Prime Minister of Mornguard

**Salary** | $198,560 (annually)

The **Prime Minister** (Mornguardian: *Marngardes* ***statminister***, "Mornguard's State Minister") is the head of government of the Kingdom of Mornguard. The office was created in 1884, following the restoration of Mornguardian 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 Thusting 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 Thusting and the minimum electoral threshold, it is not very 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 Hanne Garderbrø, who, since 14 November 2016, has led a four-party broad left-wing coalition government.

## 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 Mornguard.

The Prime Minister must:

* Be a citizen of Mornguard through either birth or naturalization, and have held citizenship for at least ten years.
* Never have renounced your citizenship to Mornguard in order to naturalize as a citizen of a foreign country.
* Never have served in the military or a government office of a foreign country.
* Possess no criminal felonies.
* Concurrently serve as a member of the Thusting.
* 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.
* Not be one of the first twenty persons in the line of succession to the Mornguardian throne.

## Role and authority

The Constitution of Mornguard outlines how the Monarch is the supreme head of state of Mornguard, 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 or broad ideological coalition is able to secure majority control of parliament. If no party or ideological coalition 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 Speaker of the Thusting 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.

## Amenities

The seat of the Prime Minister is Kamielborg, located adjacent to Chriselblom Palace in Dragshaven. Kamielborg is the location of the Prime Minister's private residence, the Office of the Prime Minister, and the Thusting. Other ministerial offices are located in other buildings. Kamielborg is open to the public for guided tours, although the private residence is not open to the public.

The Prime Minister receives an annual salary of $198,560, 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 Kamielborg (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 Kamielborg), and a personal chauffeur.

## List of Prime Ministers

*Main article: List of Prime Ministers of Mornguard*