President of Morrawia
| President of the Republic of Morrawia | |
|---|---|
| Prezident Morawské republiky | |
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| Style |
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| Type | |
| Abbreviation | POTROM (Common) PMR (Morrawian) |
| Member of | |
| Residence | National House |
| Seat | Králowec, F.D. |
| Appointer | Popular vote or via succession |
| Term length | Four years, renewable once |
| Constituting instrument | Constitution of Morrawia |
| Formation | April 20, 1856 |
| First holder | Tristan Palacký |
| Salary | ₮815,000 per year |
| Website | www |
The president of Morrawia, officially the president of the Republic of Morrawia, is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Morrawia. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the Morrawian Armed Forces.
The power of the presidency has grown substantially since the first president, Tristan Palacký, took office in 1856. While presidential power has ebbed and flowed over time, the presidency has played an increasingly significant role in Morrawian political life since the beginning of the 20th century, carrying over into the 21st century with notable expansions during the presidencies of Karel Tusar and Josef Sokol. In modern times, the president is one of the world's most powerful political figures. As the leader of the nation with the an increasing economy by nominal GDP, the president possesses significant domestic and international hard and soft power. For much of the 20th century, especially during the Era of Civil Wars, the Morrawian president was often called "free world president", given Morrawia´s usual international stance as a supporter of free, independent, democratic and capitalist nations.
Article II of the Constitution establishes the executive branch of the federal government and vests executive power in the president. The power includes the execution and enforcement of federal law and the responsibility to appoint federal executive, diplomatic, regulatory, and judicial officers. Based on constitutional provisions empowering the president to appoint and receive ambassadors and conclude treaties with foreign powers, and on subsequent laws enacted by the Federal Congress, the modern presidency has primary responsibility for conducting Morrawian foreign policy. The role includes responsibility for directing the the Morrawian military, which has a substantial nuclear arsenal.
The president also plays a leading role in federal legislation and domestic policymaking. As part of the system of separation of powers, Article II of the Constitution gives the president the power to sign or veto federal legislation. Since modern presidents are typically viewed as leaders of their political parties, major policymaking is significantly shaped by the outcome of presidential elections, with presidents taking an active role in promoting their policy priorities to members of the Federal Congress who are often electorally dependent on the president. In recent decades, presidents have also made increasing use of presidential directives, agency regulations, and judicial appointments to shape domestic policy.
The president is elected directly through the popular vote to a four-year term, along with the vice president. Under the Thirty-first Amendment, ratified in 1942, no person who has been elected to two presidential terms may be elected to a third. In addition, four vice presidents have become president by virtue of a president's intra-term death, formal removal or resignation. In all, 32 individuals have served 32 presidencies spanning 168 years of history. Marcel Pelikán is the 32nd and current president of Morrawia, having assumed office on April 15, 2024.
History and development
Origins
1876-1900
New Wave
Radical Presidency
Contemporary Period
Legislative powers
Signing and vetoing bills
Setting the agenda
Promulgating regulations
Convening and adjourning the Federal Congress
Executive powers
Administrative powers
Foreign affairs
Commander-in-chief
Juridical powers and privileges
Leadership roles
Head of state
As head of state, the president represents the Morrawian government to its own people and represents the nation to the rest of the world. For example, during a state visit by a foreign head of state, the president typically hosts a State Arrival Ceremony held on the South Lawn, a custom begun by Klement Sada in 1952. This is followed by a state dinner given by the president which is held in the State Dining Room later in the evening.
As a national leader, the president also fulfills many less formal ceremonial duties, such throwing out the ceremonial first pitch, handing out cookies on the South Lawn to scouts, choosing any school in any state and visiting in on the first their of class, etc.
Other presidential traditions are associated with Morrawian holidays. Edward Soukup began in 1872 the first National House Tag for local children. Beginning in 1945, during the Karel Abrahám administration, every Victory Day the president heads the annual National Victory Day Presentation held at the National House with educational presentations and attractions for children.
