Hilfmann of Tevitheim

Hilfkvinne to the Oberjarl
Hilfkvinne til Oberjarl
Standard of the Hilfkvinne
Incumbent Margot Bylund since 6 November 2020
Style	Herr Hilfmann (male) Fru Hilfkvinne (female)
Type	Head of Government
Member of	Alnating
Nominator	Alnating
Appointer	Oberjarl
Term length	4 years, renewable
Constituting instrument	Constitution of Los Angeles
Formation	11 July 1959 (1959-07-11)
First holder	Jens Vealund
Succession	President of the Alnating
Salary	ᵹ3,000,000

The Hilfmann to the Oberjarl, also sometimes referred to as the Hilfmann of Tevitheim, or Hilfkvinne if the incumbent is a woman, is the head of government of Tevitheim. The hilfmann is de jure the assistant to the oberjarl and helps the oberjarl exercise his or her powers but has de facto become the head of government, especially since the War of Tongues. The hilfmann exercises executive powers, chairs the Cabinet and selects its members, and is the leader of their party in the Alnating. As hilfmanns hold their office by virture of maintaining the confidence of the Alnating, most sit as members of the Alnating, though some have sat on the Jarlaråd as well. The hilfmann is also ex officio the chair of the civil service.

The office of hulfmann is established by a mixture and combination of constitutional law (particularly the second article), social tradition, and political convention. The powers of the hilfmann have waned and ebbed over time, especially as the position has moved from a purely advisory role to a true executive position as head of government. The hilfmann is formally appointed by the oberjarl but, as the Cabinet must hold the confidence of the Alnating, the oberjarl thus usually appoints the head of the party with a majority or senior party in a coalition with a majority in the Alnating as hilfmann. Most hilfmanns have come out of the Alnating, though members have come from the Jarlaråd as well.

The power of the hilfmann has grown substantially since its establishment, especially after the War of Tongues in 1959. While power has ebbed and flowed over time, the hilfmann has played an increasingly signifigant role in Tevitheimer political life since the beginning of the 20th century, carrying over into the 21st century. In modern times, the hilfmann is one of the most powerful political figures and the leader of one of the world's great powers and the fourth largest economy, coming with signifigant domestic and international hard and soft power.

Margot Bylund of the Republican Labor Party is the incumbent. As a woman, hilfmann is usually replaced by hilfkvinne when referring to Bylund.

Qualifications and Selection

Appointment and Term of Office

By law, there are no formal requirements for someone to become hilfmann so long as they can maintain the confidence of the Alnating and the oberjarl. However, since by convention the hilfmann is a member of the Alnating the hilfmann thus has de facto the same requirements as a member of the Alnating- they must be of sound mental state, over the age of 25 years old, be a Tevitheimer citizen, and not be actively imprisoned for criminal acts. In addition, due to the requirement that a hilfmann maintains the confidence of the Alnating, the hilfmann is thus usually the leader of the faction able to form a majority of the Alnating's membership.

The hilfmann is officially appointed by the oberjarl, but the oberjarl is constitutionally mandated to hear the recommendation of the Alnating and to submit his selection to the Alnating for approval. Once the Alnating formally approves the oberjarl's selection for hilfmann, the hilfmann is then able to exercise the powers of the office. The hilfmann can then serve until the end of the current session of the Alnating, which must happen no less than every four years.

Resignation or Removal

The Tevitheimer constitution makes no distinction between removal from office for criminal acts or removal from office for the loss of confidence in the hilfmann by the Alnating. However, convention and unwritten tradition does make such a distinction; when removed for criminal acts the removal is immediate and the hilfmann is replaced by one of his deputies as a caretaker, with a snap election to be triggered immediately, with the oberjarl dissolving the Alnating and the Jarlaråd. This occurred in 2022, when Erik Avhammerfest was removed by the Alnating and was considered to leave office immediately. In contrast, when Daniel Paalsen resigned in July of 2019, he was allowed to serve as caretaker herself until the Solidarity Party declared a new leader, who was then appointed by the oberjarl to the position of hilfmann.

The vacancy of the office does not necessarily ensure a new election. By convention, elections are held when the hilfmann loses a budgetary vote, a vote of confidence, is removed for criminal acts, or the Cabinet requests the removal. Vacancy because of the death of the current officeholder (though this is much rarer than losing key votes) or because of resignation do not trigger new elections. Formally, only the oberjarl can remove the hilfmann from his position prematurely, but by convention the oberjarl will remove the hilfmann in any of the situations mentioned in the previous paragraph.

Theoretically, a hilfmann may serve an unlimited number of terms. However, in practice, a hilfmann serves until they either resign or their party loses power. In addition, even if no transfer of power between parties has occurred, a hilfmann must be reinstated wth the confidence of the Alnating upon the beginning of every new session of government.