Juglander Review
National Assembly elects new federal government
The National Assembly elected the seven members of the National Council, the federal government that will replace the Provisional Government. There was a more than expected heated debate during the preliminary session, when parliamentary groups and MPs filled nomination for candidates. However, there was not a great surprise neither in the names of the main candidates (which had been leaked the evening before) nor the final result.
The first National Council will be established under the form of a national unity government, resulting that not only the new federal government is expected to have a more than large majority, but that no political party will have a majority in the council.
Each member of the National Council will head his own department, which would operate pretty much as a ministry - it is actually expected that the current ministries will be assembled and renamed. However, as every Secretary -as the members of the National Council will be officially called- will head their own department, the decisions of the National Council are expected to be collective, being every Secretary both responsible for their own department as well as the decisions of their colleagues' departments and the conduct of the federal government as a whole.
Both the National Democratic Party and the Federal Democratic Party -the two largest political parties in the National Assembly- will have two representatives in the National Council, while the Liberal Party and the Reform Movement will have one representative each, and a final representative nominated by the conservative Social Initiative.
The final composition of the National Council will be as follow:
- Johannes Skouen (nominated by the National Democratic Party)
- Lars Midtvedt (nominated by the National Democratic Party)
- Raymond Furuholmen (nominated by the Federal Democratic Party)
- Grimwaldyna Nygaard (nominated by the Federal Democratic Party)
- Burkhardt Kvalheim (nominated by the Reform Party)
- Edda Stordalen (nominated by the Liberal Party)
- Osgard Rimfeldt (independent, nominated by the Social Initiative)
Burkhardt Kvalheim and Raymond Furuholmen were the candidates who received more votes, a total of 301 of 333 MPs supported their election. On the other hand, Lars Midtvedt was the candidates who received least votes with only 271 votes.
The oldest member of the National Council will be Burkhardt Kvalheim, 61, while Grimwaldyna Nygaard, from the Federal Democratic Party, will be the youngest, as she is 36 years old. Kvalheim will be the only member of the National Council with a previous government experience, as he was Minister of Foreign Affairs under Engelsaas' Provisional Government.
It is expected that the elected members of the National Council will take the official oath as members of the government, which is expected to be the last act of Eadwald Engelsaas as President of the Provisional Government and acting head of state. While the National Council will have a ceremonial president and vice-president, officially the National Council will operate as a collective head of state, according the Juglander constitution.
It is still unknown which department will be headed by each member of the National Council. That decision will be officially confirmed only after the first official meeting of the National Council. However, it is likely rumoured that such decision was already discussed and reached by the members of the government coalition during the negotiations, and it could be announced in the coming hours.
The National Council will have a wide support in the National Assembly, but not for that, their own colleagues have admitted in private, their task will be easy. Officially, the government coalition will be formed by the Federal Democratic Party, the National Democratic Party, the Liberal Party and the Reform Movement. Although Osgard Rimfeldt was nominated by the conservative Social Initiative, he was elected to the National Assembly in an individual constituency, being endorsed by the Social Initiative without being a member of the conservative coalition (he officially left the Social Initiative parliamentary group, which he had joined during the first session of the National Assembly, once he was officially nominated by Social Initiative leadership). However, a spokesperson from Social Initiative has declared that their party will be ready to cooperate with the National Council and the new majority of the National Assembly.