Chapter 257: Cabinet Reorganization
After flipping through a few pages, Arthur gradually got a rough idea.
The Australasian cabinet has developed to this day and is basically responsible for all government work.
Although the functions of each department seem a bit bloated, since Australasia is not too large, it does not pose a big problem.
The reason why the House of Representatives proposes to increase the number of cabinet seats is, to put it bluntly, for its own sake.
After all, every additional seat also brings an opportunity. The cabinet government is the top part of the Australasian government. Cabinet members can be said to be below the royal family and above the government in Australasia.
However, the election of the House of Representatives has not yet been held, and the final candidates for the members have not yet been determined. Is it too hasty to worry about the future cabinet election now?
Arthur shook his head and looked at another proposal.
I saw a line clearly written on another proposal, suggesting the establishment of formal official positions such as deputy prime minister and deputy minister.
In fact, each department currently has the position of deputy minister. Even the foreign affairs department, which currently has relatively few affairs, has a full minister and a deputy minister.
However, the power of the deputy minister is rather embarrassing. Although he is in the cabinet government department, he is not in the cabinet government, and he is in a neither high nor low position.
The only good thing may be that when the ministers of various departments have unexpected events, they can temporarily take over the position of ministers.
But the problem is that there is currently no possibility of war in Australasia, and the age of ministers in various departments is generally around 40 years old.
The possibility of something unexpected happening to these young and strong ministers is lower than the possibility of them taking office in the next election.
As for the deputy prime minister's proposal, Arthur thought it was a good idea.
There is currently no deputy prime minister position in Australasia. This is because cabinet governments often work under Arthur's decision.
In addition, part of the Prime Minister's power has been divided among various departments, so there is no need for the position of Deputy Prime Minister.
However, as the size of Australasia grows, the government affairs of various department ministers will become more bloated and complex.
Therefore, it is still necessary to establish the position of deputy prime minister in advance to share the government affairs and matters that may increase in the future.
After all, if Arthur needs to travel for important matters in the future, having a deputy prime minister and prime minister to act as a check can also maintain domestic stability.
After all, the Prime Minister is a position elected by the House of Representatives. Although Arthur ultimately needs to nod his approval and swear allegiance to Arthur, this cannot guarantee the Prime Minister's absolute loyalty to Arthur.
Although Arthur is basically unable to cause any trouble as the Prime Minister under the premise that he holds military power, no one can guarantee that Arthur's next generation will still be able to firmly control the government.
If a monarch who has lost his power wants to control the government, he must add a few more insurances.
A deputy prime minister directly appointed by the monarch is obviously more able to ensure his loyalty.
After all, the person who can be appointed by the monarch as the deputy prime minister is, at least in the eyes of the monarch, absolutely loyal to him.
From this point of view, the monarch's power must be slightly strengthened in other aspects to prevent his descendants from losing the royal power due to various reasons in the future. At least he must ensure that his and his family's royal power are not threatened, and at the worst he must become a monarch with certain powers. constitutional country.
After thinking for a while, Arthur signed his decision on the two proposals and called the guards to send them to the Royal Parliament. On May 30, the Royal House of Representatives officially issued the final opinions on the two resolutions to the House of Representatives and handed them over to the cabinet government for discussion.
The two resolutions were eventually merged into one, and the number of cabinet seats was successfully increased.
It's just that the additional seats are not elected by the House of Representatives as the members thought, but are directly appointed by Arthur or the future monarch, and the term of office is also four years.
The specific resolution is as follows: After consultation between Arthur and the Royal Parliament, it was decided to reform the cabinet government in Australasia.
In addition to the ministers of the eight departments and the prime minister, the reformed cabinet government also includes seven ministers appointed by Arthur himself (the Lord Chancellor, the Archbishop, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Minister of State, the deputy prime minister, and the minister of royal affairs). , Chancellor of the Exchequer, Secretary of Defense).
The reformed Cabinet Government became the highest government department in Australasia, and members of the Cabinet Government no longer served as members of the Royal House of Commons.
Cabinet governments are generally accountable to Arthur and the House of Lords, but the House of Representatives also has oversight powers.
If the House of Representatives is dissatisfied with an official of the cabinet government or the entire cabinet government, it can propose a resolution to impeach an official or the entire government.
Of course, unless the final impeachment rate exceeds 75%, it will be reported to the Royal House of Representatives and Arthur.
This also means that unless the House of Representatives unites, it will lose its jurisdiction over the cabinet government. The only remaining supervisory power is also subject to great restrictions, which is also the pinnacle of Australasian royal power.
In addition, the ministers of cabinet departments have also been officially renamed department ministers, and the official title of the cabinet prime minister has also been changed to chief minister.
From this moment on, Australasia's cabinet seats will increase to 16, with Arthur in full control of seven and nine House elections.
To compensate the House, Arthur decided to allow the then prime minister to appoint a deputy minister in each department for the duration of the prime minister's term.
However, ministers of various departments are still elected by the House of Representatives. This can completely separate the positions of Prime Minister and Ministers of various departments that are elected by the House of Representatives, blocking the possibility of uniting these positions.
After all, the prime minister of the government will threaten the power of departmental ministers, and will also make ministers of various departments somewhat fearful of the prime minister.
When the cabinet and government are all suspicious of and distrustful of each other, they will naturally not unite to pose a threat to the royal power.
It is worth mentioning that after this complete cabinet reorganization, Arthur has completely taken control of the more important ministers of finance and defense.
However, this provision caused the lowest reaction. After all, even in the previous cabinet, the ministerial positions of finance and defense were firmly in Arthur's hands, and it was impossible to obtain them through elections. Two positions.
This cabinet reshuffle has a huge impact on the political arena. It can be said to have subverted the current top-level politics in Australasia.
To sum it up in one sentence, this cabinet reorganization has greatly strengthened the royal power, both on the surface and in reality.
Although the prime minister was compensated with the position of a deputy minister in each department, each department is in the hands of the ministers. Whether the deputy ministers can obtain power remains to be seen.
I have thought about the cabinet system for a long time and checked a lot of information, so there are only two thousand words. Asking for a monthly ticket!
(End of chapter)