Government formation in Nouvelle Alexandrie

Government formation in Nouvelle Alexandrie is the constitutional process by which a new federal government is assembled and installed after a general election to the Cortes Federales, or after a vacancy in the office of President of the Government. It is governed by the Proclamation of Punta Santiago, the Federation's constitution, and set out in detail by the Government Formation and Coalition Act, 1694.

Under these instruments the King appoints the President of the Government, the Federal Assembly invests the nominee by presenting a Humble Address to the Crown seeking confirmation of the appointment, and the Speaker of the Federal Assembly countersigns the royal act. The President of the Government then forms a Council of State, whose members take office only with the approval of the Federal Assembly.

Where a general election returns a clear majority or an obvious coalition, the Crown's part is largely ceremonial and the outgoing government hands over to its successor. Where the result is hung, with no party commanding a majority of the Assembly, the King invites the person most likely to command the chamber's confidence, known as the formateur, to assemble a government. An outgoing President of the Government remains at his post as a caretaker until a successor is installed.

Constitutional and statutory basis

Government formation rests on the Proclamation of Punta Santiago and on the Government Formation and Coalition Act, 1694, which received royal assent in 1695 AN and sets out in detail the process the Proclamation frames in outline. The King's part derives from his duty as head of state to ensure the proper functioning of the public authorities and the continuity of the Federation.

The Proclamation makes the King the appointing authority. He appoints the President of the Government and, on the President's recommendation, the Council of State. The nomination and appointment of the President, like a dissolution of the Cortes, must be countersigned by the Speaker of the Federal Assembly, which places the elected chamber's authority behind the royal act. A candidate who holds a majority of the Federal Assembly, defined as half the members plus one, is appointed President of the Government. If no candidate holds that majority, a further vote is held and the candidate who receives the most votes is appointed, and a tied vote is resolved by the King.

The Government Formation and Coalition Act sets out the process in detail. It establishes the caretaker conventions that govern a government between an election and the installation of its successor, the principle by which the King invites a leader able to command the Assembly's confidence to serve as Premier, the handling of a hung Cortes, and the requirements a coalition must satisfy before it may take office.

A government is removed only through a motion of no confidence, which must simultaneously propose a named successor to the King, and the King dismisses the Council of State when such a motion carries. A single official of the Council of State, but not the President of the Government, may be removed by the Assembly by the same majority of half plus one.

The formation process

A change of government follows an ordered sequence that runs from the general election to the installation of the new Council of State. A hung result exercises every stage in full, while a clear result compresses the middle stages into a routine handover.

After a general election the outgoing President of the Government continues at his post in a caretaker capacity, so that executive authority is never vacant. If the incumbent government keeps its majority it resumes office; if another party has won a clear majority, the incumbent resigns and the King invites the winning leader to form a government. Where the Assembly is hung, the incumbent remains until he tenders his resignation, and the King then invites the person most likely to command the Assembly's confidence to attempt a government.

Negotiation among the parties produces a coalition agreement, a written pact that the Act requires before a coalition may take office. The new legislature is convened at the Opening of the Cortes Federales, the state ceremony that begins each Cortes. The King delivers a Throne Speech, written by the Council of State, which sets out the government's legislative program.

At its first sitting after the opening the Federal Assembly holds the investiture. It elects a nominee to the office of President of the Government and presents a Humble Address to the King seeking confirmation of the appointment. The King confirms the nominee, the Speaker countersigns, and the President of the Government takes office by making a public statement after meeting the King. The President then names the Council of State, whose members require the approval of the Federal Assembly before they take office.

Formateur

The person the King invites to form a government after a resignation or an inconclusive election is known as the formateur. Rather than impose a President of the Government on a divided chamber, the King commissions a leader to build a majority the Assembly will support. The Crown facilitates the formation of a government but does not choose its head, and the King takes no part in the negotiations except to help the parties conduct them.

By convention the King invites the leader of the largest party first. Where more than one government might be formed, the parties are expected to settle among themselves who should govern, and to keep the King informed of their progress. A formateur who assembles a government becomes the coalition's candidate at the investiture and, if the Assembly confirms him, its President of the Government.

Investiture

The investiture is the single act by which the Federal Assembly both chooses and commits to a government. Electing the nominee to the office of President of the Government is at the same time a vote of confidence in him. Under the Act, a vote on the appointments to the Council of State is one of the questions treated as a matter of confidence, alongside the vote on the Throne Speech, the final federal budget, and the authorization of military action.

Having elected the nominee, the Assembly presents a Humble Address to the King seeking confirmation of the appointment. The royal confirmation, countersigned by the Speaker, completes the appointment. Failure to carry the Address is treated as a lack of confidence and reopens the choice of a President of the Government. Where no government can be formed, the King may dissolve the Cortes and call fresh elections, but he is not bound to grant a dissolution and may first require the parties to show that no government can command the Assembly's confidence.

Caretaker government

Nouvelle Alexandrie is never without a government. The Government Formation and Coalition Act provides that a caretaker government holds office whenever it is clear who will form the next government but the incoming government has not yet taken office, and whenever it is not yet clear who will form it. During such a period the incumbent government remains the lawful executive authority with the full powers of office, but confines itself to routine business until the political situation is resolved.

An outgoing President of the Government defeated at a general election is expected to resign, but until his successor is installed he is still held to be at his post. Where a President resigns without an election, the King may appoint an interim President, and the King may likewise appoint a caretaker before elections, as he did in 1707 AN.

Coalition agreements

Because no single party has usually commanded a majority of the Federal Assembly on its own, coalition government is a common form for a Nouvelle Alexandrian administration. The Government Formation and Coalition Act makes a written coalition agreement a legal precondition: no coalition government may take office without one, and the requirement is enforced by the King or by the courts.

The agreement must be published as a formal document signed by every party to the coalition. It must set out a structure for resolving disagreements, an outline of common policy, and a statement of collective responsibility. Its terms shape both the Throne Speech and the program the government presents to the Assembly. An agreement may also provide for the office of Premier to rotate among the coalition partners during the term of the Cortes, a power-sharing arrangement the Act expressly permits.

History and precedents

Written coalition agreements date from the Federation's first governments. The National Unity coalition of 1693 AN to 1698 AN, which joined the Federal Humanist Party, Cambio Democrático, and the Digger's Society, rested on an agreement providing for the Presidency and Vice-Presidency of the Council of State to rotate between Augustus Strong and Santiago Etienne each year the coalition held office.

A government has failed at the point of confidence before. The administration formed in 1707 AN under Jose Miguel Martin, a coalition of the Social Democratic and Liberal Alliance and the Moderate Caucus, failed its vote of confidence and left office.

Governments have also changed hands between the major parties. The general election of 1729 AN carried the Federal Consensus Party under Marissa Santini into office in place of the long Federal Humanist Party government of Paolo Antonio Aguilar. The general election of 1759 AN returned a hung Cortes in which no party held a majority, and led the King to commission a formateur under the Act.

See also

• Proclamation of Punta Santiago
• Government Formation and Coalition Act, 1694
• Opening of the Cortes Federales