Divine Throne
.png)
The Divine Throne is the unitary government of the Mutul. It claims to be a millenia old institution, dating back to the reign of K'o, the first Divine Lord of Kaminyajunlyu. However the Divine Throne would only take its modern form through the Itzamnaaj Reforms of the 1840s. Beforehand, each Dynasty that ruled over the Mutul, and almost every Divine Lord, had different administrations and thus slightly altered Divine Thrones accompanying them.
Since the Itzamnaaj Reforms, the ministers of the Divine Throne are appointed by the K'uhul Ajaw. In turn, these main Ministers nominate their own teams to assist them in their job. It is possible for the Divine Lord to let a prime minister, called Yax K'axiil, to lead the government in his stead, but the position hasn't been filled since Jasaw Chan K'awiil V ascension to the throne in 1991.
The Monarchy
K'uhul Ajaw Jasaw Chan K'awiil V has ruled since the death of his father on 12 September 1991 (LC: 12.18.18.7.9/17 Mol /7 Muluk). He is the official head of state of the Mutul but in the K'uhul Ajaw legislative, executive, and judicial functions are combined (Decretals from the Divine Lord form the basis of the country's legislation). Since the beginning of Jasaw Chan K'awiil V's rule, no K'awiil has been nominated to the position, leading to the K'uhul Ajaw also being effectively the Head of Government who preside over the Four Pillars and Nine Generations, the thirteen ministries of the Divine Kingdom. The K'uhul Ajaw is the sole authority over the appointments to and dismissals from these ministries.
The Divine Monarch is also head of the Ajaw-Ilok'tab Lineage, the ruling dynasty of the Divine Kingdom. The heir presumptive to the throne is Jasaw Chan K'awiil's eldest son: Janab Pacaal. Succession laws are governed by the Detailed Description and Theorization of the Modalities of the Reincarnation Cycle of the Mortal Chaak as it has been observed for the past ten B'akt'un, a subsection of the Yax Tz’ibich Chaakal Chakun, the de-facto constitution of the Mutul.
The K'uhul Ajaw, in his role of highest ranking priest of the Divine Kingdom, must practice the rituals and teachings of the White Path. Practicing rituals from other polytheistic religions, such as the `"Gods Path", isn't considered an immediate rupture of the Covenants but the worship of "false idols" such as the Abrahamic God will mark an immediate descent from their divine position. The Divine Lord's religious authority also grant the power to appoint the Ajaw K'in and Aj K'in Mai, the two highest religious ranks of the Mutulese clergy. There are thirteen Ajaw K'in in total, whom together form the highest religious instance of the country, second only to the Divine Lord, and are one of the three B'ispop, the "Blessed Courts" who can propose legislations but have no legislative authority otherwise beside a the possibility to oppose tax raises (but no control over budget formations however).
Court Ranking
The apex of all aspects of society is the Divine Lord. Because of this absolute status, the K'uhul Ajaw is surrounded by an important court, the K'uhul Pop. Over the 3,000 years of the Mutul's existence, the K'uhul Pop has acquired a complex and detailed etiquette and all-reaching protocols. One of such protocols are the "Court Ranks", which determine the proximity of their holders to the royal power. These ranks can be categorized as such:
- Ch'ajnah (Blood relative)
- Apax (Childhood Friend)
- B'itzp'iya (Blessed Friends)
- P'iya (Friends)
- Dynastic Relatives
- Non-Dynastic Relatives
As a result, the K'uhul Ajaw dispose around him of a court of friends and relatives whom he is free to promote to a number of positions, such as Yajaw, Ajaw K'in, officers, ambassadors and other diplomats. While the ranks of Blood, Dynastic, or Non-Dynastic Relative can only be inherited and are granted at birth, the "Friends" of the Divine Lord form a broader, but stronger, category. The Apaxtak are notably those who, generally having known the K'uhul Ajaw since his childhood, have the strongest ties with him. Almost every Apax in the history of the Mutul, with only an handful of exceptions, came from one of the Mutuleses Great Houses and the majority of them were already Dynastic or Non-Dynastic relatives. However, A Divine Lord's P'iyatak generally have a more diverse origin. The rank is bestowed to individuals who proved their worth in the eyes of the K'uhul Ajaw as a reward for their services.
The rank of "Blessed Friend" is a relatively recent innovation brought by the Itzamnaaj Reforms. It is bestowed to friend whom the K'uhul Ajaw consider to have proven themselves to be faithful and entirely dedicated to his service. To those he grant a ceremonial "Blessing", one of the most sought after and prestigious awards that can be received in he Divine Kingdom. A modern example is Ahil Chan Toktan, who became a Blessed Friend not long before his ascension to the position of Jasonek. While it is considered normal for Friends to have a political "patron" who support them in their career, the status of Blessed Friend can only be granted to people who are free from such ties as it would make any claim to be entirely devoted to the K'uhul Ajaw dubious. The same restriction applies to the Apaxtak in general.
