Prime Minister of Lungary

**Salary** | $275,980 (annually)

The **Prime Minister** (Lungarian: ***Stadtminister** Lüngard*, "State Minister of Lungary") is the head of government of the Federal Kingdom of Lungary. The office was created in 1904, following the establishment of the Federal Kingdom and the disestablishment of the Lungarian Empire. During the Lungarian Empire, the Chancellor was the head of government, who held significantly less powers than the Prime Minister does.

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 Chamber of Deputies 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 Chamber of Deputies and the minimum electoral threshold, it is not uncommon for a single party to hold a majority of seats in parliament.

The current Prime Minister is Lara Münd, who, since 27 September 2017, has led a coalition government between the Social Democrats and Unionists.

## Constitutional eligibility

There are few requirements that prospective Prime Ministers must meet in order to be eligible to accede to the office, as outlined in the Constitution of Lungary.

The Prime Minister must:

* Be a citizen of Lungary, through birth or naturalization, for at least twelve years prior to their election.
* Be a permanent resident of Lungary for at least five consecutive years prior to their election.
* Possess no criminal felonies, no more than five criminal misdemeanors, and have never served time in a state or federal prison.
* Have never served in a political office for a foreign government, be it a friendly nation or hostile nation.
* Not serve on the board of a for-profit corporation nor hold any positions of power within a for-profit corporation concurrently with the office of the Prime Minister.
* Concurrently serve as a member of the Chamber of Deputies, although their cabinet ministers are not required to do the same.
* Not be one of the first twenty persons in the line of succession to the Lungarian throne, nor hold any titles of nobility.

Until 1978, there was a ban on dual citizens serving in the federal government. Similar state bans also existed that were based on the federal ban, but were undone from 1960 to 1978. Since 1978, no states nor the federal government have banned dual citizens from holding political office.

## Role and authority

The Constitution of Lungary outlines how the Monarch is the supreme head of state of Lungary, 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, often appointing whichever ministers the Prime Minister requests them to. The Prime Minister is appointed by the Monarch shortly after an election if a single party is able to secure majority control of parliament. If no party secures majority control on their own, the Monarch will appoint the Prime Minister after a party is able to secure a majority coalition with other parties; typically, the party with a plurality of seats will be at liberty to begin coalition building with other parties, and that party's leader will serve as the eventual Prime Minister. In cases where the largest party in the coalition lost a number of seats in the election and was seen as one of the election's "losers," the Monarch may prefer to appoint the leader of a party in the coalition who won seats in the 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 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 Chamber of Deputies will appoint an interim Prime Minister, who can nominate their own council of ministers; this interim Prime Minister and cabinet will always be non-partisan figures who often are not career politicians. Whenever a Prime Minister dies or resigns from office, the Deputy Prime Minister will succeed them in office until the next election.

## Amenities

The seat of the Prime Minister is the Federal Offices, located in the Immenräschen neighborhood of Inner Munbach. The Federal Offices is both the private residence and the executive office of the Prime Minister. Since its construction in 1966, every Prime Minister and their family has resided in the Federal Offices. The private residence is a twenty-four-bedroom wing of the offices, equipped with several offices, meeting rooms, kitchens, dining rooms, and recreational rooms, including an indoor swimming pool. The executive office is often used as a host for press conferences and summits between the government of Lungary, international governments, and the press.

The Prime Minister receives an annual salary of $275,980, which is founded by taxation; they must pay income taxes on their salary. In addition to their salary, they also receive expense-free residence in the Federal Offices (although they often keep their private residences as well), a personal security detail for themselves and all members of their immediate family (spouse, children, and any other family member who resides in the Federal Offices), and a personal chauffeur.

## List of Prime Ministers

*Main article: List of Prime Ministers of Lungary*

### Living former Prime Ministers

Julian Schachtschneider
born  (1942-01-18) 18 January 1942 (age 82)
served 1994–97Kathrin Höss
born  (1950-12-24) 24 December 1950 (age 73)
served 1997–2001Philip Ehrler
born  (1943-06-28) 28 June 1943 (age 80)
served 2001–09Mark Gebauer
born  (1960-03-31) 31 March 1960 (age 63)
served 2009–17