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FM

First Minister of Wulffmark
Wulffmarks Fursteminister
WullfmarkFMLogo.png
First Minister's Department
StyleFirst Minister (Sturting)
Excellency (international)
TypeIndirectly elected
StatusHead of Government
AbbreviationFM
Member ofCabinet
Presidential Council
Reports toPresident
Sturting
ResidenceKarstersvej 2
SeatKarstersvej 3-4
NominatorSpeaker of the Sturting
AppointerPresident of Wulffmark
Following Sturting approval
Term lengthNo fixed term
May remain in office with plurality support in the Sturting
Constituting instrumentConstitution of Wulffmark
PrecursorChancellor of Wulffmark
Inaugural holderOlof Luttvik
Formation1 September 1938
Unofficial namesPrime Minister (pre-1995)
DeputySecond Minister
Salary1,200,000Br per annum
(including 150,000Br SF salary)
Websitefirstminister.gov.wk

The First Minister (FM) (Wulffren: Wulffmarks Fursteminister) is the executive leader of Wulffmark. The office was created in 1945 by the Republic constitution as a de jure head of government, which had previously been an informal role granted at the pleasure of the Monarch. It superseded the Chancellor as a new republican institution without royalist connotations.

The First Minister must be a member of the Sturting (SD) and is nominated by the Speaker after an election or vacancy, and appointed by the President upon plurality support. Terms are unfixed and holders may serve as long as they recieve such approval; otherwise they may be removed with a no-confidence vote. Budgets are also viewed as equivalent votes.

There have been thirteen First Ministers since 1938, three of which have served non-consecutive terms. The incumbent First Minister is Magda Anderssen, who has been in office since 9 July 2015. Her second term began on 11 July 2019 following the 2019 general election.

Name

First Minister is the direct translation of the Wulffren Fursteminister. Before the official English name was adopted in 1995, English language media commonly used the unofficial name Prime Minister.

Style

The office does not have an official courtesy or style aside from the titular "First Minister" used in the Sturting, although it uses the diplomatic reference of "Excellency".

History

Under the Kingdom the office of Chancellor had evolved as the de facto head of government, having once been the chair of the Royal Council and typically granted to personal favourites. In the wake of anti-royalist sentiment afterr Wulffmark's defeat in the Great War, the Republican constitution created a new analogous office independent from the presidency. The inagural First Minister, Olof Luttvik, took office on 1 September 1938.

The Labour Party has supplied the most First Ministers, although the centre-right has also elected First Ministers from the Liberal Party, Centre Party and Union Party.

Olof Luttvik

The office has more recently achieved a more presidential public image and status instead of the originally intended primus inter pares. Erik Eikholm pioneered personalised election campaigns, and his governing approach involved an effectively subordinate Cabinet. Some political commentators have written that single-party governments have been more presidential, but multi-party examples have behaved more akin to traditional cabinet government. However the nature of the fragmented political party system has made single-party majorities very rare.

Appointment and removal process

Upon the election of a new Sturting or vacancy, the Speaker must nominate a candidate after consulting with major party leaders. In practice, this usually means the leader of the largest party of the largest bloc. If the nominee recieves a relative majority, they must take the oath of office administered by the President to take office. Failure to complete this process allows the Speaker to propose a snap election, although this scenario has yet to occur.

A First Minister may be removed through a no-confidence vote. Under current Sturting rules, 35% of SDs must petition the Speaker to table a confidence vote. If the incumbent does not recieve a relative majority, the office is vacated pending the positive nomination of a successor. To deter trivial usage of this process, another no-confidence vote cannot occur for at least three months.

Requirements

The First Minister must be an incumbent member of the Sturting. This in turn requires a mininum age of 21 years old, full Wulffren citizenship, and a mininmum one year of permanent residency. An incumbet losing their seat from either electoral defeat or expulsion would effectively vacate the office, although either scenario has yet to occur.

Succession

The Second Minister of Wulffmark directly follows the First Minister in order of precedence and frequently deputises in their absence, but the order of succession is entirely unfixed. Upon an immediate vacancy, the President may designate any Cabinet-rank minister as Acting First Minister. This status allows the temporary assumption of the powers and duties of the office without Sturting approval- the only individual to have recieved this was Kjell Willsrud in 1956 after the death of Olof Luttvik. However recent First Ministers have issued preferred succession lists which the President is expected to honour.

Powers and duties

As head of government, the First Minister leads the Cabinet and executive branch of the Government of Wulffmark as a whole. Its largest powers are appointing Cabinet ministers and leading the government in the Sturting. However it is less powerful than equivalent posts elsewhere, as Sturting approval is required for most prerogatives and other agency appointments. The party-list PR electoral system and the resulting fragmented 'block' party system also acts as a de facto check on its power.

Seat and official residences

Karstersvej complex, 2012

The First Minister has exclusive use of the Karstersvej complex next to the Karster Canal in central Brokkemouth, consisting of several interconnected buildings. 1 and 2 are residential quarters, 3 and 4 are offices, and 5 is a multi-purpose venue. Presently, 2 is the official residency whilst 4 houses most offices. The First Minister is also entitled to a secondary Brorkeemouth residence at 13 Videgat, which was used during the most recent refurbishment of 1/2 Karstersvej from 2011-2014.

