The Executive Branch of the Empire of Fornoire
The Empire of Fornoire is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy officially composed of the Emperor, the Prime Minister, the President of the Council of Ministers and the Imperial Cabinet.
The Emperor
The Emperor is a ceremonial figurehead elected for a lengthy period of 28 years, without the ability to seek re-election. By ceremonial custom, the Emperor officially appoints the Imperial Cabinet, albeit this must be done with the "advice and consent" of the Imperial Congress, which in reality means that it is the legislature which elects the government.
The Emperor can also grant titles of nobility, also known as peerages. These may be hereditary, but in practice most ennoblements are only life nobles without the ability of passing down their titles to their descendants.
After their retirement (officially referred to as an "stately abdication"), an outgoing Emperor is granted a high-ranking, hereditary title of nobility to recognize their service as a monarch. The only person to hold such a title is the Duchess of Aryeux, Virutia Arugenitas (or Virutia I), the first Empress of the Empire of Fornoire. There is a way for an outgoing Emperor to be named "King" of a constituent country, and that is if 60% of both Imperial voters and those voters of the constituent country agree to grant the outgoing Emperor this non-hereditary title in a separate ballot on election day. The first Empress, Virutia I, actually refused to accept this peerage after the voters elected to name her Queen of Fornoire with 63% of the votes, as she wished to return to having a private life away from the public eye.
Elections for the monarch are non-partisan, as mandated by the Imperial Constitution. No candidate can campaign in any political or partisan manner, and thus political parties tend to not nominate any candidates whatsoever. Instead, organizations of great renown, such as associations of intellectuals and other sectors of society (Lawyers' Associations, Doctors' Associations, Trade Unions, Cultural Associations, Teachers' Associations, you get the idea) field their own nominees. The current Emperor of the Empire of Fornoire, Alexanderus I, was previously a neurosurgeon that was nominated by the Imperial Association of Surgeons. Virutia I was a literature professor from the Imperial University of Catherine before becoming Empress.
The Prime Minister
The Prime Minister is, ceremonially, appointed by the Emperor to lead the government in their name. In practice, the Prime Minister
is the Head of Government, and thus they practically nominate all candidates for the Imperial Cabinet for the Imperial Congress to approve and fire any they wish.
The Prime Minister is itself elected by the Imperial Congress, often by a negotiated coalition of political parties. The current Prime Minister is Sanuvun Petage of the centre-left and unionist Azurian Union party, who is the leading party in a coalition of leftist parties that include the centre-left and autonomist Popular Coalition, the centre-left to left and environmentally-concerned Azurian Greens, and the centrist to centre-left Liberal Democrats. Despite being nominally independent of each other, the Azurian Union and the Popular Coalition are semi-integrated sister parties that campaign united on economic and social stances, but they differ on whether to grant more or less authority to the Imperial central government. There is an informal agreement between them that the party who wins the most seats is the one that gets to lead any coalition they form with other political forces, no matter what.
The President of the Council of Ministers
Unlike many other countries with the title of "Prime Minister" for their Heads of Government, the President of the Council of Ministers is a separate office in the Empire of Fornoire. It is the only unelected office in the Imperial Cabinet that neither the Prime Minister nor the Imperial Congress can control, as the President of the Council of Ministers is appointed by a constituent country on a rotational basis every year.
The President of the Council of Ministers nominally heads the reunions of the Imperial Cabinet as a sort of Speaker-type officer, but their real power - and thus purpose - lies in their veto of any executive or legislative action that only affects the constituent country that appointed them (say, for example, that a railroad expansion funded by the Imperial government is to pass through the constituent country of Arcaea, which appointed the President of the Council of Ministers for this year. The President of the Council of Ministers can veto the section of the railroad that passes through Arcaea). This veto power is not absolute, however, as the constituent country that appointed them can overrule them, as well as a 60% vote by the Imperial Congress.
The position of the President of the Council of Ministers arose from the previous Council of Nations of the previous EU-style Azurian Union, a body whose Councilmen had the ability to veto any legislation passed by the previous Azurian Congress that concerned the countries that appointed them. When the nations unified into the Azurian Federation (which would later become the Empire of Fornoire), the President of the Council of Ministers was created as a compromise between the unionist and autonomist factions of the new superstate. Unionist politicians have called for the abolition of the post, but as the position of the President of the Council of Ministers is enshrined in the Imperial Constitution, it requires a two-thirds vote to be abolished. As the unionist factions of the country have not gained such a monumental victory as of yet, they remain powerless to amend the Imperial Constitution.
The Imperial Cabinet
The Imperial Cabinet is the term used to refer to the various Ministers who lead the Ministries that compose the Executive Branch. The Imperial Cabinet's most prominent Ministries are the following:
Ministry of Finance - controls and sets the Empire's fiscal policies.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs - deals with foreign affairs and international relations, including those offworld.
Ministry of Defense - the Executive's organ to deal with the military.
Ministry of the Interior - controls all Imperial law enforcement agencies. It has recently officially acquired control of the law enforcement agencies of constituent countries as well, albeit these largely retain their previous autonomy.
Ministry of Justice - controls the administration of justice except in special cases.
Ministry of Space - controls civilian space explorations made by the government, as well as all civilian-run space bases. This Ministry has gradually gained importance due to the evolving space travel technologies of the present.
Non-Executive Agencies Dealing with the Executive
There are several agencies that exercise certain executive powers despite being largely outside of the Executive's control. As a result, they are independent from whatever political leaders there are in the present. Some of these are:
Imperial Auditory of the Empire of Fornoire - this agency scrutinizes and investigates the finances of all the branches of government and their members, as well being tasked with watching out for any abuses of power. Their task is to investigate corruption in the Empire, as well as publish reports on the condition of sapient rights, the economic situation of the country and of bureaucratic efficiency across the Empire.
Imperial Financial Council - this agency reviews any budget proposed by the Imperial government and approved by the Imperial Congress. They have the ability to veto any budget approved by the legislature, but the Congress can overrule them with a 60% majority to avoid a shutdown. They also publish reports on the national debt situation of the Empire. Their members are elected by the certified economists of the Empire, and to avoid voter suppression or a lack of different economic perspectives, all the economists of the Empire are forced by law to participate in these elections which take place once every ten years.
Imperial Special Prosecutor's Office - this agency deals with prosecuting cases involving politicians and politics in general, often involving corruption. They can investigate cases independently or they prosecute cases brought to them by the Imperial Auditory. They are independent from the Ministry of Justice, which is controlled by the Executive.
Imperial Special Environmental Council - this agency publishes reports on the state of the environment of the Empire and, with an unanimous vote by all of its members, can take control of the country's environmental policies for a year. Its members are elected by the certified environmental scientists of the Empire, and in order to prevent voter suppression, all the environmental scientists of the Empire are forced by law to participate in these elections which take place once every ten years.