President of Ainin
| President of the Aininian Republic | |
|---|---|
| Style | His Grand Excellency |
| Member of | the Council of State |
| Residence | Château des Sœurs Huimont, Isle-Royale |
| Nominator | Speaker of the House of Censure |
| Appointer | National Assembly |
| Term length | Up to 52 weeks after last legislative election |
| Constituting instrument | Constitution of Ainin |
| Precursor | Citizen-Protector of Ainin |
| Formation | 2 April 1798 |
| First holder | Arnaud de Saint-Hyacinthe |
The President of the Aininian Republic (French: Président de la République aininienne) is the head of state of Ainin and the chief executive of its government. The president is also commander-in-chief of each branch of the Armed Forces separately, holding the offices of General of the Armies in the Army, Admiral of the Fleet in the Navy, General of the Air Force in the Air Force and Commissar of the Gendarmerie in the Gendarmerie. The president represents Ainin before foreign representatives, has the power to make war and peace, signs bills of the National Assembly into law and has a voice in the day-to-day running of the government.
The office of president dates to 1798, when Father of the Republic Henri of Namoria proclaimed the establishment of the Provisional Republican Authority of Ainin during the Aininian Revolution with himself as president. After the end of the war, he briefly became the first president of Ainin as well. During the First Republic, the presidency was a powerful executive office and shaped over the policy agenda of the Cabinet and National Assembly. However, the 1897-1910 Social Revolution saw a complete overhaul of the Aininian government and the adoption of the Constitution of 1901, which put political power in the hands of the newly-established office of prime minister, relegating the presidency to a ceremonial office to acknowledge a prominent community leader as "first citizen".
Over the course of the 21st century, there has been a push to restore some political power to the presidency. When the Social Democrats came to power in 2002, party leader Rémi de Wampley defied convention and chose the presidency over the premiership. The decade was marked by a politically active presidency that resembled that of the First Republic, which continued into the term of the Progressive Conservative government under Steven Mann. However, after the 2015 election, the trend appears to be reversing with the election of non-partisan TV personality Cao Nima to the presidency.
The president is chosen by the National Assembly after a general election. Pursuant to Article II of the Constitution of Ainin, a candidate is nominated by the outgoing Speaker of the House of Deputies on the advice of the party leaders and confirmed by the incoming members of the House of Deputies and the outgoing members of the House of Censure.
Powers
History and origin
Nomination
List
| # | Name | Party | Assumed office | Left office | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Henri de Namoirie | None | 2 May 1801 | 15 November 1801 | Previously served as President of the Provisional Republican Authority of Ainin | |
| 2 | Arnaud de Saint-Hyacinthe | Radical | 15 November 1801 | 29 July 1803 | Deposed in the March on the Cities and placed under house arrest | |
| 3 | Jean-Marie La Chapelle | None | 29 July 1803 | 8 February 1809 | President-for-life at head of Committee of National Defence military junta, died in office | |
| 4 | Pierre La Chapelle | None | 8 February 1809 | 10 June 1810 | Relinquished power, supervised transition to civilian government as caretaker | |
| 5 | Chrétien de Doval | Liberal | 10 June 1810 | 6 August 1817 | ||
