Aleksaanderssun	Harald Alekssun (2021-)