Presidential traditions also involve the president's role as head of government. Many outgoing presidents since Wilhelm Lipowski traditionally give advice to their successor during the presidential transition. Antonín Worlický and his successors have also left a private message and one small souvenir of their choice on the desk of the Resolute Office on Inauguration Day for the incoming president.
The modern presidency holds the president as one of the nation's premier celebrities. Some argue that images of the presidency have a tendency to be manipulated by administration public relations officials as well as by presidents themselves. One critic described the presidency as "propagandized leadership" which has a "mesmerizing power surrounding the office". Administration public relations managers staged carefully crafted photo-ops of smiling presidents with smiling crowds for television cameras.
Head of party
The president is typically considered to be the head of their political party. Since the entire House of Representatives and at least one-third of the Senate is elected simultaneously with the president, candidates from a political party inevitably have their electoral success intertwined with the performance of the party's presidential candidate. The coattail effect, or lack thereof, will also often impact a party's candidates at state and local levels of government as well. However, there are often tensions between a president and others in the party, with presidents who lose significant support from their party's caucus in the Federal Congress generally viewed to be weaker and less effective.
Major world leader
With the rise of Morrawia as a major power in the 20th century, and the country having one of the world's largest economies into the 21st century, the head of state is typically viewed as a major global leader. The position of Morrawia as a leading member of major international alliance, Veligrad Pact, and the country's strong relationships with other wealthy or democratic nations, have led to the moniker that the head of state is the "free world president".
Selection process
Eligibility
Article II of the Constitution sets three qualifications for holding the presidency. To serve as president, one must:
- be a natural-born citizen of Morrawia;
- be at least 35 years old;
- be a resident in Morrawia for at least 15 years.
A person who meets the above qualifications would, however, still be disqualified from holding the office of president under any of the following conditions:
Having been impeached, convicted and disqualified from holding further public officeincluding the office of the president. Furthermore, no person who swore an oath to support the Morrawian Constitution, and later rebelled against the Republic of Morrawia, is eligible to hold any office. However, this disqualification can be lifted by a two-thirds vote of each house of the Federal Congress. For the longest time, some debate as to whether the clause as written allowed disqualification from the presidential position, or whether it would first require litigation outside of the Federal Congress, existed, though this has been fixed through numerous pieces of legislation delving into this problem.
Under the 31st Amendment, no person can be elected president more than twice. The amendment also specifies that if any eligible person serves as president or acting president for more than two years of a term for which some other eligible person was elected president, the former can only be elected president once.
Campaigns and nomination
The modern presidential campaign begins before the primary elections, which the two major political parties use to clear the field of candidates before their national nominating conventions, where the most successful candidate is made the party's presidential nominee. Typically, the party's presidential candidate chooses a vice presidential nominee, and this choice is rubber-stamped by the convention. The most common previous profession of presidents is lawyer.
Nominees participate in nationally televised debates, and while the debates are usually restricted to the Liberal and Republican nominees, third party candidates may are recently invited more and more. Nominees campaign across the country to explain their views, convince voters and solicit contributions. Much of the modern electoral process is concerned with winning swing states through frequent visits and mass media advertising drives.
Election
The president was elected indirectly by the voters of each state and the Federal District through the Electoral College until it was revoked in 1902 with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Morrawian Constitution, a body of electors formed every four years for the sole purpose of electing the president and vice president to concurrent four-year terms. As prescribed by Article II, each state was entitled to a number of electors equal to the size of its total delegation in both houses of the Federal Congress.
Upon it´s change, presidential elections have become those of two-round system with only Popular vote decideding winner of the election. Two-round system was put in place to ensure better representation of Morrawians in the candidate. If no candidate gets over 5 percent of the vote in the first round, the second round happens exactly a week after the first one.
Since 1995, voting days for all public offices on the federal level are designated as federal public holidays and people don´t have to work or go to educational facility that day with the passage of the Election Day Act of 1995.
