President of Alsland

President of the United Provinces of Alsland
President of the United Provinces of Alsland
Foarsitter fan de Feriene Provinsjes Aalslân ; Präsident der Vereinigten Provinzen von Aalslanden ; Alsmaa Ühendatud Provintside President
	Incumbent; Hepke Veltman; since 25 April 2015
Style	His Excellency; (in international relations only)
Status	Head of State
Residence	Mareikehûs (Yndyk)
Appointer	Popular vote
Term length	Five years; Renewable once
Inaugural holder	Siemen Hartmann
Formation	31 October 1919
Salary	100,000 € annually
Website	www.foarsitter.as

The President of the United Provinces of Alsland (Dellish: Foarsitter fan de Feriene Provinsjes Aalslân, Weranian: Präsident der Vereinigten Provinzen von Aalslanden, Kirenian: Alsmaa Ühendatud Provintside President) is the head of state of Alsland.

The President of Alsland has considerably less power than it's counterparts in Gaullica but unlike the Azmaran Presidency, the Alslandic Presidency still exercises considerable powers in political affairs such as the ability to veto laws which could be seen as violating the constitution of Alsland and representing Alsland internationally. However most of the President's powers have been given to the Folkssenaat and Premier making the role of the Presidency little more than a Figurehead.

History

Selection process

Eligibility

A Presidential candidate must be a citizen of Alsland who is at least 30 years old, has resided within Alsland for the last 10 years and doesn't currently hold any foreign citizenship. A Presidential candidate must also have gained at least 70,000 signatures of registered voters or any Alslandic citizen who is 16 or over or have been nominated by any political party with Federal or Provincial representation.

Historically, a candidate must have been a member of the Folkssenaat to be eligible for the Presidency however this was removed after the 1937 Constitution was adopted. A candidate also had to have served in the Alslandic Armed Forces to be eligible, Senators who served in the Kirenian Army before Alslandic Independence such as Villem Mand and Kei Holwerda were also eligible for the Presidency.

The Alslandic constitution limits a President to two five year terms in office. Previously, there was no limit to how many terms a President could seek but following the 1937 Constitution, official term limits were introduced for Presidents. Efforts were made to remove term limits from the constitution most notably in 1999 when Premier Adalbrecht Brötzmann attempted to have term limits removed but these efforts were defeated in the House of Representatives with most members opposing the plan. Then President Martina Scott also voiced her opposition to the proposal.

Election

Candidates in a Presidential Election can be nominated by any political party with Federal or Provincial representation in the most recent election. A candidate can also be nominated if they receive 70,000 registered voters. Direct elections for the Presidency were introduced in 1940, previously the President was appointed by Senators and needed a plurality of Senators to vote for them to be appointed.

If no nominated candidate can secure a majority in the election, a second round will be held between the two candidates with the most votes. The candidate that secures the most votes in the second round is elected as President. If a candidate withdraws during the second round, the other candidate is the winner by default.

If only one candidate is nominated they will become President without an election being held. This has only occurred once when in 1940 Villem Mand was declared winner by default after no other nominees were put forward. The Functionalist candidate was disqualified and their signatures were discarded despite having enough signatures to be placed on the official ballot.
Results of the 2020 presidential election:

e • d
Candidate		Party
Candidate		Party		Votes	%
	Hepke Veltman	The Centre (supported by the Progressive Alliance and National Bloc)		4,217,818	71.2
	Juna Falkenberg	Green-Socialists	GS	562,770	9.5
	Esdert Yntema	National Rally		550,922	9.3
	Priit Laurits	ASAI (supported by the Worker's Party)		248,803	4.2
	Albert Hamilton	United Democratic Union		207,336	3.5
	Isa Jenkins	Independent (Supported by the Democrats)		88,858	1.5

Total				5,924,420	100 %

Valid votes				5,900,722	99.6
Rejected votes				23,697	0.4
Turnout				5,924,420	60.4
Registered voters				9,800,026

Source: Department of Justice

Inauguration

The President-elect, along with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the outgoing President assumes office on the day following the completion of the counting of the votes in the Presidential election by taking the Presidential oath in the Chamber of the House of Representatives in Dellish, Weranian and Estmerish and in some cases Kirenian.

