Prime Minister of Besmenia

Federal Prime Minster of the Federal Republic of Besmenia
Bundespremierministerin der Bundesrepublik Besmenien
Logo
Flag of the Prime Minister
Incumbent Thomas Pühringer since 15 March 2024
Style	Mr Prime Minister Herr Bundespremierminister (informal) His Excellency (diplomatic)
Status	Head of Government
Member of	Cabinet National Security Council
Seat	Federal House, Laitstadt
Appointer	President of Besmenia
Term length	No fixed term
Constituting instrument	Basic Law of Besmenia
Formation	2 July 1920
Deputy	Vice Prime Minister of Besmenia
Salary	BS 300,000 annually

The Prime Minister of Besmenia, officially the federal prime minister of the Federal Republic of Besmenia (Besmenian: Bundespremierminister(in) von Besmenien) is the head of government of the Federal Republic of Besmenia.

Together with the federal ministers, he forms the Besmenian government. According to the Basic Law, the Besmenian Prime Minister determines the guidelines for politics. In practice, however, he must take into account the ideas of his own party and the coalition partners. The Prime Minister proposes the Federal Ministers to the President. Without this proposal, the President cannot appoint anyone as Federal Minister. Without the participation of the President, the Prime Minister appoints one of the Federal Ministers as his official deputy, who is officially referred to as Vice Prime Minister.

Although the Prime Minister is only third in the Besmenian protocol hierarchy after the President and the President of the Federal Chamber, he is considered the most politically powerful and influential Besmenian official.

The current Prime Minister is Thomas Pühringer (BVP).

Political position

Office of the Prime Minister in the Federal House.

Election

Similar to the President, there are three rules that a Prime Minister candidate must adhere to.

• The Prime Minister candidate must be a citizen of Besmenia
• The Prime Minister candidate must be at least 28 years old

The Prime Minister candidate is nominated and confirmed by his political party for the four-year federal election.

Tenure

The Prime Minister's term of office is not limited in time like that of the president or the Federal Chamber; the appointment is permanent. The appointment of the Prime Minister and the other federal ministers by the president has nothing to do constitutionally with the elections to the Federal Chamber, nor with the term of office and the popular election of the president. In fact, it mostly correlates with Federal Chamber elections.

End of term

The term of office normally ends with the swearing in of a new government and its replacement. However, the term of office can also end prematurely with his death, his incapacity to hold office, his replacement by a constructive vote of no confidence and his resignation.

Vote of confidence

If the Prime Minister has the impression that the majority of the Federal Chamber no longer supports his policy, he can ask a vote of confidence and thus force the Federal Chamber to act itself. He can also combine the vote of confidence with a substantive decision, i.e. a draft law or another substantive motion. If the Federal Chamber does not approve the Prime Minister's motion to vote in confidence with an absolute majority, there are two options:

• The Prime Minister can decide not to draw any constitutional consequences.
• The Prime Minister can propose to the President that the Federal Chamber be dissolved; the President decides politically independently on this proposal. With the convening of the newly elected Federal Chamber, the term of office of the previous Prime Minister ends automatically, although re-election by the new Federal Chamber is possible.

Vice Prime Minister

The Vice Prime Minister is the deputy to the Besmenian head of government. The prime minister appoints a federal minister as his deputy without the participation of the president. The vice prime minister is usually a member of the small coalition partner, and is also its most important politician. The vice prime minister only assumes the function of prime minister and not the office itself. If the prime minister's term of office ends prematurely (e.g. resignation or death), the vice prime minister assumes the function and duties for a short period until a new prime minister is appointed would. This happened in 1962 with the resignation of Günther Brecht, in 1991 with the assassination of Martin Beiter and most recently in 2011 with the resignation of Ursula Kummstein.

The current vice prime minister has been Ivar Combrinck (SDU) since September 2021.

Residence

The Federal House

The Prime Minister's office and residence has been in the Federal House since 1973. The Federal House was built between 1969 and 1973 on Leina Island in the Mitte district in Laitstadt. After the construction was completed in May 1973, Robert Gleitzmann moved into the Federal House in September 1973 as the first Prime Minister. It replaced Bertrecht's Palace as the seat of the Prime Minister from 1920-1973.

The building also houses a private apartment for the Prime Minister and his family. The private apartment is voluntary, which means that the Prime Minister can decide for himself whether he will use it or not. So far Kurt Stöger, Theodor Sidemann and Richard Benkel have waived the private apartment of the Federal House. Martin Beiter only lived in the apartment during the week and spent the weekends with his family in Behringen.