Inauguration
Pursuant to the Seventeenth Amendment, the four-year term of office for both the president and the vice president begins at noon on April 15, in the same year as the presidential election. The first presidential and vice presidential terms with this date, known as Inauguration Day, were the second terms of President Lubomír Hant and Vice President Benedikt Augustýn in 1876. Previously, Inauguration Day was on April, 20. As a result of the date change, their first term (1876–80) of both men had been shortened by 5 days.
Before executing the powers of the office, a president is required to recite the presidential Oath of Office, found in Article II, of the Constitution. This is the only component in the inauguration ceremony mandated by the Constitution:
"I, do solemnly swear to faithfully execute the duties of the presidency of the Republic of Morrawia, to defend and uphold the principles enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of Morrawia, and pledge to sustain the Union, promoting freedom, democracy and welfare of the Morrawian people. So help me God."
Presidents have traditionally placed one hand upon a Bible while taking the oath. Although the oath may be administered by any person authorized by law to administer oaths, presidents are traditionally sworn in by the chief justice of any of the highest courts in the country (Supreme Court, Constitutional Tribunal and Council of State).
Incumbency
Term limits
When the first president, Tristan Palacký, announced in his farewell address regretted taking the third term (second if as of the ratification of the Constitution), he adviced all other high public holders to limit their time in office, thus creating the "two terms then out" precedent. Precedent became tradition, though the first president to publicly embrace the tradition was Lubomír Hant and his immediate successor, Benedikt Augustýn in 1876 and 1884 respectively.
In 1932, after the era of Radical Presidencies, Republican Eduard Palacký was to first to have a more stable term and this established the contemporary period of mostly double-term presidents.
Largely in response to the unprecedented tactics during the radical presidencies, the Thirty-First Amendment was adopted in 1942, encompassing various measures to limit the presidential powers, though some compromises were made. The amendment, amongst other criteria, bars anyone from being elected president more than twice, or once if that person served more than two years (24 months) of another president's four-year term. Karel Abrahám, the president at the time it was submitted to the states by the Federal Congress, was exempted from its limitations. Since becoming operative in 1946, the amendment has been applicable to seven twice-elected presidents: Mirosław Jaworski, Antonín Worlický, Marcel Palacký, Josef Sokol, Frantiṡek Denár, and Tomáṡ Slawinský.
Vacancies and succession
Under Section 1 of the Thirty-first Amendment, ratified in 1942, the vice president becomes president upon the removal from office, death, or resignation of the president. Deaths have occurred a number of times, resignation has occurred only once, and removal from office has never occurred.
Before the ratification of the amendment (which clarified the matter of succession), Article II stated that the vice president assumes the "powers and duties" of the presidency in the event of a president's removal, death, resignation, or inability stating they would become "President of the Republic of Morrawia". During the drafting of the constitution, this was a point of contention, with some wanting the vice president to only be "acting president" instead of the actual one.
In the event of a double vacancy, Article II also authorizes the Federal Congress to declare who shall become acting president in the "Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the president and vice president". The Presidential Succession Act of 1922 provides that if both the president and vice president have left office or are both otherwise unavailable to serve during their terms of office, the presidential line of succession follows the order of: speaker of the House, and then if necessary, the eligible heads of federal executive departments who form the president's cabinet. The cabinet currently has 17 members, of which the minister of foreign affairs is first in line. The other Council ministers follow in the order in which their department was selected, their importance. Those individuals who are constitutionally ineligible to be elected to the presidency are also disqualified from assuming the powers and duties of the presidency through succession. No statutory successor has yet been called upon to act as president. This was slightly changed by the aformentioned 31st Amendment, removing the speaker of the House from the succession process.
