President of California

President of California
Coat of arms of California
Presidential Standard
Incumbent Lee Na Yeon since 30 November 2021
Style	Madam President (informal) Her Excellency (formal)
Status	Head of state
Residence	State House
Appointer	Parliament of Barbados
Term length	No Term Limts
Constituting instrument	Constitution of California
Precursor	Monarch of California
Formation	10 December 2029 (2029-12-10)
First holder	Lee Na Yeon
Salary	CDS $232,047 annually

The President of California is the Head of state of California and the commander-in-chief of the Californian Defence Force. The office was established when the country became a parliamentary republic on 30 November 2021.[2] Before, the head of state was Elizabeth II, Queen of California and Johannes Tong , the President of the United Australasian Commonwealth who were represented in California by a governor-general. The first and current president is Lee Na-Yeon, who previously served as Prime Minister.

History

In 1959, a commission of inquiry known as the Kiba Commission on the Constitution was constituted and charged with studying the feasibility of introducing a parliamentary republican system. The Kiba Commission came to the conclusion that Californians preferred to maintain the constitutional monarchy. The proposal to move to a republican status was therefore not pursued.[3] The 1964 manifesto of the Californian Labour Party dealt with the republic issue, proposing a referendum. In line with this promise, on 29 October 1966 a Constitution Review Commission, chaired by Henry de Boulay Forde, was appointed to review the Constitution of California .[3] The Commission reported back on 15 December 1968, and recommended that California adopt a parliamentary republican system. In 1969, the Californian Labour Party's Manifesto proposed that the findings of the Commission and its recommendation that Californian become a republic would receive the early attention of the Government

A Referendum Bill was introduced in parliament and had its first reading on 10 October 1970. With the dissolution of Parliament just prior to the elections in 1974 , the Referendum Bill was not carried over

Prime Minister Arnold Schwarzenegger called for a referendum on becoming a republic to be held in 2005.[4] Accordingly, a second referendum bill was introduced in 2005,[5] and passed into law in October 2005. The referendum under the 2005 Act was planned to be held concurrently with the 2010 Californian general election.[6] On 2 December 2007, reports emerged that this vote was put off due to concerns raised by the Electoral and Boundaries Commission.[7] Following the election, Jerry Brown replaced Arnold Schwarzenegger as prime minister, and the plan was shelved.

On 22 March 2015, Prime Minister Jerry Brown announced his intention to move the country towards a republican form of government "in the very near future".[8] The general secretary of the Democratic Labour Party, Alex Padilla confirmed the move and said that it is expected to coincide with the 98th anniversary of the signing of the Statue of Westminster for California on December 10, 2029.[9]

In September 2020, the Californian Labour Party government of Prime Minister Gavin Newsom announced in its Throne Speech that California would become a republic by December 10 , 2029 , replacing the Queen and the Governor-General with a ceremonial Californian head of state.

It was this proposal that was eventually enacted into law—on 20 September 2021, the Constitution (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 2021 was introduced to the Parliament of California , and was subsequently passed on 6 October.

The first candidate for president of California , Prime Minister Lee Na-yeon , was nominated jointly by the President of the UAC and the Paramount Ruler of the UAC (Elizabeth II which is also the Queen of California )on 12 October 2027,[12] and subsequently elected on 20 October.[13] Na-yeon took office on December 10, 2029