Prime Minister of Kelssek

The Prime Minister of Kelssek (French: Premier ministre du Kelssek) is the head of the government of Kelssek. The office does not formally exist in the constitution of Kelssek, where executive authority is vested in the President, but the office has been in de facto existence from the nation's beginning and has become a central feature of the Government.

The Prime Minister is generally the leader of the party able to hold the confidence of a majority in the House of Commons; historically, governing coalitions or agreements between two or more parties have been necessary. According to protocol, all holders of the office are styled The Right Honourable for life. The official residence of the prime minister is 24 Sussex Drive in Neorvins. All prime ministers have lived there since confederation. The prime minister also has a secondary residence in Capital National Park outside Neorvins.

The current Prime Minister is Alan Kerk. He has been in office since September 18, 2004.

Selection

The Prime Minister, along with the other ministers of the Cabinet, is technically appointed by the President. However, it is customary for the President to call on the leader of the party which holds the most seats in the House of Commons to form a government.

The Prime Minister may be any Kelssekian citizen of voting age (17 years). It is customary for the Prime Minister to also be a sitting member of the House of Commons, although George Walker governed from the Congress of Lords, and Alan Kerk was also a Senator for the first few months of his term before a by-election in 2005. If the prime minister should fail to win his or her seat, a junior Member of Parliament in a safe seat would typically resign to permit a by-election to elect that leader to a seat. However, if the leader of the governing party is changed shortly before an election is due and the new leader is not a Member of Parliament, he or she will normally await the general election before running for a seat.

Mandate

A prime minister does not have a fixed mandate. A prime minister is required to resign only when an opposition party wins a majority of the seats in the House. If his or her party loses a motion of no confidence, a prime minister may resign (allowing another party to form the government), but more often than not will ask the President to dissolve Parliament and bring about a general election. If a general election gives an opposition party any plurality of the seats short of a majority, the incumbent prime minister may attempt to gain the support of another party to retain confidence, or may resign, refuse the President's offer to establish the government and hence allow the party that won the most seats to form the government.

An election for every seat in the Commons (a "general election") must be called within four years after the previous one; however, the prime minister may ask the President to call a general election at virtually any time. Customarily, when a majority government is in power, elections are called 3 to 4 years after the previous election. If a minority government is in power, a vote of non-confidence in the House of Commons may lead to a quick election. For instance, Clive Thatcher was Prime Minister for only 12 days after the death of his predecessor, when he lost a confidence vote on the budget.

It is also customary for a Prime Minister who comes to that position by the resignation or death of his predecessor as leader of the governing party shortly calls an general election so as to achieve a mandate of his own. In Kelssek's history, only the Liberal Party has been able to carry out such a handover of power successfully; when George Walker took over on Donovan Itmeier's retirement, he lost the subsequent election.

Role and authority

As in practice, the President is a figurehead, the Prime Minister wields most of the President's executive powers, except those generally considered as reserve powers, and is the most powerful member of the government. Effectively, the Prime Minister, through this de facto power or his usual ability to control a majority in the House of Commons, controls appointments to the following positions:

• all members of the Cabinet;
• vacant seats on the Supreme Court;
• all heads of National Corporations whom the prime minister may replace at any time;
• all ambassadors to Foreign Countries;
• provincial Lieutenant-Governors;
• approximately 6,200 other government positions, the bulk of which the Prime Minister usually designates a member of his staff to appoint with his concurrence.

Transportation

On official business outside of Kelssek, the Prime Minister's air transport is provided by the Kelssek Forces Air Command. The usual transportation is a Celestar 604 small executive jet, but when longer range or more passengers are necessary, especially for high-profile official visits, an Airbus A310-300 is used. It is also common for a commercial airliner to be chartered; Air Kelssek is the most-used.

For domestic travel and all the Prime Minister's personal trips such as holidays, it is generally expected that the Prime Minister uses normal scheduled transportation. Typical security arrangements are usually made in these instances, such as the Prime Minister being allowed to board and alight the aircraft prior to the other passengers, or police escorts when the Prime Minister uses intercity trains and buses.

List of Prime Ministers