Prime Minister of the Velkanian Isles

**Salary** | $17,083 (monthly)

The **Prime Minister** (Velkanian: ***Fyrstamaðherra** Vælkjárallata*; Framish: *Välklands **Statsminister***) is the head of government of the Kingdom of the Velkanian Isles. The office was created in 1964, following the restoration of Velkanian independence from the Kingdom of Framland.

The prime minister presides over a cabinet of ministers, who are nominated by the prime minister and formally appointed by the Monarch; in practice, the Monarch has no say in who they appoint as ministers, and they will always appoint whomever are nominated by the prime minister. The Monarch is also tasked with appointing the prime minister; however, in practice, the Monarch will always appoint the leader of the majority coalition in the Orthing to serve as prime minister. This majority coalition may consist of a sole party, or may be a coalition of multiple parties; due to the size of the Orthing and the minimum electoral threshold, it is uncommon for a single party to hold a majority of seats in parliament on their own, and coalition-building is almost always a necessity.

The current prime minister is Sif María Vilhjálmardattir, who has served as prime minister since 2014. Since 2018, she has led a three-party centrist coalition in the Orthing.

## Constitutional eligibility

There are few requirements that prospective prime ministers must meet in order to be eligible to serve as prime minister, as outlined in the Constitution of the Velkanian Isles.

The prime minister must:

* Be at least 18 years of age upon taking office.
* Be a citizen of the Velkanian Isles, either through birth or naturalization, and have held citizenship for at least ten years upon taking office.
* Have resided in the Velkanian Isles for at least 15 years prior to taking office.
* Never have renounced their citizenship to the Velkanian Isles in order to receive citizenship to a foreign nation, and have never served in the armed forces or government of a foreign nation.
* Never have been convicted of a crime that led to time spent in jail or prison.
* Concurrently serve as a member of the Orthing.
* Not serve concurrently on the board of directors for a for-profit corporation nor hold any positions of power within a for-profit corporation.
* Not be in the line of succession for the Velkanian throne.

## Role and authority

The Constitution of the Velkanian Isles outlines how the Monarch is the supreme head of state of the Velkanian Isles, and exercises their powers through ministers. The Monarch formally appoints and dismisses ministers, including the prime minister, although they never use this power without request. In a sense, all powers of the prime minister are delegated by the Monarch, according to the Constitution.

The prime minister is the most senior politician in the country, and acts as the chief international representative of the nation. If the prime minister does not have a majority in parliament, their powers and stability are greatly endangered. In this case, any bills they propose may be immediately voted down without regards to discussion, and they are always vulnerable to losing a vote of no confidence and subsequently being removed from office. Due to this, it is very rare that a prime minister will come to power without securing a majority in parliament, and if they lose their majority they will either step down or a snap election will be called.

While the Monarch is tasked with appointing a cabinet of ministers, these ministers are all appointed at the advice of the prime minister. The prime minister *de facto* has the power to choose their own ministers, as the Monarch typically strays away from expressing political interest, most often appointing whichever ministers the prime minister requests them to. Following the certification of the results of an election, the Monarch will grant one member of parliament a mandate to form a government; typically, the selected individual is the leader of the party that secured a plurality of seats, although it is not unheard of for the second-largest party to also receive the mandate if the put up a particularly strong showing in the election. The individual who receives the mandate will then be given 60 days to form a coalition government. If they succeed, they will be appointed prime minister by the Monarch, but if they fail then the Monarch will remove the mandate and grant it to a different party. If after two mandates are given and still no government can be formed, the Orthing will be given the opportunity to nominate any member as prime minister, should they secure a majority. If not, the Monarch will call for another election.

The prime minister chairs weekly cabinet meetings and has the power to set the agenda of these meetings. The prime minister also runs the government ministry known as the Office of the Prime Minister. The Office of the Prime Minister does not have any committees associated with it, and is solely tasked with acting as the secretariat of the prime minister. The prime minister can choose to dissolve the parliament whenever they wish, although this is formally done by the Monarch. Dissolving parliament early results in a snap election. Parliament is automatically dissolved every four years for a new election, while a snap election will result in the next automatically occurring election to be pushed back for another four years. There are checks on the power of the prime minister. At any time, parliament can vote to strip the incumbent prime minister of their power in a vote of no confidence; if this vote passes, the prime minister and their cabinet must resign immediately, and the Monarch will call a snap election; before the snap election can be held, the Speaker of the Orthing will serve as interim prime minister, while the other ministerial offices will remain vacant. Whenever a prime minister dies or resigns from office, the party of the prime minister will select a new individual to take their place, most often a senior cabinet minister. Snap elections are not always requested after the prime minister's resignation for reasons other than a vote of no confidence, although they sometimes may be. If a prime minister dies in office and thus cannot remain in office on an acting capacity until a successor is elected, then a senior cabinet official will step in to serve as acting prime minister.

## Amenities

The official residence of the prime minister is Garðaröst, a private estate that is located in the Garðareyri neighborhood of Narísandur. Garðaröst is closed to the public, but typically is used to hold international conferences in the Velkanian Isles, in addition to hosting foreign dignitaries in the country. The executive office of the prime minister is not located in Garðaröst, which is the private residence, instead being located in a wing of the Orþingahúsið, the seat of the Orthing.

The prime minister receives a monthly salary of $17,083, culminating in an approximate annual salary of $205,000, which is taxable income. In addition to their salary, they reside rent-free in Garðaröst, in addition to being provided a personal chauffeur and security detail for themselves and their immediate family.

## List of prime ministers

*Main article: List of Prime Ministers of the Velkanian Isles*.

### Living former prime ministers

Anna Kristín Björnsdattir
born  (1944-04-01) 1 April 1944 (age 79)
served 1986–92Eybjört María Hólmsteinnsdattir
born  (1940-11-02) 2 November 1940 (age 83)
served 1993–2002Davíð Brynnsteinsson
born  (1958-12-18) 18 December 1958 (age 65)
served 2002–14
### Records

* The longest-serving prime minister was Davíð Brynnsteinsson, who served 11 years and 332 days from 2002 until 2014.
* The shortest-serving prime minister was Jóhann Pál Jónsson, who served as an acting prime minister for 99 days in 1978. The shortest-serving non-acting prime minister was Steingrímur Hrafnsson, who served 187 days from 1977 until 1978.
* The youngest prime minister was Sif María Vilhjálmardattir, who was 38 years and 213 days old when she first took office in 2014.
* The oldest prime minister was Jón Húmi Kristgeirsson, who was 71 years and 205 days old when he left office in 1993.
* The first female prime minister was Ragnheiður Loftardattir, who served from 1972 until 1977. There have been three further women to serve in the office: Anna Kristín Björnsdattir, who served from 1986 until 1992, Eybjört María Hólmsteinnsdattir, who served from 1993 until 2002, and Sif María Vilhjálmardattir, who has been the incumbent since 2014.
* The first prime minister born in an independent Velkanian Isles was Sif María Vilhjálmardattir, born in 1975, 11 years after the restoration of Velkanian independence.