User:Wulffmark/Sandbox2
FM
First Minister of Wulffmark | |
---|---|
Wulffmarks Fursteminister | |
First Minister's Department | |
Style | First Minister (Sturting) Excellency (international) |
Type | Indirectly elected |
Status | Head of Government |
Abbreviation | FM |
Member of | Cabinet Presidential Council |
Reports to | President Sturting |
Residence | Karstersvej 2 |
Seat | Karstersvej 3-4 |
Nominator | Speaker of the Sturting |
Appointer | President of Wulffmark Following Sturting approval |
Term length | No fixed term May remain in office with plurality support in the Sturting |
Constituting instrument | Constitution of Wulffmark |
Precursor | Chancellor of Wulffmark |
Inaugural holder | Olof Luttvik |
Formation | 1 September 1938 |
Unofficial names | Prime Minister (pre-1995) |
Deputy | Second Minister |
Salary | 1,200,000Br per annum (including 150,000Br SF salary) |
Website | firstminister |
The First Minister (FM) (Wulffren: Wulffmarks Fursteminister) is the executive leader of Wulffmark. The office was created in 1945 by the Republic constitution as a de jure head of government, which had previously been an informal role granted at the pleasure of the Monarch. It superseded the Chancellor as a new republican institution without royalist connotations.
The First Minister must be a member of the Sturting (SD) and is nominated by the Speaker after an election or vacancy, and appointed by the President upon plurality support. Terms are unfixed and holders may serve as long as they recieve such approval; otherwise they may be removed with a no-confidence vote. Budgets are also viewed as equivalent unofficial votes.
There have been thirteen First Ministers since 1938, three of which have served non-consecutive terms. The incumbent First Minister is Magda Anderssen, who has been in office since 9 July 2015. Her second and current term began on 11 July 2019, following the 2019 general election.
Name
First Minister is the direct translation of the Wulffren Fursteminister. Before the official English name was adopted in 1995, English language media commonly used the unofficial name Prime Minister.
Style
The office does not have an official courtesy or style aside from the titular "First Minister" used in the Sturting, although it uses the diplomatic reference of "Excellency".
History
Under the Kingdom the office of Chancellor had evolved as the de facto head of government, having once been the chair of the Royal Council and typically granted to personal favourites. In the wake of anti-royalist sentiment afterr Wulffmark's defeat in the Great War, the Republican constitution created a new analogous office independent from the presidency. The inagural First Minister, Olof Luttvik, took office on 1 September 1938.
The Labour Party has supplied the most First Ministers, although the centre-right has also elected First Ministers from the Liberal Party, Centre Party and Union Party.
The office has more recently achieved a more presidential public image and status instead of the originally intended primus inter pares. Erik Eikholm pioneered personalised election campaigns, and his governing approach involved an effectively subordinate Cabinet. Some political commentators have written that single-party governments have been more presidential, but multi-party examples have behaved more akin to traditional cabinet government. However the nature of the fragmented political party system has made single-party majorities very rare.
Appointment and removal process
Upon the election of a new Sturting or vacancy, the Speaker must nominate a candidate after consulting with major party leaders. In practice, these will be either party chairs or 'top candidates' of election campaigns. If the nominee recieves a relative majority, they must take the oath of office administered by the President to take office. Failure to complete this process allows the Speaker to propose a snap election, although this scenario has yet to occur.
A First Minister may be removed through a no-confidence vote. Under current Sturting rules, 35% of SDs must petition the Speaker to table a confidence vote. If the incumbent does not recieve a relative majority, the office is vacated pending the positive nomination of a successor. The Speaker may also propose a snap election in such instances. To deter trivial usage of this process, another confidence vote cannot occur for another three months.
Requirements
The First Minister must be an incumbent member of the Sturting. This in turn requires a mininum age of 21 years old, full Wulffren citizenship, and a mininmum one year of permanent residency. An incumbet losing their seat from either electoral defeat or expulsion would effectively vacate the office, although either scenario has yet to occur.
Succession
The Second Minister of Wulffmark directly follows the First Minister in order of precedence and frequently deputises in their absence, but the order of succession is entirely unfixed. Upon an immediate vacancy, the President may designate any Cabinet-rank minister as Acting First Minister. This status allows the temporary assumption of the powers and duties of the office without Sturting approval- the only individual to have recieved this was Kjell Willsrud in 1956 after the death of Olof Luttvik. However recent First Ministers have issued succession instructions which the President is expected to honour.
Powers and duties
As head of government, the First Minister leads the Cabinet and executive branch of the Government of Wulffmark as a whole. Its largest powers are appointing Cabinet ministers and leading the government in the Sturting. However it is less powerful than equivalent posts elsewhere, as Sturting approval is required for most prerogatives and other agency appointments. The party-list PR electoral system and the resulting fragmented 'block' party system also acts as a de facto check on its power.
Seat and official residences
The First Minister has exclusive use of the Karstersvej complex next to the Karster Canal in central Brokkemouth, consisting of several interconnected buildings. 1 and 2 are residential quarters, 3 and 4 are offices, and 5 is a multi-purpose venue. Presently, 2 is the official residency whilst 4 houses most offices. The First Minister is also entitled to a secondary Brorkeemouth residence at 13 Videgat, which was used during the most recent refurbishment of 1/2 Karstersvej from 2011-2014.
The First Minister also has a summer country residence at the Friederhus estate in Blaakelund County.
List of First Ministers
There are currently four living former First Ministers, the oldest and earliest to have served being Maria Dalkebrant. The most recent to have died was Erik Eikholm (1928-2018, served 1983-1991) on 31 January 2018. They are, in order of service:
Maria Dalkebrant
(1991-1997)
born 1939 (age 85)Ingvar Hammervik
(1997-2003, 2007-2010)
born 1948 (age 75)Erik Dalholm
(2003-2007)
born 1949 (age 75)Jens Jaalainen
(2010-2015)
born 1960 (age 64)