Cabinet of Tavaris
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The Cabinet of the Acronian Empire is the executive body of the civil government of Acronis, consisting of the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, and the Ministers in charge of the principal departments of civil government. The Prime Minister is the presiding officer of Cabinet meetings. The Cabinet is distinct from the Council of State, a body comprised primarily (but not exclusively) of Cabinet members, whose formal role is to give advice to the monarch and to give legal effect to executive decisions and Acts of Parliament.
The current Cabinet is a caretaker administration, serving between the dissolution of Parliament on January 20th, 2021 until the next Parliament is seated after elections on February 10th, 2021. It is largely a holdover of the government formed in January 2017 by Prime Minister Žarís Nevran Alandar of the party Remembrance, although some positions are vacant due to the collapse of the Remembrance coalition with the Socialist Party for Democracy. By statute, new ministers cannot be appointed to a caretaker Cabinet, with civil service employees of the vacant ministries leading their departments in an acting capacity.
Members
Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister
Cabinet is presided over by the Prime Minister. The legal name of the position, in Acronian, is Nís Tašrivandrak, meaning "Chief Administrator." The Staynish term "Prime Minister" was informally used from the creation of the office in 1790, and was formally adopted by statute in 1954. The position was envisioned by the authors of the Instruments of Governance to be a standalone, first-among-equals position, in which the Prime Minister led the meetings of Cabinet but was otherwise equal in power to the other ministers. Convention has since shifted, and Prime Ministers are generally considered to be the most powerful member of Cabinet and often hold other portfolios in addition to Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is appointed by the King, who is obligated under the Instruments of Government to select the individual "commanding the confidence of the houses of Parliament." The King then appoints the other members of the Cabinet on the advice of the Prime Minister. The only requirement for the office is that one be a Member of Parliament, though to be a Member of Parliament one must be an Acronian citizen aged 21 or older without any felony convictions.
The Deputy Prime Minister must come from the house of Parliament of which the Prime Minister is not a member. As current Prime Minister Žarís Nevran Alandar is from the Diet, current Deputy Prime Minister Jeila Telan Vandravat, is from the Senate. The statutory duties of the Deputy Prime Minister are to lead government business in their house of Parliament and to serve as Acting Prime Minister in the event of the temporary incapacity of the current Prime Minister. The Deputy Prime Minister does not become Prime Minister if the Prime Minister resigns or is removed from office; in such an event the governing party follows its own procedures for electing a new leader.
Ministers
The remaining members of Cabinet are the Ministers in charge of the principal departments of the civil government. The Prime Minister generally has discretion to create and dissolve government departments at will, although certain departments are defined in the Instruments of Governance and therefore cannot be altered except by Constitutional amendment. These positions, referred to as the "entrenched Ministers" or "Great Offices of State," are the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, and the Ministers of External Affairs, Defense, Revenue and Treasury, and Civil Law (the Attorney-General). Beyond these positions, the Prime Minister has the ability to organize government as they see fit. Acronian law explicitly forbids "Ministers without Portfolio," meaning that in order to serve on Cabinet, one must be the leader of a government department.
Individuals can have multiple portfolios. For example, Prime Minister Nevran Alandar is also the Minister of International Trade and Development. Some office-holders are typically given multiple portfolios by convention: for example, the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries has always also held the title of Minister of Public Lands and Territorial Waters for as long as the titles have existed. The Minister of Revenue and Treasury is typically also made Minister of the Economy, which is theoretically a separate position with different responsibilities. However, only once have the two positions ever been filled by different people.
Non-Members Attending Cabinet
While the law limits who can hold a voting seat on the Cabinet, there are several government officials who regularly or sometimes attend Cabinet meetings to provide input. The Director-General of Government Operations, who is the official generally in charge of maintaining the civil service and the administrative/bureaucratic functioning of government, is not the head of a "principal executive department" and therefore cannot vote, but attends every meeting of Cabinet as they are generally responsible for implementing any changes that affect government employees. Other officials regularly attending Cabinet include the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of General Staff, the Chief of the Intelligence Office, the Trade Representative, and sometimes Acronian ambassadors to international organizations, such as the League of Novaris or the Alliance of Northwest Gondwana.
Council of State
The Council of State is a separate body from Cabinet, and is roughly analogous to the concept of the "Privy Council" that exists in some countries. Its Constitutionally-defined role is to "give advice to the monarch and to give legal effect to executive decisions and Acts of Parliament." The Council of State is not the executive - it does not make any changes on its own initiative, it ratifies decisions that have already been made by the Cabinet, which is the executive of the civil government. While in theory it is possible for the Council of State to deny an act of Cabinet legal ratification, such an event has never occurred and would likely cause a constitutional crisis. However, as all but two members of the Council are also members of Cabinet, the event is highly unlikely in any case.