| 6 | Jacques Henri Gachet | Nationalist | 6 August 1817 | 28 March 1821 | ||
| 7 | Jean-Marie Thibodeau | Liberal | 28 March 1821 | 1 September 1825 | ||
| (5) | Chrétien de Doval | Liberal | 1 September 1825 | 2 May 1827 | Third non-consecutive term, died in office | |
| 8 | Félix Delannoy | Liberal | 2 May 1827 | 16 January 1829 | Previously vice-president, succeeded to presidency | |
| 9 | Estienne Bousquet | Nationalist | 16 January 1829 | 19 July 1835 | ||
| 10 | François Arceneaux | Liberal | 19 July 1835 | 25 July 1839 | Refused to concede defeat in 1839 election, forced out by Supreme Court | |
| 11 | Maurice Radisson | Neo-Radical | 25 July 1839 | 24 December 1839 | Extra-judicially impeached in the Christmas Eve events | |
| 12 | Jean-Denis Verninacque | Liberal | 25 December 1839 | 6 February 1841 | Appointed president by National Assembly following impeachment of predecessor | |
| 13 | Philippe Beaumont | Nationalist | 6 February 1841 | 15 February 1845 | ||
| 14 | Gervais Bettencourt | Nationalist | 15 February 1845 | 1 November 1849 | ||
| 15 | Guillaume de Châteauguay | Liberal | 1 November 1849 | 6 February 1857 | ||
| 16 | Albert Chéron | Conservative | 6 February 1857 | 30 May 1862 | Assassinated | |
| 17 | Bernard Auberjonois | None | 30 May 1862 | 22 September 1864 | Previously vice-president, succeeded to presidency | |
| 18 | Luc Delannoy | Liberal | 22 September 1864 | 1 October 1868 | ||
| 19 | Lucien Passereau | Republican | 1 October 1868 | 21 December 1881 | Died in office | |
| 20 | Jacques Turgeon | Republican | 21 December 1881 | 30 April 1884 | Previously vice-president, succeeded to presidency | |
| 21 | Marie-Antoine Garnier | Liberal | 30 April 1884 | 1 October 1887 | ||
| 22 | Alexandre Félicien | Republican | 1 October 1887 | 30 April 1889 | ||
| 23 | Gaston Bonhomme | Conservative | 30 April 1889 | 3 February 1893 | ||
| 24 | Albert Jean Francelin | Liberal | 3 February 1893 | 2 May 1897 | ||
| 25 | Olivier Lapointe | National | 2 May 1897 | 2 July 1901 | Longest-serving president in Aininian history | |
| Promulgation of Constitution of 1901, establishment of the Second Republic | ||||||
| (25) | Olivier Lapointe | National | 2 July 1901 | 5 May 1906 | ||
| 26 | Hubert Calvet | Liberal | 5 May 1906 | 4 May 1910 | ||
| (25) | Olivier Lapointe | National | 4 May 1910 | 11 September 1921 | Third to fifth non-consecutive terms | |
| 27 | Marc Poulin | Liberal | 11 September 1921 | 2 August 1922 | ||
| 28 | Émile Trottier | Socialist | 2 August 1922 | 10 May 1928 | ||
| 29 | Simon Milhaud | National | 10 May 1928 | 5 June 1935 | ||
| 30 | Henri Delacroix | Socialist | 5 June 1935 | 16 March 1944 | Died in office | |
| 31 | Samuel Verley | Socialist | 16 March 1944 | 5 March 1947 | ||
| 32 | Joseph Langelier | National | 5 March 1947 | 1 May 1955 | ||
| (31) | Samuel Verley | Socialist | 1 May 1955 | 5 November 1960 | Last president to serve non-consecutive terms | |
| 33 | Charles Saltène | National | 8 November 1960 | 1 August 1968 | ||
| 34 | Alexandre Baudelaire | Social Democratic | 1 August 1968 | 18 August 1974 | ||
| 35 | Clément Laflèche | Democratic | 18 August 1974 | 15 May 1982 | ||
| 36 | Jean-Marie Breton | Social Democratic | 15 May 1982 | 6 July 1992 | ||
| 37 | Nicolas Morin | Democratic | 6 July 1992 | 9 July 2002 | ||
| 38 | Rémi de Wampley | Social Democratic | 9 July 2002 | 26 April 2010 | ||
| 39 | Catherine Rochefort | Social Democratic | 26 April 2010 | 1 April 2014 | First female president | |
| 40 | Stéphane Mann | Democratic | 1 April 2014 | 19 March 2015 | Resigned, Jean de Finistère became acting president | |
| 41 | Cao Nima | None | 15 June 2015 | Incumbent | First ethnically Minjianese president | |