The First Minister also has a summer country residence at the Friederhus estate in Blaakelund County.

List of First Ministers

There are currently four living former First Ministers, the oldest being Maria Dalkebrant (born 1939; served 1991-1997). The most recent to die was Erik Eikholm (1928-2018, served 1983-1991) on 31 January 2018. They are, in order of service:



Anderssen

Magda Anderssen
File:Erna Solberg 19062020-1.jpg
Official portrait, 2019
13th First Minister of Wulffmark
Assumed office
7 July 2015
PresidentJohan Svivold
Jens Hecksher
DeputyStefan Ekkerdtsen
Kristian Hoffgaard
Preceded byJens Jaalainen
Minister for Local Government
In office
9 April 2006 – 29 June 2007
First MinisterErik Dalholm
Preceded byAnne-Greta Bramme
Succeeded byKarl Rammell
Member of the Sturting
Assumed office
21 June 1999
ConstituencyBrorkkemouth County
Personal details
Born
Magdalena Katrine Anderssen

(1960-12-30) 30 December 1960 (age 63)
Brorkkemouth, Wulffmark
NationalityWulffren
Political partyUnion
SpouseMartin Nordhaag (m. 1991)
Alma materBrorkkemouth University

Magdalena Katrine Anderssen Nordhaag (born 31 December 1960), usually known as Magda Anderssen, is a Wulffren politician serving as First Minister of Wulffmark since 2015. The second woman to hold the office, and the first from the centre-right, Anderssen won two elections in 2015 and 2019.

A financial researcher and writer by trade, Anderssen previously served Minister for Local Government in the Dalholm Cabinet from 2006 to 2007 and a Deputy Chair of the Union Party from 2010 to 2014. She has been a member of the Sturting for Brorkkemouth County since the 1999 election.



Early life

Anderssen was born in 1960 in Brorkkemouth and grew up in Kirgruen, an affluent suburb in Brorkkemouth County. Her father Kjell Anderssen (1919-2007) was a bank manager, whilst her mother Sylvia Gamkrad (1921-2012) was an assistant for the Brorkkemouth Today newspaper. She passed the exam for the realskole and in her last two years took Wulffren language, Politics, Economics, and History. In 1982 she earned a BA in Politics and International Relations from Brorkkemouth University but disliked her time there and was did not engage in politics. She then found work as a researcher in the Brorkkemouth Werania#Banking_and_finance branch.

Early and Local Political Career

Anderssen first stood for Brorkkemouth County Council unsuccessfully in 1985 but was not elected. By that year she was working for the consumer electricals company LRasmussen and wrote for the Union Magazine. She was eventually elected in the 1989 election and became a frequent magazine contributor, which began to establish her profile within the party. In 1992 the Magazine described her as a "a rising star" in the County and even a potential future Leader. After being re-elected in 1993 she also began poltical writing professionally for local and ocassionally national outlets, and her 1998 book Ikesturtingen (literally The Not Great Assembly, a parody of the national legislature's name) was well recieved. The book detailed her experiences campaigning and serving in a humourous tone, with satire and some "lessons" for aspiring local politicians.

Later Poltical Career

Anderssen was elected to the Sturting in 1999 election on the Brorkkemouth County list. She made her first speech in opposition the Euclean Community bill which, subject to a referendum, would begin formal membership talks with the EC, including the euclo currency union. From 2000 to 2001 she was elected as the annual President of the Women's Union Party. She established herself as a loyal backbencher and was tipped for a cabinet position in the then considered unlikely event of a Union victory in 2003. Despite the surprise centre-right victory this did not occur until 2006, when following the voluntary departure of Anne-Grete Bramme she was appointed Anderssen Minister for Local Government. Her main focuses were co-ordinating national and local infrastructure priorities. She left office with the Dalholm Cabinet after the 2007 election and returned to the backbench, winning election to the Sturting Local Government committee.

In 2010 she left the committee upon election as Deputy Chair of the Union Party, becoming one of the party's leading figures. In this capacity she attended a 2011 election deputies debate with a well recieved performance. The FM candidate Lars Bjerken was rumoured to have shortlisted her for Interior Minister in a potential cabinet, as centre-right lost the 2011 election this did not occur.

2015 election

First Minister The Speaker of the Sturting nominated Anderssen for First Minister on and she was confirmed


Political views Anderssen has consistently been a centrist within the Wulffren centre-right, leading to descriptions as both a pragmatic conservative liberal and unprincipled opportunist. As First Minister her policies have been economically liberal within a national orientation, favouring low taxes and government spending alongside limited immigration and higher retaliation against trade protectionism. She has also adopted a euclosceptic stance, arguing that Wulffren membership of the Euclean Community would be "effectively incompatible" with the EC in its present form and that its greater moves toward federalisation was the "beginning of the end" for national democracies. However she has also adknowledged the need for co-operation, summarising her preferred relationship in a 2015 election debate as "with [the EC] but never of. Her foreign policy has been predominantly non-interventionist, and in 2015 she announced she would only deploy a military intervention as a last resort.

