Chief Minister of Aredoa

Chief Minister of Aredoa
Incumbent Alejandro Lopez since 16 January 2019
Style	Mister/Madam Chief Minister, or His/Her Excellency
Member of	Government of Aredoa
Reports to	National Assembly
Seat	Government House, Vallez Street, Vahania
Nominator	National Assembly
Appointer	President of Aredoa Constitutional obligation, based on nomination by the Chamber of Deputies.
Term length	While they hold the confidence of the Chamber of Deputies
Constituting instrument	Constitution of Aredoa
Formation	10 February 1880
First holder	Fabián Pesina
Deputy	Deputy Chief Minister of Aredoa
Salary	APN 180,000
Website	gov.ad/chief-minister

The Chief Minister of Aredoa is the chief executive and head of government of Aredoa. The Chief Minister is nominated by the Chamber of Deputies and formally appointed by the President. They must retain the support of the Chamber of Deputies to remain in office but there are no formal term limits imposed on the office.

The Chief Minister heads the Government of Aredoa and nominates cabinet ministers for appointment by the President. The Chief Minister exercises executive power through the cabinet and implements policy by wielding their majority in the Chamber of Deputies.

The incumbent Chief Minister is Alejandro Lopez of the Aredoan Workers' Party, leading a coalition government with the People's Party and the Alliance for a Green Future. He took office on the 16th of January 2019 following the 2019 General Election.

Nomination

As per the Constitution of Aredoa, the Chief Minister is nominated by the Chamber of Deputies, the directly elected lower house of the National Assembly. The President is then constitutionally obliged to appoint the nominee of the Chamber of Deputies, with no capacity to reject or object to the nominee. Because of the proportional nature of the Aredoan electoral system, it is commonplace for the Chief Minister to be the head of a coalition government, or to lead a minority government propped up by the confidence and supply of other parties. The Chief Minister is required to be a member of the Chamber of Deputies at the time of their nomination and retains this position throughout their time in office.

Role

The Chief Minister is not just the head of government but also the chief executive of Aredoa as executive power is vested in the Government of Aredoa, which the Chief Minister heads. The cabinet nominally makes decisions collectively, although in practice many decisions are firmly made by the Chief Minister and the heads of their coalition partners rather than the cabinet as a whole.

The Chief Minister nominates members of the National Assembly for appointment to the cabinet. They can also request the resignation of any cabinet member, a request which is expected to be followed by convention. If a cabinet minister refuses to resign on request, the Chief Minister can instruct the President to dismiss the said minister, although this is an extremely rare sight in Aredoan politics.

As the Chief Minister has majority support in the Chamber of Deputies, they often spearhead significant legislative initiatives; roughly 60% of legislation passed each year is introduced by the government. The Chief Minister also formulates foreign policy in cooperation with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and provides oversight to both the Civil Service and departments/agencies of the Government.

Removal from Office

The Chief Minister must retain the confidence and supply of the Chamber of Deputies to hold office. Despite this, they are not immediately removed by the withdrawal of confidence and supply. In such an event, which can be achieved by the passage of a vote of no confidence or the failure of the annual budget, the Chief Minister and government enters caretaker capacity. This is followed by a two-week timeframe in which one of two things must happen: the Chamber of Deputies can either hear nominations for Chief Minister again to see if the incumbent Chief Minister or another candidate can secure the confidence of the chamber, or alternatively, the chamber may call a snap general election.

Privileges

Salary

The Chief Minister currently receives a salary of 180,000 Ponos. The salary is set by the apolitical Government Standards Commission, which also sets the salary of other political offices, and adjusted for inflation biennially. However, since taking office in 2014, incumbent Chief Minister Alejandro Lopez has refused the four raises set by the Commission which would have seen the salary rise to 187,000 Ponos.

Residence

The Chief Minister controls a wing of the Government House which serves as the Office of the Chief Minister, consisting of offices and conference rooms. The official residence of the Chief Minister is Casa de la Ascensión, a 14-bedroom, rural state house. However, as the house is located 60,000 kilometers away from Vahania, Chief Ministers tend to use personal properties as their primary residence. Casa de la Ascensión is primarily used by Chief Ministers for official purposes such as government summits, receiving foreign officials, giving televised addresses to the nation, or hosting celebrations and commemorations.