"I, (First Name, Surname) elected by the people of the United Provinces of Alsland as President of Alsland, hereby affirm my duties as stated in the constitution to uphold the Constitution of the Republic and the Laws of the Republic, and to work for the wellbeing of the citizens of the Alslandic state."

The term of the President-Elect begins after the swearing in, usually at mid-day. Following the inauguration the new President will deliver a speech to a joint-session of the Folkssenaat before then being accompanied to inspect a guard of honour outside the Folkssenaat building. This is usually followed by a ceremonial wreath laying at the Tomb of the Unknown soldier in Yndyk to commemorate those who gave their lives in the defence of Alsland.

Duties and functions

Appointment of Federal and Provincial governments

Other appointments

Foreign relations

President Martina Scott's first foreign state visit was to Estmere in 1992.

Other duties

Political affiliation

Most Alslandic Presidents are members of a political party and many have been former or current leaders or high ranking members of a party. The only exceptions to this were Tys Jonker between 1950-1960, Jimte Gorter who was appointed President following the death of Marshall Harvey and served from 1989-1990 and Gwen Ritter who was appointed as President following the resignation and served between 2008-2010.

Efforts have been made to make the Presidency a non-partisan position but all attempts have failed due to a lack of support and interest. The Presidency was intended to become a non-partisan position following the Liberation of Alsland but President Liuwke Talsma and Premier Villem Mand both objected to the proposal which subsequently was not included in the 1937 Constitution.

Succession

The current Speaker of the House of Representatives is Arved Levandi.

There is no office of Vice-President in Alsland, instead the Speaker of the House of Representatives is designated as the official deputy of the President. If the office of President becomes vacant through resignation, death, illness or impeachment the Speaker of the House of Representatives will become President and will serve the remainder of the former President's term or until they are able to fulfil their constitutional duties.

A President may temporarily hand over powers to the Speaker of the House of Representatives. This has several times. The first instance was when President Liuwke Talsma delegated his powers as President to Vinzenz Lux shortly after the Liberation of Alsland when it was still unclear if Talsma was eligible for the position as President due to the period of time that had passed during the occupation of Alsland. The most recent instance of this was in 2020 when President Hepke Veltman delegated his powers to Arved Levandi whilst he was undergoing surgery after Veltman was injured after crashing his bicycle in a public park in Yndyk.

There are two cases of this happening in Alslandic history. On 1 December 1989, President Marshall Harvey suffered a massive heart attack and was pronounced dead when Paramedics arrived. The speaker of the House of Representatives was Jimte Gorter who was sworn in an hour following Harvey's death. Gorter fulfilled the rest of Harvey's term until a successor could be chosen.

On 1 January 2008 following his impeachment and imminent removal from office President Onne Monsma announced his resignation as President. The speaker of the House of Representatives was Gwen Ritter who was inaugurated shortly after Monsma's resignation. Ritter became the second female President and first Weranian-Kirenian President in Alsland. Ritter initially sought to stand for re-election in 2010 but due to health conditions she decided against standing for re-election.

Impeachment and removal

Senator Lars Mittermaier giving evidence during the impeachment of Onne Monsma.

While in office, the president is not immune to prosecution. The only mechanism for a President to be removed from office by the Folkssenaat is by impeachment for any perceived act of breaking Alslandic law. In the event of a vote of impeachment, a joint session of the Folkssenaat will occur and all members must vote whether to remove the President from Office or to vote to keep a President in office. A 2/3rds majority is needed to impeach a President. If this is reached a President will be impeached and ineligible to run for any political office in Alsland unless the motion of impeachment is repealed by an act of the Folkssenaat. The impeachment case will then be passed onto the Alslandic supreme court which will decide if a President should be removed from office. If a majority on the supreme court decide to remove a President from office they will be removed immediately and the Speaker of the House of Representatives will become President until the next election.