Public image Anderssen's public image is one of


Personal life


Jaalainen

Jens Jaalainen
File:JensJaalainen.png
Official portrait, 2010
12th First Minister of Wulffmark
In office
6 May 2010 – 7 July 2015
PresidentThorvald Haugaad
Johan Svivold
DeputyAnn-Kristin Karlssen
Greta Leissfeld
Preceded byIngvar Hammervik
Succeeded byMagda Anderssen
Minister for Finance
In office
3 September 2008 – 6 May 2010
First MinisterIngvar Hammervik
Preceded byKarl Freidrik Westby
Succeeded byMax Uffebaak
Minister for Economy and Trade
In office
29 June 2007 – 3 September 2008
First MinisterIngvar Hammervik
Preceded byLars Bjerken
Succeeded byPer Trondvik
Member of the Sturting
In office
21 June 1999 – 30 June 2016
ConstituencyElskestad City
Personal details
Born
Jens Magnes Jaalainen

(1960-05-01) 1 May 1960 (age 64)
Elskestad, Wulffmark
NationalityWulffren
Political partyLabour
SpouseCamille Nostern (m. 1994)
Alma materBrorkkemouth University

Wulffren brøsen

Wulffren brøsen
File:50brbanknote.png
Obverse of a 2014 series 50Br note
ISO 4217
CodeWKB
Denominations
Subunit
 ​1100øre
Pluralbrøsor
SymbolBr
 øreø
Nicknamebrøky
Banknotes50Br, 100Br, 200Br
 Rarely used500Br
Coins50ø, 1Br, 2Br, 5Br, 10Br, 20Br
Demographics
Date of introduction1922
User(s)Template:Country data Wulffmark
Issuance
Central bankWulffmarks Sturbank
Valuation
Inflation1.89% (2018)
Pegged withAininian louré (ANL)
Ł1 = 7.23Br

The brøsen (symbol Br, plural brøsor) is the national currency of Wulffmark. Introduced in 1922 to replace the former Wulffren krone, it is formally divided into 100 øre, although only 50ø coins are currently issued. It has been pegged to the Aininian louré at a central rate of 7.23Br since 1988.

Name

Originating from the word brøns (bronze), the name was historically colloquial for the lowest denominated bronze specie of the medieval Wulffren krone and its subunits. Although higher denominations were made from silver, gold and rarely platinum, only the bronze coins were typically seen by commoners making it the most publicly-recognised coin. Use of bronze spiece had ended by the late 17th century when the coins had been heavily debased with copper and other metals, although the phrase remained in common use for low denomination coins, which had retained the brown colouring. In the 18th century, the name was revived for small value deposit certificates.

The official name øre is derived from aurum, the latin for gold, although only early øre coins were minted from that.

History

Economics

Due to the impossible trinity, the Sturbank's targeting of exchange rates prevents it from targeting interest rates. Although capital controls have historically been imposed (as recently as XXXX), the Sturbank has never adopted interest rate targeting. Economists have noted that because of this Wulffren interbank rates have never deviated more than 179bp from Ainian benchmark rates.

Current issue

Coins

Value Front Back
50ø
Value Coat of Arms of Wulffmark
1Br
One chestnut leaf
2Br
Five chestnut leaves
5Br
Chestnut tree
10Br
Reindeer calf
20Br
Reindeer

Notes

Value Front Back Circulation
50Br
Puffins near Brunsshavn Coat of Arms of Wulffmark, Horgaby Castle Wide
100Br
Bear in the Flenswald Coat of Arms of Wulffmark, Carl Hegen Bridge Wide
200Br
Toad in the Skønsmarsk Coat of Arms of Wulffmark, Abüenraa City Hall Wide
500Br
Salmon in the Häfeflod Coat of Arms of Wulffmark, Royal Castle Limited
Republic of Wulffmark
Republikken Wulffmark
Coat of arms
Motto: "Mit Svärd Og Mit Skjild"
"My Sword and My Shield"
Anthem: "Song of Wulffmark"
Capital
and
Brorkkemouth
Official languagesWulffren
Recognised national languagesWulffren
Recognised regional languagesWeranian
Ethnic groups
(2013)
83.9% Wulffs
7.4% <>
8.7% Others
Religion
Church of Wulffmark
Demonym(s)Wulffren
GovernmentUnitary parliamentary republic
• President
Jens Hecksher
Magda Anderssen
LegislatureSturting
Population
• 2019 estimate
5,572,791
• 2012 census
5,410,037
GDP (PPP)2018 estimate
• Total
$258bn
• Per capita
$47,689
GDP (nominal)2018 estimate
• Total
$243bn
• Per capita
$44,916
Gini (2018)Positive decrease 29.9
low
HDI (2018)Steady 0.919
very high
CurrencyWulffren brøsen (Br) (WKB)
Driving sideright
Internet TLD.wk