Grand Chancellor of Tevitheim

Grand Chancellor of Tevitheim
Tevitheims Storkanslar
Standard of the Grand Chancellor
Incumbent Daniel Bylund since 12 November 2019
Style	Herr Storkanslar (male) Fru Storkanslar (female)
Type	Head of Government
Member of	Cabinet
Appointer	Electoral Council or by succession
Term length	6 years, non-renewable
Constituting instrument	Constitution of Tevitheim
Formation	11 July 1959 (1959-07-11)
First holder	Jens Vealund
Succession	Vice Chancellor
Salary	ᵹ5,000,000

The Grand Chancellor of Tevitheim (Tronder: Tevitheims Storkanslar) is the head of government of Tevitheim. Under the 1959 Constitution, the grand chancellor heads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander in chief of the Tevitheimer Armed Forces. The current grand chancellor is Daniel Bylund, who won election in the 2019 election. His term will exppire on 11 November, 2025.

The grand chancellor is elected de jure indirectly through the Electoral Council to a single six-year term, along with the vice chancellor. However, the Popular Vote Agreement (PSA) means that grand chancellors are de facto elected by popular vote. Under the terms of the Tevitheimer constitution, ratified in 1959, no person who has been elected to a chancellery term may be elected to a second. In addition, vice chancellors have become grand chancellors by virtue of a grand chancellors's intra-term death or resignation and who serve more than 3 years as grand chancellor are prohibited from running for a term in their own right. In all, twelve individuals have served a total of eleven six-year terms. The longest serving grand chancellor was Erik Mannerheim, who served an elongated term due to the Third Great War and the cancellation of the 1983 elections.

The power includes the execution and enforcement of federal law and the responsibility to appoint federal executive, diplomatic, regulatory, and judicial officers. Based on constitutional provisions empowering the grand chancellor to appoint and receive ambassadors and conclude treaties with foreign powers, and on subsequent laws enacted by the Alnating, the grand chancellor has primary responsibility for conducting U.S. foreign policy. The grand chancellor also plays a leading role in the federal legislative and domestic policymaking process. As part of the system of separation of powers, the grand chancellor wields a veto power over federal legislation. In addition, as the leaders of their political parties, policymaking is shaped by the outcome of chancellery elections. The grand chancellor may also affect policymaking through executive orders, agency regulations, and appointments to the civil service.

As the leader of the world's fourth largest economy and one of the most powerful militaries on the planet, the grand chancellor possesses significant domestic and international hard and soft power. For much of the latter half of the 20th century, the Tevitheimer grand chancellor was often called one of the "leaders of the free world".

History

The position of grand chancellor did not exist prior to 1959. The title of chancellor has a long history in Tevitheim as a government official aiding in the administration of the state's affairs. Chancellors often held positions comparable to secretaries and ministers in other countries, with chancellor being made the official title of Tevitheim's cabinet officials after independence.

In 1959, with Tevitheim's new constitution, a position for head of government was needed. Intended originally to control the civil service and be a senior leader of the Cabinet, titles such as "first chancellor", "chief chancellor", or "chancellor-president" were suggested alongside the title of grand chancellor. Eventually, the title of grand chancellor was selected for the head of government. The position became official with the election of Jens Vealund on 29 September, 1959.

Term of Office

Removal

The grand chancellor may be removed from office using one of four procedures. During removal proceedings, the grand chancellor is suspended from exercising the functions of office for up to 180 days. In the first two procedures to remove a grand chancellor, at least three fifths of the Alnating must accept charges against the officeholder (impeachment); and if the Alnating accepts the investigation, a trial will be held. In the case of "common criminal offenses", the trial takes place among all the justices of the High Court, with at least three fifths (currently 27 justices) needed to convict and remove the grand chancellor. In the case of "crimes of a serious nature", which must fall into one of eight broad areas, defined by law, the Alnating will be the jury and a two thirds vote will be required to convict:

1. The existence of the United Jarldoms
2. The sovereignty of a constituent jarldom
3. The free exercise of the Legislative Power, the Judicial Power, the Public Prosecution and the constitutional Powers of the units of the United Republics
4. The exercise of political, individual and social rights
5. The internal security of the country
6. Probity in the administration
7. The budgetary law
8. Compliance with the laws and with court decisions

The latter two procedures do not begin in the Alnating. Instead, if three fifths of the constituent jarldoms (currently 12 of 19, as territories have half a vote) declare that the grand chancellor committed a crime of a serious nature, the Alnating is instead forced to accept the charges regardless and hold a trial. In addition, the threshold is lowered to 55% of members, rather than two thirds majority. The fourth and final procedure is identical to the previous one, but if the decision of the constituent jarldoms is near-unanimous (currently defined as 16 of 19 jarldoms agreeing) the grand chancellor is removed from office immediately. Only the third method has ever been used to remove a grand chancellor.

Regardless of the procedure to reach trial, during any trial for crimes of a serious nature the chief minister exercises executive power. If the trial does not result in a conviction within 180 days, the grand chancellor resumes office; a conviction results in removal from office and succession by the president. If there is no president, the most senior officer of the Alnating, usually the secretary, will act as grand chancellor until the next election. An emergency election will be held if the next election is more than 2 years away, otherwise the acting grand chancellor will serve out the rest of the term.

Only one grand chancellor, Olaf Duraksen, has ever been removed from office. Duraksen was removed due to the Constitutional Party vote-buying scandal where it emerged that Duraksen had bribed members of the Constitutional Party's national convention in order to secure votes for a proposed constitutional amendment, with the bribes being paid from federal funds. The scandal resulted in 14 jarldoms declaring that Duraksen had committed a crime of a serious nature, the Alnating was forced to accept charges, and the 55% threshold was reached. As the vice chancellor, Teo Norens, had resigned due to a stroke and was never replaced, Secretary of the Alnating Aud Tangen was sworn in as acting grand chancellor for the last 18 months of Duraksen's term.

The Alnating may, after a general election has passed, remove a grand chancellor's rights to his pension and other benefits if he was removed from office by either the Alnating or constituent jarldoms.

List of Grand Chancellors

  Social Union   Republican   Liberal Democratic   National

Portrait		Grand Chancellor (Birth–Death)	Term		Party	Jarldom	Election	Vice Chancellor
1		Jens Vealund (1898–1975)	29 September 1959	3 November 1965	Social Union	Gulkystheim	1959 Tevitheimer Grand Chancellery Election	Aleksander Rasmussen
			5 years and 339 days