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 Sotirian Democrats, 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 four Thingspeakers coming from Gold Flame and two each from the Sotirian Democrats and 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 I	Vacant
								1936	H. Alekssun II	Frei Mikelssun (1934-1940)
								1939	H. Alekssun III
								1942	H. Alekssun IV	Aleksander Siimunsun (1940-1952)
								1945	H. Alekssun V
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		Sotirian Democracy 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		Sotirian Democracy 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		Gold Flame – Azmaran Liberal Party	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		Sotirian Democracy 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	—	N. Hermansdohter

№	Thingspeaker		Term of office			Political Party
	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Took Office	Left Office	Days
18		Jon Jorśsun (1961–)	7 June 2011	2 February 2014	971	GF
			Jorśsun came to power in 2011 in a coalition with the Sotirian Democrats, controversially backed up by the right-wing populist People's Party. His administration implemented controversial reforms to Azmara's immigration and crime policies, introducing a yearly cap on immigrants from countries not in the Euclean Community and introducing longer sentences for crimes. These moves, however, proved unpopular with many in the country, and as he moved to reintroduce tuition fees, mass student protests broke out, citing the reintroduction of fees, hostility towards immigrants and a lack of action on climate change as their driving factors. Ultimately, these protests would lead to the breakup of his government as the People's Party withdrew due to their opposition to fee raises, and he would lose votes of confidence from both the Folksmot and his own party congress.
19		Sofija Freidriksdohter (1971–)	2 February 2014	19 May 2017	1202	GF
			The daughter of a confectionary magnate and a frequent fixture on talk shows, Freidriksdohter was chosen as Thingspeaker in an attempt to revitalise the Gold Flame party, being parachuted into the Landsmot by the Westmaark provincial government. She became the youngest Thingspeaker of Azmara in the post-war era, and gained her party one of its best results in the 2014 election, entering government with the Sotirian Democrats and the Radicals. Her government repealed much of her predecessor's changes to immigration and crime policy. Other notable policy moves included passing the Gender Reform Act allowing for legal gender to be changed without surgery, reforms to make it easier to set up a business, and subsidies to new tech startups in order to encourage Azmara's growing technology industry. However, her government would lose much of its popularity after multiple scandals involving ministers and would lose its majority in 2017.
20		Eryk Jorśsun (1959–)	19 May 2017	13 July 2020	1151	Ap
			Eryk Jorśsun, a former Professor of Economics at Sloh College, was instrumental in moving the Workers' Party back to the left, a move many cite as the cause behind their 2017 election victory. His premiership was characterised by a series of reforms, most notably reforming the Azmaran National Healthcare Insurance to cover the full costs of all non-cosmetic treatments and reversing the partial privatisation of Azmaran Rail, as well as a return to collective bargaining and a series of policies geared at reducing the carbon emissions of Azmara. He also saw a move away from the presidentialism of the previous administrations as he moved towards more of a cabinet style of leadership, focusing on the talents of individual ministers. After his party's 2020 victory, he announced a desire to step down and let "the next generation of politician" take over, resigning as Thingspeaker in 2020.
21		Sofija Anasdohter (1981–)	13 July 2020	5 July 2023	1596	Ap
			Sofija Anasdohter, who had served as Interior Secretary in Jorśsun's government, succeeded him as Thingspeaker in July 2020, becoming the fourth woman and the first person from Haadland to serve as Thingspeaker. Her government, a three-party coalition with the Green Party and The Radicals, focused chiefly on progressive reform in educational, environmental and constitutional issues.
21		Freidrik Aleksaanderssun (1969–)	5 July 2023	Incumbent	509	GF
			Freidrik Aleksaanderssun became Thingspeaker after the 2023 election leading a four-party coalition of Gold Flame, the Sotirian Democrats, the Radicals and the Green Party.

Timeline