Minister of State (Hapatmitas)
The ministers of state are the senior ministers in the Government of Hapatmitas. They lead the departments that are responsible for the "core responsibilities of government," as stated by the Constitution of Hapatmitas. Ministers of state only make up less than half of the ministers in the Cabinet of Hapatmitas.
Contents
History
The origin of the office derives from the imperial ministers of the Realm during the constitutional monarchy era of the Hapatmitasian Realm. After the end of the monarchy in Hapatmitas, the 1924 Constitution renamed the office to the "minister of the state" and allowed it to be bestowed upon all cabinet ministers. After the Hapatmitasian Civil War, the current form derived from the 1950 Constitution renamed the office into "minister of state," incorporated the office into the Commonwealth itself, and allowed only ministers with top responsibilities to be granted this type of office.
Legal and government position
In practice, any minister of state can switch responsibilities and act on the provisions of another department with another minister of state. As such, the salaries of ministers of state, in addition to their salaries as a Ball Tiomnaidh or senator, are around the same, combined with other expenses and government pensions. The salary of a minister of state compared to a regular cabinet minister is not that largeAdditionally, by statutory law, ministers of state do not answer to the Tiomnaidh but the Commonwealth itself. Hence, ministers of state, including the first minister, are de jure responsible for reporting to the Presidency, which is considered the highest state institution before the people of the state.[note 1]
Ministers of state, like other ministers, are appointed by the Presidency on the advice of the First Minister. Since they act on behalf of the Commonwealth, ministers of state are required to be members of either the National Assembly or the Senate, although the latter is now rare.
The prominence of this type of office, demarcated by the constitution, outranks ministers of state over their subordinate cabinet ministers. However, in practice, ministers of state are considered equal to other cabinet ministers, only important in the case of wartime or any other threats to national security. Hence, they are officially not styled differently from other cabinet ministers.
Ministers of state offices
Offices required by the constitution
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Offices not required by the constitution
Notes
- ↑ According to the constitution, since the First Minister is also counted as an equal minister of state, the other ministers of state do not answer to the first minister. However, since a large portion of government power is installed in the office of the First Minister, ministers of state de facto report to the premier alongside subordinate cabinet ministers.