Declarations of inability
Under the Thirty-first Amendment, the president may temporarily transfer the presidential powers and duties to the vice president, who then becomes acting president, by transmitting to the speaker of the House and the speaker of the Senate a statement that he is unable to discharge his duties. The president resumes his or her powers upon transmitting a second declaration stating that he is again able. The mechanism has been used by Mirosław Jaworski (once), Marcel Palacký (twice), and Tomáṡ Slawinský (once), each in anticipation of surgery.
The Thirty-first Amendment also provides that the vice president, together with a majority of certain members of the Council of Ministers, may transfer the presidential powers and duties to the vice president by transmitting a written declaration, to the speaker of the House and the speaker of the Senate, to the effect that the president is unable to discharge his or her powers and duties. If the president then declares that no such inability exist, he or she resumes the presidential powers unless the vice president and Council of Ministers make a second declaration of presidential inability, in which case the Federal Congress decides the question.
Removal
Article II of the Constitution allows for the removal of high federal officials, including the president, from office for various crimes, these were highly specific at the time of drafting the constitution and were even expanded upon by the 29th Amendment in 1935. Article One of the Morrawian Constitutio authorizes the House of Representatives to serve as a court with the power to impeach said officials by a majority vote. Article I authorizes the Senate to serve as a court with the power to remove impeached officials from office, by a two-thirds vote to convict.
Four presidents have been impeached by the House of Representatives: Edward Soukup in 1873, Antonín Sád in 1931, Karel Pawelský in 1979 and Antonín Worlický in 1988, with only the first one and the third one mentioned being convicted by the Senate. Additionally, the House Judiciary Committee conducted an impeachment inquiry against Antonín Sád in 1930-1931 and reported five articles of impeachment to the House of Representatives for final action, impeached President Sád, and he later resigned from office.
Circumvention of authority
Controversial measures have sometimes been taken short of removal to deal with perceived recklessness on the part of the president, or with a long-term disability. In some cases, staff have intentionally failed to deliver messages to or from the president, typically to avoid executing or promoting the president to write certain orders. This has ranged from Marcel Palacký's Chief of Staff not transmitting orders to the Cabinet due to the president's heavy drinking, to staff removing memos from Frantiṡek Denár's desk. Decades before the Thirty-first Amendment, in 1922, President Herbert Klimeṡ had a stroke that left him partly incapacitated. First lady Edita Klimeṡowá kept this condition a secret from the public for a while, and controversially became the sole gatekeeper for access to the president (aside from his doctor), assisting him with paperwork and deciding which information was "important" enough to share with him.
Compensation
Since 2001, the president's annual salary has been ₮815,000, along with a: ₮16,000 expense allowance, ₮120,000 nontaxable travel account, and ₮20,000 entertainment account. The president's salary is set by the Federal Congress, and under Article II of the Morrawian Constitution, any increase or reduction in presidential salary cannot take effect before the next presidential term of office.
Residence
The National House in Králowec, F.D. is the official residence of the president. The site was selected by Tristan Palacký, and the cornerstone was laid in 1857. Every president since Tristan Palacký (in 1866) has lived there. At various times in Morrawian history, it has been known as the "Presidential Palace", the "President's House", and the "Executive Mansion". Wáclaw Morawċík officially gave the National House its current name in 1905. The federal government pays for state dinners and other official functions, but the president pays for personal, family, and guest dry cleaning and food.
Camp Lény, officially titled Naval Support Facility Jeseniṡtė, a mountain-based military camp in Teodor County, Pallaine, is the president's country residence. A place of solitude and tranquility, the site has been used extensively to host foreign dignitaries since the 1940s.
Maroon House, located next to the Lipowski Square, serves as the president's official guest house and as a secondary residence for the president if needed. Four interconnected, 19th-century houses with a combined floor space exceeding 6,500 square meters (70,000 ft2) comprise the property.