Impeachment has only occurred once in Alslandic history. In 2008, President Onne Monsma dismissed Premier Jabik Nieuwenhuis and appointed Jochen Schünemann to replace Nieuwenhuis. Nieuwenhuis and members of the Folkssenaat protested the dismissal which was seen as politically motivated and accused Monsma and Schünemann of corruption when it was revealed that Schünemann had offered Monsma the opportunity to succeed him as Premier. Following these allegations Schünemann was expelled from the Sotirian Union and a successor was appointed. The Folkssenaat later voted near unanimously with several members abstaining to impeach Monsma. Following his impeachment Monsma resigned to prevent being removed from office. Monsma and Schünemann were later arrested and spent 5 years each in jail for corruption..

Attempts at impeachment have occurred historically. Liuwke Talsma was impeached as President in 1930 after the 19XX Alslandic Coup. Talsma who along with Villem Mand was leading the Alslandic government in exile dismissed the impeachment and called the Folkssenaat: "illegitimate in it's current form." Upon the liberation of Alsland the impeachment was declared illegitimate by the supreme court alongside any other acts passed by the functionalist government.

In 1979, President Hinne Jorritsma faced an impeachment attempt after an affair with his secretary was revealed to the public. The impeachment attempt failed to gain much support and was defeated with a plurality of Senators abstaining on the vote.

Presidential office and symbols

Residence

Transportation

The Alslandic Government use a modified TBD for official government flights.

Office

List of presidents

№	President		Term of office			Political Party	Elected	Premiers
№	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Took Office	Left Office	Days	Political Party	Elected	Premiers
1919-present • President of the United Provinces of Alsland •
1		Siemen Hartmann (1846-1924)	31 October 1919	12 November 1920	378	Independent	N/A	Himself
2		Kei Holwerda (1860-1934)	12 November 1920	25 April 1925	1625	Liberal Party	1920	Siemen Hartmann Douglas Cunningham Viktor Funke
3		Liuwke Talsma (1862-1945)	25 April 1925	25 April 1940	5479	Alslander Party	1925 State of Emergency (1928-1934) 1935	Viktor Funke Tsjaable Wouda Villem Mand Sjemme Boersma
4		Villem Mand (1888-1991)	25 April 1940	25 April 1945	1826	Alslander Party	1940	Sjemme Boersma Djurre De Vos Laas Keuning
5		Adam Schmiedeberg (1874-1960)	25 April 1945	25 April 1950	1826	Alslander Party	1945	Laas Keuning Samuel Hudson
6		Tys Jonker (1902-1987)	25 April 1950	25 April 1960	3653	Independent	1950 1955	Samuel Hudson Witte Reitsma
7		Dougie Hayes (1901-1967)	25 April 1960	25 April 1965	1826	Sotirian Democratic Front	1950 1955	Witte Reitsma Eric Feigenspan Konrad Neuheuser Marshall Harvey
8		Boate Hamstra (1910-2001)	25 April 1965	25 April 1970	1826	Conservative Party	1965	Marshall Harvey
9		Hinne Jorritsma (1915-1993)	25 April 1970	25 April 1980	3653	United Democratic Union	1970 1975	Marshall Harvey Urseltsje Van Der Hoek Claudia Kehrer Stendert Snijder Declan Walker
10		Marshall Harvey (1908-1989)	25 April 1980	1 December 1989	3507	Sotirian Democratic Front	1980 1985	Declan Walker Ygram Hoeksma
11		Jimte Gorter (1940)	1 December 1989	25 April 1990	145	Independent	N/A	Ygram Hoeksma
12		Martina Scott (1955)	25 April 1990	25 April 2000	3653	Socialist Party	1990 1995	Adalbrecht Brötzmann
13		Drewes Brandsma (1967)	25 April 2000	25 April 2005	1826	The Centre	2000	Bonne Zijlstra Martina Scott
14		Onne Monsma (1957-2019)	25 April 2005	1 January 2008	986	Conservative Party	2005	Jabik Nieuwenhuis Jochen Schünemann
15		Gwen Ritter (1969)	1 January 2008	25 April 2010	840	Independent	N/A	Asser Toman
16		Addik Kuiken (1963)	25 April 2010	25 April 2015	1826	Social Democrats in Delland	2010	Jonathan Fraser Aarnd Hellinga
17		Hepke Veltman (1959)	25 April 2015	Incumbent	3502	The Centre	2015 2020	Aachtsje Wieringa Liliana Elliott Ottila Möller