The Council of State is also the body that formally "gives advice" to the monarch, currently King Mital II. In any situation where the law calls for the King to act on the advice of the government, it is the Council of State that formally presents the recommendation to the monarch. (An exception is the appointment of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, since the Council of State is vacant before Parliament assembles to nominate a PM. In this case, the monarch acts on the advice of Parliament directly for the Prime Minister, and then the Prime Minister directly for the rest of the Cabinet.) The approval of the Council of State is also required for the monarch or the heir to get married or divorced, and the Council is also generally in charge of coordinating the planning and setup for royal funerals and other state funerals.
The Prime Minister is the President of the Council of State. The Council has 9 seats under the Instruments of Governance. In the past the Prime Minister had the discretion to fill them at will, but statute law has since filled 8 of the 9 seats. The Deputy Prime Minister; the Ministers of External Affairs, Defense, Revenue and Treasury, and Civil Law; the Director-General of Government Operations; and the Leader of the Opposition are the 8 mandated officials on the Council. The single remaining seat can be filled by the Prime Minister at will, and the appointment is typically seen as a way for the Prime Minister to elevate a particular issue as their "primary" focus or emphasis. Prime Minister Nevran Alandar appointed the Minister of Rodokan Affairs, Saima Kerska, to the open seat in 2017.
The King attends every meeting of the Council of State, which occur weekly, typically on Saturday mornings. However, the King is not a member of the Council of State, nor is he the presiding officer. As it was famously described by Utadri Novar Tanokat, the first Acronian Prime Minister, "The King is not a member of the Council of State, the King is the state."
Current Cabinet
| Portfolio | Minister | Parliamentary Constituency | House | Term | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entrenched Ministers | |||||
| Prime Minister President of the Council of State Minister for International Trade and Development |
Žarís Nevran Alandar | Nakaš West | Diet | 2017–present | |
| Deputy Prime Minister Leader of Business in the Senate |
Jeila Telan Vandravat | National List | Senate | 2017–present | |
| Minister of External Affairs | VACANT | VACANT | VACANT | 2021–present | |
| Minister of Defense Vice President of the Council of State |
Nama Oren Kantoreš | Rokai-Tovranašt | Diet | 2017–present | |
| Minister of Revenue and Treasury Minister of the Economy |
VACANT | VACANT | VACANT | 2021–present | |
| Minister of Civil Law Attorney-General of the Acronian Empire |
VACANT | VACANT | VACANT | 2021–present | |
| Other Cabinet Ministers | |||||
| Minister for Rodokan Affairs Minister for the Environment First Councilor of the National Reserve |
Saima Kerska | Avrandai West- Lääne Kõrküngas |
Diet | 2017–present | |
| Minister for Internal Affairs and Improvements | Avri Londrai Takanaš | Tovora | Diet | 2017–present | |
| Minister of Transportation | VACANT | VACANT | VACANT | 2021–present | |
| Minister of Culture, Tourism, and Sport | Andra Tavažt Rendorel | Northwest Acronis | Senate | 2017–present | |
| Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Minister of Public Lands and Territorial Waters |
Rantar Dovri Tankaštat | South Acronis | Senate | 2017–present | |
| Minister of Public Health Civil Government Liaison to the Church of Akrona |
Kandrovi Vendravar Tavít | Anara Central | Diet | 2017–present | |
| Minister of Industry and Commerce | Nitai Lavra Endošti | Levat City | Diet | 2017–present | |
| Minister of Labor Minister of Equality |
Nadra Valtari Kondrai | South-Central Acronis | Senate | 2017–present | |
| Minister of Education | Avri Nankar Telandra | Zaram North-Nakara | Diet | 2017–present | |
| Minister of Veterans Affairs and Social Services | Žendra Nadria Lentor | North-Central Acronis | Senate | 2020–present | |
| Non-Members Attending Cabinet | |||||
| Director-General of Government Operations Leader of Business in the Diet |
Modria Lavat Kantor | Outer Idalan | Diet | 2017–present | |
| Chair of the Joint Chiefs of General Staff | Adm. Dandrea Ležar Ívrit | N/A | N/A | 2019–present | |
| Chief of the Intelligence Office | Anta Indria Kevorandal | N/A | N/A | 2019–present | |
| Trade Representative of the Acronian Empire | Vedri Ankat Donarík | N/A | N/A | 2017–present | |
| Acronian Ambassador to the Alliance of Northwest Gondwana | Rantar Onedra Kevriat | N/A | N/A | 2018–present | |
| Acronian Ambassador to the League of Novaris Ambassador-at-Large to the Global Community of Monarchies Crown Prince of the Acronian Empire |
Otan Davras Šolosar | N/A | N/A | 2020-present | |