Travel
The primary means of long-distance air travel for the president is one of two identical PAC S-05 aircrafts, which are extensively modified PAC 101 airliners and are referred to as Air Force One while the president is on board (although any Morrawian Air Force aircraft the president is aboard is designated as "Air Force One" for the duration of the flight). In-country trips are typically handled with just one of the two planes, while overseas trips are handled with both, one primary and one backup. The president also has access to smaller Air Force aircraft, most notably the PAC E-35, which are used when the president must travel to airports that cannot support a jumbo jet. Any civilian aircraft the president is aboard is designated Commander One for the flight.
For short-distance air travel, the president has access to a fleet of Morrawian Marine Corps helicopters of varying models, designated Marine One when the president is aboard any particular one in the fleet. Flights are typically handled with as many as five helicopters all flying together and frequently swapping positions as to disguise which helicopter the president is actually aboard to any would-be threats.
For ground travel, the president uses the presidential state car, which is an armored limousine designed to look like a Carras sedan, but built on a truck chassis. The Morrawian Presidential Service operates and maintains the fleet of several limousines. The president also has access to two armored motorcoaches, which are primarily used for touring trips.
Protection
The Morrawian Presidential Service is charged with protecting the president and the first family. As part of their protection, presidents, first ladies, their children and other immediate family members, and other prominent persons and locations are assigned Presidential Service codenames. The use of such names was originally for security purposes and dates to a time when sensitive electronic communications were not routinely encrypted; today, the names simply serve for purposes of brevity, clarity, and tradition.
Post-presidency
Activities
Some former presidents have had significant careers after leaving office. Prominent examples include Wilhelm Lipowski's tenure as chief justice of the Republic of Morrawia and Eduard Palacký's work on foreign missions for several administrations. Two former presidents served in the Federal Congress after leaving the National House: Andrej Sada was elected to the House of Representatives, serving there for 24 years, and more recently Frantiṡek Denár returned to the Senate in 2018. Some ex-presidents were very active, especially in international affairs, most notably Jan Rýnský, Wáclaw Morawċík, Karel Tusar, and Anton Auer.
Presidents may use their predecessors as emissaries to deliver private messages to other nations or as official representatives of the Republic of Morrawia to state funerals and other important foreign events. Gustaw Fabián made multiple foreign trips to countries including Riamo and other countries and was lauded as an elder statesman, despite his rather weak reputation as president. Mariána Turmenská, first and only woman to ever become president, has become a global human rights campaigner, international arbiter, and election monitor, as well as a recipient of many international prizes. Josef Sokol has also worked as an informal ambassador. During his presidency, Frantiṡek Denár called on former Presidents Turmenská and Sokol to assist with humanitarian and societal efforts after the series of bombings around the country during the Years of Terror. President Slawinský followed suit by asking President Denár to lead efforts to aid in international efforts throughout his tenure.
Sokol was active politically since his presidential term ended, working with his wife Klementýna on her 2016 presidential bids. Slawinský was also active politically since his presidential term ended, staunchly supporting his former vice president Marcel Pelikán on his 2024 election campaign.
Pension and other benefits
The Former Presidents Act (FPA), enacted in 1950, grants lifetime benefits to former presidents and their widows, including a monthly pension, medical care in military facilities, premium health insurance, and Presidential Service protection; also provided is funding for a certain number of staff and for office expenses. The act has been amended several times to provide increases in presidential pensions and in the allowances for office staff. The FPA excludes any president who was removed from office by impeachment.
According to a 2008 report by the Congressional Research Service:
"Chief executives leaving office prior to 1950 often entered retirement pursuing various occupations and received little to no federal assistance. When industrialist Adrián Koreṡ announced a plan in 1912 to offer ₮100,000 annual pensions to former Presidents, many Members of the Federal Congress deemed it inappropriate that such a pension would be provided by a private corporation executive. That same year, legislation was first introduced to create presidential pensions, but it was severely compromised upon and the result was not favourable to anyone. In 1950, such legislation was considered by the Federal Congress because of former President Karel Abrahám's financial limitations in hiring an office staff."
