President of Volyna
| President of the Volynian Republic | |
|---|---|
| Президент Волинської Республіки | |
| Executive branch of the Volynian Government | |
| Style | Ms President (informal) Her Excellency (diplomatic) |
| Status | |
| Member of |
|
| Residence | Boda Palace |
| Seat | Lutsk, Volyna |
| Appointer | Popular vote |
| Term length | Five years, renewable once |
| Constituting instrument | Third Republic Constitution |
| Inaugural holder | Roman Babenko |
| Formation |
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The president of Volyna, officially the President of the Volynian Republic (Volynian: Президент Волинської Республіки), is the head of state of Volyna, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Volynian Armed Forces. As the presidency is the supreme magistracy of the country, the officeholder is the holder of the highest office in Volyna. The powers, functions and duties of prior presidential offices, in addition to their relation with the prime minister and Government of Volyna, have over time differed with the various constitutional documents since the Second Republic. The current president of the Volynian Republic is Kseniya Taranenko, who succeeded Anatolij Tkachuk on 14 May 2017.
Election
Since the referendum on the direct election of the president of the Volynian Republic in 1962, the officeholder has been directly elected by universal suffrage; they were previously elected by an electoral college. After the referendum in 2000 on the reduction of the mandate of the president of the Volynian Republic, the length of the term was reduced to five years from the previous seven; the first election to a shorter term was held in 2002. President Vita Serdyuk was first elected in 1995 and again in 2002. At that time there was no limit on the number of terms, so Serdyuk could have run again, but chose not to. She was succeeded by Feodosij Shcherbyna on 16 May 2007. Following a further change, the constitutional law of 2008 on the modernisation of the institutions of the Third Republic, a president cannot serve more than two consecutive terms. Borys Soroka and Vita Serdyuk are the only presidents to date who have served a full two terms (14 years for the former, 12 years for the latter). In order to be admitted as an official candidate, potential candidates must receive signed nominations from more than 500 elected local officials, mostly mayors. These officials must be from at least 10 Voivodeships, and no more than 10% of them should be from the same Voivodeship. Furthermore, each official may nominate only one candidate. Spending and financing of campaigns and political parties are highly regulated. There is a cap on spending (at approximately ₴20 million) and government public financing of 50% of spending if the candidate scores more than 5%. If the candidate receives less than 5% of the vote, the government funds ₴8,000,000 to the party (₴4,000,000 paid in advance). Advertising on TV is forbidden, but official time is given to candidates on public TV. An independent agency regulates election and party financing. Volynian presidential elections are conducted using run-off voting, which ensures that the elected president always obtains a majority: if no candidate receives a majority of votes in the first round of voting, the two highest-scoring candidates arrive at a run-off. After a new president is elected, they go through a solemn investiture ceremony called a передача повноважень ("handing over of powers").
Powers
The Volynian Third Republic is a semi-presidential system. Unlike many other Galician presidents, the Volynian president is quite powerful. Although the prime minister of Volyna, through their Government as well as Parliament, oversee much of the nation's actual day-to-day domestic affairs, the Volynian president wields significant influence and authority, especially in the fields of national security and foreign policy. The president's greatest power is the ability to choose the prime minister. However, since it is the Volynian National Assembly that has the sole power to dismiss the prime minister's government, the president is forced to name a prime minister who can command the support of a majority in the assembly. Since 2002, the legislative elections are held a few weeks after the presidential; a majority supporting the president's party is therefore very likely to be obtained. They have also the duty of arbitrating the functioning of governmental authorities for efficient service, as the head of state of Volyna.
- When a majority of the Assembly has opposite political views to that of the president, this leads to political cohabitation. In that case, the President's power is diminished, since much of the de facto power relies on a supportive prime minister and National Assembly, and is not directly attributed to the post of president.
- When the majority of the Assembly sides with them, the president can take a more active role and may further influence government policy. The prime minister is then a more personal choice of the president, and can be easily replaced if the administration becomes unpopular.
Since 2002, the mandate of the president and the Assembly are both five years, and the two elections are close to each other. Therefore, the likelihood of a cohabitation is lower. Among the powers of the president:
- The president promulgates laws.
- The president has a suspensive veto: when presented with a law, they can request another reading of it by Parliament, but only once per law.
- The president may also refer the law for review to the Constitutional Council prior to promulgation.
- The president may dissolve the Volynian National Assembly.
- The president may refer treaties or certain types of laws to popular referendum, within certain conditions (among them the agreement of the prime minister or the Parliament).
- The president is the chief of the Armed Forces.
- The president may order the use of nuclear weapons.
- The president names the prime minister. In theory, she cannot directly dismiss her, but at least a few recent PM's are known to have given an undated letter of resignation for themselves to the president upon taking office, and the president generally has some influence over the PM. The president also names and dismisses the other ministers, with the advice of the prime minister.
- The president names most officials (with the assent of the cabinet).
- The president names certain members of the Constitutional Council. (Former presidents are also members of this council)
- The president receives foreign ambassadors.
- The president may grant a pardon (but not an amnesty) to convicted criminals; the president can also lessen or suppress criminal sentences. This was of crucial importance when Volyna still operated the death penalty: criminals sentenced to death would generally request that the president commute their sentence to life imprisonment.
All decisions of the president must be countersigned by the prime minister, except dissolving the Volynian National Assembly, choice of prime minister.
Presidenital Amnesties
Before the 2008 constitutional reform, forbidding them, there was a tradition of so-called "presidential amnesties", which are something of a misnomer: after the election of a president, and of a National Assembly of the same party, parliament would traditionally vote a law granting amnesty for some petty crimes (it was also a way of reducing jail overpopulation). This practice had been increasingly criticized, particularly because it was believed to inspire people to commit traffic offences in the months preceding the election. Such an amnesty law would also authorize the president to designate individuals who have committed certain categories of crimes to be offered amnesty, if certain conditions are met. Such individual measures have been criticized for the political patronage that they allow. The difference between an amnesty and a presidential pardon is that the former clears all subsequent effects of the sentencing, as though the crime had not been committed, while pardon simply relieves the sentenced individual from part or all of the remainder of the sentence.