Chapter 289: Chapter 257: Late-night Conversations and Amending Resolutions

For the cabinet ministers, their positions were confirmed, changing from cabinet ministers to cabinet ministers, and the title became more like that of a monarchy.

However, the bad news is that if this resolution is implemented, the Prime Minister will have the power to appoint deputy ministers to interfere in their respective departmental affairs.

After the resolution was sent to the Cabinet Government for consultation, the cabinet’s attitude was quite ambiguous, basically divided into two factions.

Prime Minister Walter, Foreign Minister Andrew, Minister of Industry Pierre, and Minister of Education Richard made no comments on the resolution, apparently in default.

It goes without saying that the prime minister’s powers are not too great, and it would indeed be good news if he could appoint deputy ministers.

Meanwhile, the other ministers are also contenders for the next prime minister; although their ministerial powers would be weakened in the short term, what if they took the prime minister’s post later?

The other faction, with somewhat different opinions, was led by the Minister of Civil Affairs Henris and the two new Ministers of Agriculture and Transportation.

They believe that having the prime minister appoint deputy ministers is certainly a good thing, but it could also increase the likelihood of internal disputes within each department.

This is not a good development for the government, as an administration struggling with infighting would see a significant reduction in efficiency.

Different opinions emerged within the Cabinet Government, and ultimately only Arthur could decide.

On the evening of May 31st, just before the end of the election month, several cabinet ministers jointly requested an audience with Arthur for their undefined status of cabinet reform and asked Arthur to make amendments to the unreasonable parts of the reform.

Although Prime Minister Walter was pleased with his growing power, he could not openly support the previous resolution.

Does this not mean that he is a power-hungry and opportunistic person? If he acted that way, he would likely lose Arthur’s trust and favor.

This is also the smart part of Prime Minister Walter; although he tends to support the previous resolution, he understands that only Arthur can decide this matter in the end, and all he can do is quietly wait for the result.

Arthur also takes this incident very seriously; after all, it was his own oversight that led to the situation.

On the eve of early June, Arthur temporarily convened a cabinet meeting and held all-night negotiations on the reform of the cabinet.

Although no one knows exactly what was discussed that night, the changes Arthur made can be seen in the amended resolution issued by the Royal Parliament the next day.

According to the June 1st resolution issued by the Royal Parliament, the reorganization and increase of cabinet seats remained the same, but the Prime Minister’s authority to appoint deputy ministers was abolished, allowing each department’s authority to remain unified, increasing the government’s administrative efficiency, and reducing the possibility of infighting within government departments.

Additionally, for the two extremely important departments of finance and defense, the ministerial candidates were not directly appointed by Arthur but were selected from a list of three to five nominees put forward by Arthur and then elected by the House of Representatives, yielding the final Defense Minister and Minister of Finance.

For Arthur and the House of Representatives, this can also be considered as a compromise, to achieve a satisfactory result for both parties.

After all, the candidates Arthur nominates will definitely be loyal to him, so the final Ministers of Defense and Finance will also be loyal to Arthur, even if they are elected by the House of Representatives.

Moreover, there have been some adjustments to the newly added cabinet seats.

The Royal Affairs Minister was appointed by Arthur himself, with the general responsibility of handling affairs between the government and the royal family, which is the most important thing for a monarchy: the unity of actions between the government and the monarch.

Chief Justice and Secretary of State (Deputy Prime Minister) were selected in the same democratic process as the Ministers of Finance and Defense, with Arthur nominating three to five candidates, and then the House of Representatives electing the final Chief Justice and Secretary of State.

Meanwhile, the Speaker of the House of Representatives was elected by the House itself. This is a special position with a tenure of only two years, which means the Speaker of the House is the position in the cabinet government that may rotate the fastest.

Next is the Archbishop of Australasia, a position appointed directly by Arthur.

The Archbishop of Australasia is responsible for coordinating the management of the Australasian Protestant Association while also serving as the Archbishop of Australasian Protestantism.

Arthur also plans to establish the Australasian Christian Association to ensure the rights of other Christians are protected and to prevent European immigrants with non-Protestant faiths from losing interest in Australasia.

The Archbishop holds control over religion in Australasia, and because of its unique status, will be a lifelong position.

Therefore, the choice of Archbishop must be in the hands of the royal family. This is the only position in the cabinet department, apart from the Royal Affairs Minister, that is appointed directly by Arthur and requires no election.

If the previous proposals made the House of Representatives somewhat apprehensive, the new proposals to them are a breath of fresh air.