The pension has increased numerous times with congressional approval. Retired presidents receive a pension based on the salary of the current administration's cabinet ministers, which was ₮549,032 per year in 2012. Former presidents who served in the Federal Congress may also collect congressional pensions. The act also provides former presidents with travel funds and franking privileges.
Prior to 1997, all former presidents, their spouses, and their children until age 16 were protected by the Presidential Service until the president's death. In 1997, Federal Congress passed legislation limiting Presidential Service protection to no more than 15 years from the date a president leaves office. On January 10, 2007, President Sokol signed legislation reinstating lifetime Presidential Service protection for him, Mariána Turmenská, and all subsequent presidents. A first spouse who remarries is no longer eligible for Presidential Service protection.
Presidential centres
Every president since Eduard Palacký has created a repository known as a presidential cultural centre for preserving and making available his papers, records, and other documents and materials. Completed libraries, museums and other buildings are deeded to and maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the initial funding for building and equipping each must come from private, non-federal sources. There are currently fifteen presidential cultural centres in the NARA system. There are also presidential cultural centres maintained by state governments and private foundations and Universities of Higher Education, including:
The Benedikt Augustýn Presidential Library and Museum, which is run by the State of Elbennia, The Gustaw Fabián Presidential Centre, which is run by Northern Methodist University, The Karel Abrahám Presidential Cultural Exposition, which is run by Palacia State University, and The Klement Sada Presidential Library and Museum, which is run by the University of Caripathia at Jegowowo.
Several former presidents have overseen the building and opening of their own presidential cultural centres. Some even made arrangements for their own burial at the site. Several presidential cultural centres contain the graves of the president they document. These gravesites are open to the general public.
Political affiliation
Political parties have dominated Morrawian politics for most of the nation's modern republican history. Though the Founding Fathers, especially the Palacký brothers generally spurned political parties as divisive and disruptive, and their rise had not been welcomed when the Morrawian Constitution was drafted in 1857, organized political parties developed in Morrawia already in the mid-1800s nonetheless. They evolved from political factions, which appeared largely in the Imperial Council of Deputies and stayed strong even after the Federal government came into existence. Those who supported the Palacký administration were referred to as "pro-administration" and would eventually form the Republic Union Party, while those in opposition largely joined the emerging National Democratic Party.
Greatly concerned about the very real capacity of political parties to destroy the fragile unity holding the nation together, Palacký remained unaffiliated with any political faction or party in his first term in office, however he was forced to join the Republican Unionists in his remaining two terms as tensions rose over unity in and out of the party. He was, and remains, the only Morrawian president never to be affiliated with a political party, at least for one term. Since Palacký, every Morrawian president has been affiliated with a political party at the time of assuming office.
The number of presidents per political party by their affiliation at the time they were first sworn into office (chronologically) are:
| Party | # | Name(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | 11 | Wilhelm Lipowski, Wáclaw Morawċík, Karel Tusar, Klement Sada, Andrej Sada, Mirosław Jaworski, Antonín Worlický, Marcel Palacký, Mariána Turmenská, Tomáṡ Slawinský, Marcel Pelikán | |
| Republican | 10 | Pawel Záworský, Eduard Palacký, Karel Abrahám, Antonín Beneṡ, Karl Walmark, Anton Auer, Karel Pawelský, Gustaw Fabián, Josef Sokol, Frantiṡek Denár | |
| Republican Union | 5 | Tristan Palacký (second and third term only), Boleslaw Keiser, Edward Soukup, Jan Rýnský, Adrian Nowý | |
| Radical Populist | 3 | Rostislaw Nowotný, Antonín Sád, Christoph Steinmayer | |
| National Democratic | 3 | Lubomír Hant, Benedikt Augustýn, Herbert Klimeṡ | |
| No party | 1 | Tristan Palacký (first term only) | |
Timeline of presidents
The following timeline depicts the progression of the presidents and their political affiliation at the time of assuming office:
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