President of the Czech Republic
President of the Republic | |
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Prezident republiky | |
| |
Style |
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Type | Head of state |
Residence | Prague Castle |
Seat | Prague, Czech Republic |
Appointer | Popular vote |
Term length | Five years, renewable once consecutively |
Constituting instrument | Constitution of the Czech Republic |
Precursor | President of Czechoslovakia |
Formation | 2 February 1993 |
First holder | Kč per month[1] |
Website | www.hrad.cz |
The president of the Czech Republic, officially the President of the Republic (
The presidency has largely been shaped by its inaugural holder, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, who assumed the office after the Czechoslovak declaration of independence was proclaimed in 1918. The 1920 Constitution granted the president substantial powers and Masaryk's political strength and popularity enabled the presidency to exert considerable influence over the Czech public life.[3][4][5][6] In modern times, the president is largely a ceremonial figure with limited powers as the day-to-day business of the executive government is entrusted to the prime minister, and many of the president's actions require prime ministerial approval. Nevertheless, as the bearer of the nation's "Truth prevails" motto, the presidency is widely viewed to be a significant source of prestige, power and moral authority in both domestic and foreign affairs.[7][8][9] The president, seated at the Prague Castle, has oftentimes been perceived through the prism of the nation's monarchical past.[10][11] The office has retained the power to grant full pardons, commute criminal penalties and issue amnesties. The president possesses with a suspensory veto power which can be overridden by an absolute majority of the Chamber of Deputies.
The Constitution provides that the president cannot be held responsible for his own conduct, except in cases of treason or high violation against the Constitution.[12] The Parliament maintains the sole power of impeachment and the president may only be removed from office by a trial before the Constitutional Court.[13] The president is solely responsible for appointing the prime minister, the Cabinet ministers, as well as the members of the board of the Czech National Bank, and nominating justices to the Constitutional Court, who are subject to Senate approval, among others.
The president is elected directly using the two-round system to a five-year term. Prior to 2013, the president was selected by a joint session of the Parliament. Under Article 57 of the Constitution, no individual may be elected to more than two consecutive terms. The current president, Petr Pavel, was elected in the 2023 election, and assumed office on 9 March 2023.[14][15][16]
Powers
The framers of the
Absolute authority
The president of the Czech Republic has the authority to act independently in a number of substantive areas. One of the office's strongest powers is that of veto, which returns a bill to parliament. Although the veto may be overridden by parliament with an absolute majority vote (over 50%) of all deputies,[18] the ability to refuse to sign legislation acts as a check on the power of the legislature. The only kind of bills a president can neither veto nor approve are acts that would change the constitution.[19]
The president also has the leading role in the appointment of persons to key high offices, including appointment of judges to the Supreme and Constitutional Courts (with the permission of the Senate), and members of the Bank Board of the Czech National Bank.[19]
Limited sole authority
There are some powers reserved to the president, but can be exercised only under limited circumstances. Chief among these is the dissolution of the
Many of the president's powers can only be exercised with the assent of the government, as expressed by the signature of the prime minister. These include all matters having to do with
The president also shares responsibility with the Chamber of Deputies for appointing the president and vice president of the
Immunity from prosecution
Art 65 (1) prevents trial or detention for any criminal or administrative offense while in office. The only sort of prosecution allowed for a sitting president is that of
Ceremonial powers
Many of the duties of the Czech president can be said to be ceremonial to one degree or another, especially since the president has relatively few powers independent of the will of the prime minister. A good example of this is the status as
Many of the president's ceremonial duties fall under provisions of the constitution that allow the exercise of powers "not explicitly defined" in the constitution, but allowed by a lesser law.
Election
Until 2012, the office of president was filled following an
Electoral procedure
The term of office of the president is 5 years.[30] A newly elected president will begin the five-year term on the day of taking the official oath.[31] Candidates standing for office must be at least 40 years of age, and must not have already been elected twice consecutively.[32] Since the only term limit is that no person can be elected more than twice consecutively, a person may theoretically achieve the presidency more than twice. Prospective candidates must either submit petitions with the signatures of 50,000 citizens, or be nominated by 20 deputies or 10 senators.