The new proposal allocates 10 of the 16 cabinet seats to be elected by the House of Representatives and, moreover, the House has the right to elect Arthur’s nominees for finance, defense, state affairs, and chief justice.

Arthur can only personally appoint the positions of the Royal Affairs Minister and Archbishop, and though there are basically no term limits for these two positions, they can be considered lifelong positions as long as Arthur does not dismiss them.

However, this is only for two positions, compared to more than ten other seats.

Both the House of Representatives and the Cabinet Government welcomed the new proposal after the changes.

Even the election of the Speaker of the House of Representatives after the House of Representatives election has caused more attention from other political parties.

After all, the Speaker of the House of Representatives is a position that directly enters the Cabinet, and although the term of office is only two years, it is the Cabinet!

At the same time, several major positions after the cabinet reform has attracted many officials’ coveting and expectations.

After all, the newly added cabinet positions have high ranks and heavyweights. The Chief Justice will naturally master the judiciary system of Australasia and confront the House of Representatives.

As for the Archbishop, this is a divine position, and it is believed that the Anglican General Assembly also has certain ideas about this position.

The position of the Secretary of State, similar to the Deputy Prime Minister, has even aroused interest among some cabinet ministers.

You know, some experienced cabinet ministers have been in office for three terms, and they must change in the next term, or they will have to say goodbye to the cabinet seats.

But what’s above the Cabinet Minister? Previously there was only one Prime Minister’s position, and now there is the addition of the Chief Justice, Secretary of State, Royal Affairs Minister, and Speaker of the House of Representatives.

These positions are different from the Cabinet Ministers and are the only way for them to stay in the Cabinet Government in the next term, other than the Prime Minister’s position.

Because all these positions require Arthur’s nomination, it can be imagined that Arthur’s Sydney Palace will not be quiet in the near future.

With the cabinet reform, Arthur has legally clarified the appointment methods of the governors of all states and territories and the colonial governors.

State governors are elected by the State Parliament and begin their four-year term after verification by the House of Representatives.

Meanwhile, Colonial Governors and the Governor of the Capital Territory are elected by the Royal Parliament and appointed by Arthur himself.

At the same time, cabinet officials no longer serve as members of the Royal Parliament, and members of the Royal Parliament consist of royal family members, the Archbishop of Australasia, grand nobles, and members personally appointed by Arthur.

All members of the Royal Parliament have unlimited terms, and this will become a new lifelong position.

The fully independent cabinet is directly responsible to Arthur and is subject to the supervision of the Royal Parliament and the House of Representatives.

Under the various reforms of the system, although Arthur’s royal power seems to be somewhat weakened on the surface, in fact, for a monarch like Arthur, who has great prestige and military power, his power in secret becomes higher.

However, on the surface, Australasia has indeed become more democratic. After all, out of the 16 cabinet positions, there are as many as 10 directly elected by the House of Representatives, and Arthur’s direct control of the cabinet positions has dropped to two, one of which is a divine position.

On June 1st, after the Royal Parliament, the House of Representatives voted in favor, and the resolution on the reform of the Cabinet seats, which was unanimously approved by the Cabinet, was formally implemented, and there were significant changes in the political arena of Australasia.

Among them, the most joyful ones should be those ministers who have already served in the cabinet government for three terms.

The reform of the cabinet gives them hope to continue to stay in the cabinet, although it requires gaining Arthur’s special favor, but it is better than several people fighting for a Prime Minister’s position, isn’t it?

But this also means that if they want to obtain more cabinet seats, they need to express their absolute loyalty to Arthur and gain Arthur’s trust as the first step.

How to gain Arthur’s trust? Several ministers were momentarily perplexed, but some people have already looked at Grant or the Unity Party behind Grant.

Unity Party is the only openly monarchist party in Australasia and is also the political party closest to Arthur at present.

If they can establish contact with the Unity Party, does it mean that their relationship with Arthur will become closer?

Although this situation is only a conjecture, in order to obtain a higher cabinet position and continue to stay in the cabinet, perhaps taking a shot is really the last resort.

Arthur takes a bystander’s attitude towards the changes in the political arena after the promulgation of the resolution, as there is no harm to the royal family no matter how it changes.

The cabinet reform is beneficial for Arthur, or the future king of Australasia. After all, the king determines the affiliation of several cabinet positions other than the ministers. The attitude of Arthur and future kings becomes very important for cabinet ministers who want to stay in the cabinet or go further.