Empire Rising: Spain

Carlo directly appointed the cabinet positions of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Royal Affairs.

The formal title for Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister is Minister of State, meaning a cabinet minister assisting the Prime Minister in handling state affairs. The Deputy Prime Minister plays the Prime Minister’s role when the latter is unable to manage state affairs, hence it is quite a crucial position.

The Minister of Royal Affairs, as the name implies, is a cabinet minister helping the government liaise with the royal family. Since it requires sufficient understanding of royal affairs, Carlo directly makes appointments for this position.

In addition, the positions of Minister of Colonial Affairs and Minister of Justice are elected by the Senate, with no replacement or nomination power by the Prime Minister or the ruling party.

The Minister of Defense, as one of the most important positions in the cabinet, is also singled out by Carlo. Of course, the Minister of Defense is not directly appointed by Carlo, nor elected by the Senate, but is voted upon within the Spanish Defense Committee.

The Spanish Defense Committee comprises seven members: the King of Spain, the current Spanish Prime Minister, the current Commander-in-Chief of the Spanish Army, the current Commander-in-Chief of the Spanish Navy, the current Chief of Staff of the Spanish Ministry of Defense, the current Commander of the Royal Guard, and the current Minister of Defense.

These seven form the Spanish Defense Committee which votes to elect a new Minister of Defense during each changeover of the cabinet government, preventing the Prime Minister from completely controlling the Minister of Defense.

For Carlo, such regulations are evidently beneficial. It is quite normal for the King of Spain, as the Grand Marshal of the Spanish Army and Navy, to be a member of the Defense Committee.

Moreover, most of the remaining members of the Defense Committee are also high-ranking military officials, especially the current Commander of the Royal Guard, who is completely obedient to Carlo.

This means Carlo only needs to ally with one person among the marshals of the Army and Navy, the Minister of Defense, and the Chief of Staff to have a difficult time losing in the vote for the Minister of Defense candidate. By allying with two among them, Carlo can claim the appointment power of the Minister of Defense candidate.

Although he cannot directly decide the candidate for the Minister of Defense, the Spanish Prime Minister still holds considerable power.

Finance, industry, agriculture, welfare, transportation, public security, healthcare, education, and foreign affairs are controlled by the Prime Minister, making up ten cabinet seats together with the Prime Minister position.

The positions of Minister of State, Minister of Justice, Minister of Royal Affairs, Minister of Colonial Affairs and Minister of Defense, which are not controlled by the Prime Minister, amount to only five seats.

As long as the most important military aspects are controlled by him, no matter how the position of the Spanish Prime Minister changes thereafter, Carlo need not worry about experiencing a similar crisis again.

Of course, it is impossible for Spain to see the rise of another power-holder like Prime Minister Prim. Prime Minister Prim’s monopolization of power was relatively unique, as he controlled both the government and the Spanish military.

It is precisely for this reason that Carlo separated the Minister of Defense from the Prime Minister’s appointment and handed it over to the Defense Committee for election.

Among the six seats of the Defense Committee, Carlo himself holds one seat, and the Commander of the Royal Guard holds another.

In the remaining positions of Commander-in-Chief of the Navy and Army, Minister of Defense, and Chief of Staff, Carlo can control the candidate for Minister of Defense by allying with any two.

Controlling the candidate for Minister of Defense allows him to exert his influence on the military without restraint. With the cooperation of the Guard Army, the military-controlled Carlo will fully control Spain, steering it in the direction he dictates.

Although the Spanish Parliament will be reorganized, Carlo does not intend to re-elect the Spanish Cabinet Government.

Continuing with the current cabinet government is the most suitable choice, as Carlo holds considerable authority in the current Spanish Cabinet Government, and rash changes are unwise.

The current positions in the Spanish cabinet are as follows:

Duke Serrano serves as the Chief Minister of Spain and concurrently as Minister of Defense, nominally the highest authority in the current Spanish Government.

Earl Canovas serves as Minister of State concurrently with Minister of Industry, much like Duke Serrano, he holds two cabinet seats.

Unlike Duke Serrano, who nominally serves as Prime Minister but mainly focuses on the affairs of the Ministry of Defense.

While Canovas, though just Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry, has already taken up the responsibility for Spain’s economic development.

After all, Carlo has previously stated, although Duke Serrano has sufficient status and influence, he is not particularly adept at economic development.

The positions of Minister of Justice and Minister of Colonial Affairs currently have no corresponding candidates, as the recently merged Royal Senate has not yet commenced the election for these two cabinet seats.

Carlo intends for Menotti to serve as Minister of Royal Affairs. From the exploration of Africa, it can be seen that Menotti is loyal and capable, and Kano does not mind utilizing him heavily.

The position of Minister of Finance remains with Ewald Bartel. Ewald is a trusted confidant of Prime Minister Prim, and indeed very capable in managing finances.

Since no election has taken place for the cabinet, there is understandably no need to replace a capable Minister of Finance.

The Minister of Agriculture position is held by Jovellanos Soler. As a member of the Conservative Party, Jovellanos Soler has gained Carlo’s initial trust and has been given significant responsibility.