The constitution does not prescribe a specific date for presidential elections, but stipulates that elections shall occur in the window between 30 and 60 days before the end of the sitting president's term, provided that it was called at least 90 days prior to the selected election day.[33] In the event of a president's death, resignation or removal, the election can be held at the earliest 10 days after being called and at the latest 80 days after vacancy of the presidential seat.[31] If no candidate receives a majority, a runoff is held between the top two candidates.
The constitution makes specific allowances for the failure of a new president to be elected. If a new president has not been elected by the end of a president's term, or if 30 days elapse following a vacancy, some powers are conferred upon the prime minister, some are moved to the chairman of the Chamber of Deputies or to the chairman of the Senate, if parliament is in a state of dissolution at the time of the vacancy.[34]
The first direct presidential election in the Czech Republic was held 11–12 January 2013, with a runoff on 25–26 January.
Previous electoral procedure (until 1 October 2012)
Under Article 58 of the current Czech Constitution, nominees to the office must be put forward by no fewer than 10 Deputies or 10 Senators. Once nominees are in place, a ballot can begin. Each ballot can have at most three rounds. In the first round, a victorious candidate requires an absolute majority in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. Given a 200-seat Chamber and an 81-seat Senate, a successful first-round candidate requires 101 deputies and 41 senators.[35]
If no single candidate gets a majority of both the Chamber and the Senate, a second round is then called for. At this stage, a candidate requires an absolute majority of merely those present at the time of voting in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The number of votes required in the second round might be the same as in the first round but, as in 2008, can be a little less due to the absence of a few parliamentarians. In this second round, a single candidate would still need to win a majority in both the Chamber and the Senate.
Should no single candidate achieve a majority of both houses then present, a third round is necessitated. In this final round, which can happen within 14 days of the first round, an absolute majority of deputies and senators present suffices.[36] At this stage, the individual houses of parliament are not considered separately. Assuming that all members of parliament are present, all that is required to win is 141 votes, regardless of the house of origin. If no candidate wins in the third round, another ballot has to be considered in a subsequent joint session of parliament.[37] The process continues under the same rules until a candidate prevails.
In 1993, the Republic's first president, Václav Havel, had little difficulty achieving victory on the first round of the first ballot, but his re-election bid proved bumpier. In 1998, he was elected with a cumulative seven-vote margin on the second round of the first ballot.[38] By contrast, his successor, Václav Klaus, has required the full measure of the process. He narrowly won election on the third ballot at the 2003 election and on the sixth (second attempt, third ballot) in 2008. Both his elections were won in the third round. His biggest margin of victory was two votes.
Dissatisfaction with previous procedure
Following the 2003 and 2008 elections, which both required multiple ballots, some in the Czech political community expressed dissatisfaction with this method of election. In 2008,
Removal from office
Aside from death, there are only three things that can effect a president's removal from office:
- A president can resign by notifying the President of the Senate.[41]
- The president may be deemed unable to execute his duties for "serious reasons" by a joint resolution of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies[34] – although the president may appeal to the Constitutional Court to have this resolution overturned.[42]
- The president may be impeached by the Senate for high treason and convicted by the Constitutional Court.[42]
Succession
In the case when the president is unable to perform his/her duties or if the presidency becomes vacant for any reason, the duties are divided between the President of the Chamber of Deputies and the Prime Minister. Should the Chamber of Deputies be dissolved at the time, the duties which normally fall to the Chamber's President fall to the President of the Senate, who also assumes the President's responsibility for calling elections for the Chamber even when the Chamber is not dissolved.