List of Prime Minsters of Besmenia since 1920

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Tenure (Years and days)	Party	Government
1		Robert Falk (1872–1955)	2 July 1920	10 October 1924	4 years, 100 days	Besmenian Democratic Party	Falk I (1920) Falk II (1920-1924)
2		Heinz Dimmler (1876–1963)	10 October 1924	21 October 1936	12 years, 11 days	Besmenian People's Party	Dimmler I (1924-1928) Dimmler II (1928-1932) Dimmler III (1932-1936)
3		Josef Lentscher (1884–1939)	21 October 1936	2 November 1939 †	3 years, 12 days	Besmenian People's Party	Lentscher (1936-1939)
4		Friedrich Bock (1888–1979)	6 November 1939	6 October 1944	4 years, 335 days	Besmenian People's Party	Bock I (1939-1940) Bock II (1940-1944)
5		Albrecht Nebeling (1878–1969)	6 October 1944	6 May 1958	13 years, 212 days	Liberal Citizen's Party of Besmenia	Nebeling I (1944-1948) Nebeling II (1948-1951) Nebeling III (1951-1954) Nebeling IV (1954-1956) Nebeling V (1956-1958)
6		Günther Brecht (1896–1986)	6 May 1958	17 June 1962	4 years, 42 days	Besmenian People's Party	Brecht I (1958-1960) Brecht II (1960-1962)
-		Johannes Schmidt (1908–1996) Acting	17 June 1962	25 June 1962	8 days	Social Democratic Union	-
7		Wolfgang Butz (1897–1975)	25 June 1962	7 October 1964	2 years, 104 days	Besmenian People's Party	Butz (1962-1964)
8		Johannes Schmidt (1908–1996)	7 October 1964	21 February 1972	7 years, 137 days	Social Democratic Union	Schmidt I (1964-1968) Schmidt II (1968-1969) Schmidt II (1969-1972)
9		Robert Gleitzmann (1916–1999)	21 February 1972	13 March 1980	8 years, 21 days	Besmenian People's Party	Gleitzmann I (1972-1976) Gleitzmann II (1976-1980)
10		Martin Beiter (1945–1991)	13 March 1980	5 May 1991 †	11 years, 53 days	Free Besmenian Citizen's Party	Beiter I (1980-1981) Beiter II (1981-1985) Beiter III (1985-1989) Beiter IV (1989-1991)
-		Doris Klammer-Brunt (1939–) Acting	5 May 1991	15 May 1991	10 days	Social Democratic Union	-
11		Kurt Stöger (1933–2021)	15 May 1991	25 October 1993	2 years, 163 days	Free Besmenian Citizen's Party	Stöger (1991-1993)
12		Erik Tautenbach (1938–2019)	25 October 1993	1 October 2001	7 years, 341 days	Besmenian People's Party	Tautenbach I (1993-1997) Tautenbach II (1997-2001)
13		Ursula Kummstein (1949–)	1 October 2001	25 January 2011	9 years, 116 days	Free Besmenian Citizen's Party	Kummstein I (2001-2005) Kummstein II (2005-2009) Kummstein III (2009-2011)
-		Franz Bauer (1959–) Acting	25 January 2011	1 February 2011	7 days	Besmenian People's Party	-
14		Jörg Rautenberg (1960–)	1 February 2011	11 September 2012	1 year, 223 days	Free Besmenian Citizen's Party	Rautenberg (2011-2012)
15		Theodor Sidemann (1968–)	11 September 2012	8 May 2021	8 years, 239 days	Besmenian People's Party	Sidemann I (2012-2016) Sidemann II (2016-2020) Sidemann III (2020-2021)
16		Richard Benkel (1957–)	8 May 2021	9 September 2021	124 days	Independent	Benkel (2021)
17		Elisabeth Rademacher (1977–)	9 September 2021	12 March 2024	2 years, 185 days	Besmenian People's Party	Rademacher (2021-)
-		Ivar Combrinck (1959–) Acting	12 March 2024	15 March 2024	3 days	Social Democratic Union	-
18		Thomas Pühringer (1972–)	15 March 2024	Incument	257 days	Besmenian People's Party	Pühringer (2024-)

Living former prime ministers of Besmenia

As of March 2024, there are 5 living former prime ministers. The most recent death of a former prime minister was Kurt Stöger (served from 1991 to 1993), on May 1, 2021, aged 87.

• 

  Ursula Kummstein (age 75)
  (2001–2011)

• 

  Jörg Rautenberg (age 64)
  (2011–2012)

• 

  Theodor Sidemann (age 56)
  (2012–2021)

• 

  Richard Benkel (age 67)
  (2021)

• 

  Elisabeth Rademacher (age 47)
  (2021-2024)

Statistics

Heinz Dimmler served the longest as Prime Minister with a term of 16 years. Richard Benkel served the shortest time with only 124 days.

At the age of 35, Martin Beiter was the youngest when he took office. The oldest prime minister when he took office was Albrecht Neumann at 65.