Executive
Four Pillars and Nine Generations
the central administrative system of the Mutul is traditionally composed of a total of thirteen "ministers" : four "Bakabob" representing the regal powers of the State, and the "Bolon Tz'akab" which are responsible for various other precise areas. Under jasaw Chan K'awiil V, these ministries are titled :
Four Bakabob :
- Kan Tziknal : Minister of the Economy and Finances.
- Josanek : Minister of Foreign Relationships and Diplomacy.
- Hobnil : Minister of the Armies.
- Sak Kim : Minister of the Interior.
Nine Bolon Tz'akab :
- Minister of Justice
- Minister of Education
- Minister of Land Gestion
- Minister of Public Health
- Minister of Cultural Life
- Minister of Agriculture
- Minister of Rites
- Minister of the Treasury
- Minister of the Public Workforce
A position akin to that of a prime minister also exist, the Yax K'awiil, but is not regularly filled. For example, there has been no K'awiil since Jasaw Chan K'awiil V became K'uhul Ajaw in 1991. But before that, his father and grand-father made extensive use of the position as a political tool.
Every Ajaw day, aka every 20 days, the Ministers and the K'uhul Ajaw hold a council in the Offerings Room of the Chak Yaxnah Ho’kan, the main residence of the K'uhul Ajaw in K'alak Muul, but the K'uhul Ajaw can also summon any number of Ministers as he wish, whenever and wherever, for a Council. No decree or law proposal officially come out of a meeting: their sole official purpose is for the Ministers to advice the Divine Lord, and for the Divine Lord to oversee the work of their ministers.
With the approval of the K'uhul Ajaw, different ministries can also form temporary "Commitees" if a matter requires the involvement of multiple ministers, or is blurry enough that which ministry should take care of it is not obvious.
The thirteen Ministers and their Cabinets tend to be in place until either the death of the office holder, their promotion or appointment to another position, or if they present their resignation. In the latter two, it's the K'uhul Ajaw who has the last word on whether or not a Minister stay in place. When the K'uhul Ajaw themselves die, Neither the Bakabob nor the Bolon Tzak'ab have to resign and the transition between Divine Lord rarely immediately affect the composition of the cabinet. This is supposed to give the Divine Throne a form of permanency in its leadership and give the system better resiliency to the death of its central figure.
Legislative
Ox Bitzpop
The Ox Bitzpop (Mutli: "Three Blessed Courts") is a legislative and consultative assembly of the different classes of Mutuleses Faithfuls: the Nobility (represented by the Great Houses), the Clergy, and the Commoners. Each of these Court can be called and dismissed by the K'uhul Ajaw as he wish, either all together or idependently depending on the question he wish advices on. The only exception are tax raises, which require the approval of all three courts before they can be passed making it the sole instance they can be called without the explicit demand of the Divine Lord. While the courts themselves have little in the way of powers, having a seat at any of them is an important task even outside of a summon. Notably, they play a role as Representatives for their circonscriptions (their Lineage for the Noble Court, their Temple for the Religious Court, and their Electoral Division for the Common Court) and have a permanent access to the K'uhul Ajaw residences. Their primary role is thus to present petitions from the various estates and other local demands.
K'uhul K'al
The K'uhul K'al (Mutli: "Divine Assembly") is the Upper house of the Mutul legislature. In the institutions of the modern Ilok'tab Dynasty, the Divine Assembly' main role is to advice the K'uhul Ajaw on an array of legal and judicial matters, such as Lawmaking and judgements. It serves as the last judicial instance of the Divine Kingdom.
Officially headed by the K'uhul Ajaw, The Divine Lord only does so exceptionally or during trials. The daily administration of the Assembly is left to the N'ehn Ajaw (Mutli: "Mirror Lord"). The legislative role of the K'uhul K'al is to emit "opinions" on the various law propositions presented to it by the K'uhul Ajaw and his ministers. The latter are free to ignore these opinions, but they cannot modify the texts presented to the Assembly without first emiting a "rectificating order". When the K'uhul K'al emit a positive opinion on a text, they then present it to the Three Blessed Courts to receive their approval. Since Jasaw Chan K'awiil V arrival to the throne, however, the full lawmaking process has been less and less respected and the Assembly has devolved mostly into a consultative body of advisors.
Beside the N'ehn Ajaw, all 83 members of the K'uhul K'al receive various titles. Following the Mutulese etiquette, they are to be addressed as "The Honorable...". The various "Friends" of the K'uhul Ajaw automatically get a seat at the Assembly if the Friend in question does not hold any other position of power in the Administration. Similarily, they have to abandon their seat if they are nominated to another role.