Trappings of office
Presidential fanfare
Since the first
Heraldry
The office of president carries with it an
Inasmuch as the president is the titular sole administrator of
Furthermore, the president, while in office, is entitled to wear the effects of the highest class of the Republic's two
Residences
The official residence of the president of the Czech Republic is Prague Castle. However, the living quarters are small and not particularly comfortable, so recent presidents (Václav Havel, Václav Klaus and Miloš Zeman) have chosen to live elsewhere. The president also maintains a summer residence at the castle in the village of Lány, 35 km west of Prague.
List of presidents of the Czech Republic
See also
- Prime Minister of the Czech Republic
- List of prime ministers of the Czech Republic
- List of presidents of Czechoslovakia
- List of Czech presidential candidates
References
- ^ Morning, Prague (20 December 2022). "Salaries of Senior Czech Politicians To Rise 12.7% From January". Prague Morning. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
- ISBN 978-0-313-36306-1.
- S2CID 144231156.
- S2CID 149883546.
- .
- ProQuest 2516366538.
- .
- S2CID 148686502.
- .
- S2CID 144697368.
- ProQuest 1646366672.
- .
- .
- ^ "Retired Gen. Pavel wins election to become Czech president". Associated Press. 28 January 2023. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
- ^ Tait, Robert (28 January 2023). "Petr Pavel wins landslide victory in Czech presidential elections". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
- ^ Pirodsky, Jason (28 January 2023). "Petr Pavel elected President of the Czech Republic". Expats.cz.
- ISBN 978-1-887985-95-6.[page needed]
- ^ Constitution of the Czech Republic, Art. 50
- ^ a b c d Constitution of the Czech Republic, Art. 62
- ^ Constitution of the Czech Republic, Art. 17
- ^ a b Constitution of the Czech Republic, Art. 35
- ^ a b c Constitution of the Czech Republic, Art. 63
- ^ Constitution of the Czech Republic, Art. 97
- ^ Constitution of the Czech Republic, Art. 65 (2)
- ^ Constitution of the Czech Republic, Art. 43
- ^ Constitution of the Czech Republic, Art. 39
- ^ "The Act on the State Decorations of the CR". Prague Castle. 2 August 2008. Archived from the original on 2 August 2008. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
- ^ "Radio Prague – Czech Parliament passes direct presidential elections". Radio.cz. 9 February 2012. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
- ^ "Klaus signs enacts implementation law, direct elections to be held in 2013 | CZ Presidential Elections". Czechpresidentialelections.com. 2 August 2012. Archived from the original on 29 January 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
- ^ Constitution of the Czech Republic, Art. 55
- ^ a b "Presidential Powers | CZ Presidential Elections". Czechpresidentialelections.com. 23 October 2010. Archived from the original on 17 January 2014. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
- ^ Constitution of the Czech Republic, Art. 57
- ^ Constitution of the Czech Republic, Art. 56
- ^ a b Constitution of the Czech Republic, Art. 66
- ^ Boruda, Ondřej (6 February 2008)."Presidential Election 2008", The Prague Post.
- ^ "Klaus remains favourite in Czech president's election – analyst". ČeskéNoviny.cz. Archived from the original on 13 August 2007. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
- ^ Constitution of the Czech Republic, Art. 58
- ^ "Vaclav Havel gets a second term as president". Agence France-Presse. 22 January 1998. Archived from the original on 13 May 2009.
- ^ Jůn, Dominik (13 February 2008). "No-vote creates election 'fiasco". The Prague Post
- ^ Hulpachová, Markéta (13 February 2008). "The future of the electoral process". The Prague Post. Archived from the original on 27 February 2008.
- ^ Constitution of the Czech Republic, Art. 61
- ^ a b Constitution of the Czech Republic, Art. 87
- ^ "Order of the White Lion Statutes". Prague Castle. 23 May 2008. Archived from the original on 23 May 2008. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
- ^ "Tomas Garrigue Masaryk Order Statutes". Prague Castle. 23 May 2008. Archived from the original on 23 May 2008. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
External links
- The Czech constitution. Articles 54–66 are particularly relevant to the presidency.
- The official site of Prague Castle