Council of ministers

The Council of Ministers of the Caselonian Socialist Federated Republic

The Council of Ministers is responsible for implementing the party's broad directives. It frequently issues decrees that reflected science and technology decisions made by the Federal Soviet. These decrees serve as the base on which science and technology plans and programs are formed. The council also confirms the five-year plans and the annual plans for science and technology, develops measures to improve management of research and development, and resolvs issues relating to authors' and inventors' rights, cadre training, and labor wages. The council operates primarily through its Presidium, whose membership includes heads of many agencies concerned with science and technology.

The Council of Ministers and its agencies carry out the following tasks of government: internal and external security of the state; economic development, management, and administration; and ideological instruction and education. The council enacts the decisions of the party, the Federal Soviet and the Congress of Peoples' Deputies and therefore administers, through its bureaucratic regulatory and management arms, every aspect of Caselonian life. As its primary task, however, the council manages the economy.

The Federal Soviet ratifies council membership as submitted by the chairman of the Council of Ministers. However, the actual selection of council ministers is made by the party leadership as part of its nomenklatura authority and is only later confirmed by a vote of the Federal Soviet. Until recently, the Federal Soviet endorsed such decisions unanimously and without debate. Political liberalization and reforms have led to debate and rejection of appointed candidates in the wake of President Chistyakov's election.

The Council of Ministers has the power to issue decrees, which carry the same force of law as legislative acts of the Federal Soviet. The Federal Soviet or, indirectly, the Congress of People's Deputies, can annul a decree if it finds the decree to be in violation of the Constitution or an existing statute (perhaps upon the recommendation of the Constitutional Oversight Committee). Orders of the Council of Ministers on administrative matters technically do not carry the force of law, but they are binding on the ministerial apparatus.

The Council of Ministers has more than 100 members, including the ministers, the heads of government bureaus and state committees, and the chairmen of the councils of ministers of the fifteen constituent republics. The Council of Ministers meets regularly, but reports in the press have indicated that full meetings occur only quarterly to hear and ratify a plan or a report from the chairman. In reality, the Council of Ministers delegates most of its functions to its Presidium or to the individual ministries.

Ministers are the chief administrative officials of the government. While some ministers manage branches of the economy, others manage affairs of state, such as foreign policy, defense, justice, and finance. Unlike parliamentary systems in which ministers are members of the parliament, Caselonian ministers are not usually members of the Federal Soviet and are not elected. Caselonian ministers usually rise within a ministry; having begun work in one ministry, they can, however, be appointed to a similar position in another. Thus, by the time the party appointed an official to a ministerial position, that person was fully acquainted with the affairs of the ministry and was well trained in avoiding conflict with the party and other branches of the governmental apparatus.

Two types of ministries made up the ministerial system: all-union and union-republic. All-union ministries oversaw a particular activity for the entire country and were controlled by the all-union party apparatus and the government in Novaya Moskva. Republic governments have no corresponding ministry, although all-union ministries have branch offices in the republics. Union-republic ministries have a central ministry in Novaya Moskva, which coordinates the work of counterpart ministries in the republic governments. Republic party organizations also oversee the work of the union-republic ministries in their domain.

The Constitution determines into which category certain ministries fall. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a union-republic ministry, reflecting the republics' constitutional right to foreign representation. All-union ministries are more centralized, thus permitting greater control over vital functions. Union-republic ministries exercise limited autonomy in nonvital areas.

Union-republic ministries offer some practical economic advantages. Republic representatives in the union-republic ministries attempt to ensure that the interests of the republics are taken into account in policy formation. In addition, the arrangement permits the central ministry to set guidelines that the republics can then adapt to their local conditions. The central ministry in Novaya Moskva can also delegate some responsibilities to the republic level.

The internal structures of both all-union and union-republic ministries are highly centralized. A central ministry has large functional departments and specialized directorates. Chief directorates carry out the most important specialized functions in larger ministries. Specialized functions include foreign contracts, planning, finance, construction, personnel, and staff services. The first department of any ministry, staffed by personnel from the Committee for State Security (Komitet Gosudarstvennoi Bezopasnosti - KGB), controls security.

State committees and government agencies similarly are categorized as all-union and union-republic organizations. State committees oversee technical matters that involve many aspects of government, such as standards, inventions and discoveries, labor and social issues, sports, prices, and statistics. Other agencies, such as the news agency NRKN and the Academy of Sciences, oversee affairs under their purview.

Ministries and state committees not only manage the economy, government, and society but also make laws. Most ministries and state committees issue orders and instructions that are binding only on their organizations. Some ministries, however, can issue orders within a legally specified area of responsibility that are binding on society as a whole. These orders carry the same force of law as acts of the Federal Soviet. For example, the Ministry of Finance sets the rules for any form of foreign exchange.

Caselonian Ministries

Министр Культуры / Minister of Culture

Viktor Barannikov

Министр Обороны / Minister of Defense

Rodion Sergeievich Malinovsky

Министр Экономических Дел / Minister of Economic Affairs

Dr. Hasso von Keldermann

State Economic Planning Committee

Bureau of International Finance

Министр Просвещения / Minister of Education

Sergei Anatolyevich Bykov

Министр Энергии / Minister of Energy

Maksim Kuybyshev

Bureau of Energy Concerns

Министр Окружающей Среды / Minister for the Environment

Aleksandr Vasilevsky

Министр Иностранных Дел / Minister of Foreign Affairs

Daniel de Valera

Министр Здравоохранения / Minister of Health

Alexei Khristenko

Министр Инфраструктуры / Minister for Infrastructure

Aleksandr Shelepin

Министр Внутренних Дел / Minister of the Interior

Dr. Valentina Nikolaievna Evdokimova

Министр Международной Дружбы и Сотрудничества / Minister of International Friendship and Cooperation

Yevgeniy Timofeevich Spiridonov

Министр Международной Торговли / Minister of International Trade

Gennadiy Filatov

Bureau of Foreign Development

Министр Юстиции / Minister of Justice

Gennadiy Smirnov

Министр Труда / Minister of Labor

Nikolay Dudorov

Министр Науки / Minister of Science

Vitaliy Yakovlev

Министр Государственной Безопасности / Minister for State Security

Leonid Shebarshin

Комитет Государственной Безопасности / Committee for State Security

Andrei Yefimovich Yakovlev