Governor (Antilles)

  

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In the Antilles, the position of governor is the chief executive officer of one of the four provisional commonwealths where they serve as the official head of government and as the commander in chief of the commonwealth's regional defense forces and national guard garrisons. Within the commonwealths, the governor serves as the head of the regional government, chairs the commonwealth's cabinet, and is responsible for the implementation of commonwealth laws as well as overseeing the functions of the commonwealth's executive branch as its head. The position of governor has existed in various forms since the establihsment of the Antilles in 1921, but was made a formalized position in 1984 with its modern powers and functions being formally laid out and established following the 1983 Antillean Constitutional Convention which ended the previous practice of de-facto military rule where various politicians, both civilian and military, were appointed to administer the commonwealths of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands by orders of Amelia Abarough while Hispaniola was governed directly by Abarough herself. The practice continued until her death in 1983 where the position of governor was made a civilian office in all four commonwealths.

As regional leaders, governors are responsible for the advancement and pursuing of new and revised policies and programs with a variety of tools to work with, among them being executive orders, executive budgets, legislative proposals and vetoes. Governors carry out their administration and management with the support of a cabinet composed of several officials, most or all being direclty elected, along with the support of several government departments and agencies, many of whom the governor has the power to appoint officials ot oversee and lead. All governors have the authority to appoint regional judges to courts as well, often with the advice and consent of the regional legislatures. Each governor is supported by a lieutenant governor who serves as the deputy head of government and assumes the responsibilities or the office of the governorship in the effect that the incumbent governor is unable to fufil their responsibilities due to health problems, death, injury or any other factors. The position of governor is appointed in a direct election with a candidate needing a majority of the popular vote in order to be elected to the office. All governors serve four year terms in office and are sworn in in January of the next year with elections taking place in early November.

The position of governor along with its role, powers and responsibilities is modeled after the office of the same title in the former United States and pre-revolutionary state and takes inspiration from similar posts in other Anglo-American countries like the Kingdom of Sierra and Superior. It is a core part of the Antilles' policy of federalism.

History

The position of governor had existed before the establishment of the modern Antillean state. The position existed during the colonial era in the Thirteen Colonies of British America and later as part of the United States of America prior to its collapse in 1866. The United Commonwealth of America retained the position of governor for each of the states that remained a part of it. Just like its historic predecessors, the office of the governor was directly elected by eligible voters in a statewide election once every four years to serve as the head of the state government. Prior to the Continental Revolutionary War, the governors were the main regional leaders and were often some of the only offices that the Unionist Democratic Party could hope to win over the Federalist Party, which turned to corrupt means to hold onto power at the turn of the 20th century. After the Continental Revolution ended with the Continentalist Party siezing control over the entire country and the American mainland, the position was abolished and later reformed within the Continental States' new administrative structure.

Following the creation of the Antilles in the aftermath of the Great Retreat, all four major islands were organized into provisional commonwealths with Abarough governing Hispaniola along with being president and the remaining four would be administered by regional governors that were appointed by herself. While there were many civilian appointees, a large portion were military officers appointed to govern the islands and assert Abarough's authoritarian control over the nation and said appointed governors were just as dictatorial as Abarough herself with Emilio Espinoza, as military governor of Cuba, being the longest serving of Abarough's appointed governors. After her death in 1983 and the succession of the presidency went to her son, Eric Abarough, the process of democratization had began which included establishing the position of governor as a formal public office that was to be held by a civilian in a direct election. The Constitutional Convention approved of such a measure and was included into the new and current constitution. All of Abarough's appointed governors left office following the 1984 Antillean gubernatorial elections in which they were succeeded by democratically elected officials. The practice has continued well into the present day along with all other major offices in each commonwealth.

Role and powers

Provisional commonwealths are semi-sovereign political entities under a republican system of government which share sovereign with the federal government and pocess a number of powers and rights under the Constitution of the United Commonwealth, including the regulation of interstate commerce, holding elections, creating local governments, and ratifying constitutional ammendments. Each commonwealth has its own constitution, grounded in republican principles and modeled after the Federalist Principles concieved by Eric Abarough in the 1980s, and government consiting of three branches; executive, legislative, and judicial. Due to the shared sovereignty between the provisional commonwealths and the federal government, Antilleans are citizens of both the federal republic and the commonwealth of which they reside in.

The governor serves as the head of the commonwealth government's executive branch and, depending on the jurisdiction, may have considerable say over the commonwealth's budgeting, the power to appoint several government officials and several judges to courts, and a considerable role in legislative affairs. The governor also has additional roles such as serving as the commander in chief of their commonwealth's unit of the Antillean National Guard and their respective Commonwealth defense forces (when not federalized in both cases). In the case of Cuba and Hispaniola, the governor has the absolute power to commute or pardon a criminal sentence. All governors are elected to serve four-year terms with elections occuring in November. In general, the governor in all four commonwealths weilds considerable executive power and authority, however this is kept in check by the provisional assemblies and in some cases, other executive officials as part of a system of checks and balances in accordance with the separation of powers. The governor has the power to veto bills and said veto can only be overriden with a majority vote from the assembly in question with an absolute majority being required to override a veto in Hispaniola.

The governor is also a constitutional stipulation known as the State of the Commonwealth, an annual speech in which the governor gives an address about the current state or condition of the provisional commonwealth similar to the State of the Union given by the president. Governors may also perform a number of ceremonial roles, such as greeting dignitaries, conferring state decorations, issuing symbolic proclomations and attending annual commonwealth fair. The governor also has their own official residence. Similar to the president, any gubernatorial candidate in an election must first run in and successfully win a primary election before advancing to the general election in order to be elected governor. Said candidate must also win a majority of the popular vote with a simple majority being the required minimum in order to win.

List of current governors

Civic Democratic (3)   Federalist (1)
State	Portrait	Governor	Party		Born	Prior public experience	Inauguration	End of term	Past governors
Cuba		Esteban Morello		Civic Democratic	(1962-04-24) April 24, 1962	House of Representatives	January 20, 2021	2025	List
Hispaniola		Maria Salazar		Federalist	(1967-12-12) December 12, 1967	House of Representatives, Parish Council of Jefferson	January 15, 2020	2024	List
Puerto Rico		Alejandro Blanco		Civic Democratic	(1974-06-07) June 7, 1974	Lieutenant Governor, Puerto Rico Provisional Assembly	January 15, 2017	2025	List
Virgin Islands		Debbie Adams		Civic Democratic	(1952-07-19) July 19, 1952	United Commonwealth Senate, Parish Executive of Charlotte	January 15, 2017	2025	List

See also

• Governor (disamiguation)
  • Governor (Astoria)
  • Governor (Brazoria)
  • Governor (Kingdom of Sierra)
  • Governor (Superior)
• Premier (Manitoba) – similar position of provincial government in Manitoba
• Federalism in the Antilles