President of France

The President of France is France's elected Head of State, currently Jacques Chirac.

Table of contents

1 Presidential attributions 1.1 Current constitutional attributions 1.2 The fluctuating power of the French presidency 2 Other information 3 Presidents of France 4 Presidential elections results 5 External link

Presidential attributions

Unlike many other European presidents, the office of the French President is quite a powerful one, especially in matters of foreign policy. However, it is the prime minister and his gouvernement that run the country.

Current constitutional attributions

The constitutional attributions of the president are defined in Title II of the Constitution of France.

Article 5 The President of the Republic shall see that the Constitution is observed. He shall ensure, by his arbitration, the proper functioning of the public authorities and the continuity of the State. He shall be the guarantor of national independence, territorial integrity and observance of treaties.

Article 8 The President of the Republic shall appoint the Prime Minister. He shall terminate the appointment of the Prime Minister when the latter tenders the resignation of the Government. On the proposal of the Prime Minister, he shall appoint the other members of the Government and terminate their appointments.

Article 9 The President of the Republic shall preside over the Council of Ministers.

Article 10 The President of the Republic shall promulgate Acts of Parliament within fifteen days following the final adoption of an Act and its transmission to the Government. He may, before the expiry of this time limit, ask Parliament to reconsider the Act or sections of the Act. Reconsideration shall not be refused.

Article 11 [the president may submit laws to the citizens in a referendum]

Article 12 The President of the Republic may, after consulting the Prime Minister and the Presidents of the assemblies, declare the National Assembly dissolved. A general election shall take place not less than twenty days and not more than forty days after the dissolution. The National Assembly shall convene as of right on the second Thursday following its election. Should it so convene outside the period prescribed for the ordinary session, a session shall be called by right for a fifteen-day period. No further dissolution shall take place within a year following this election.

Article 13 The President of the Republic shall sign the ordinances and decrees deliberated upon in the Council of Ministers. He shall make appointments to the civil and military posts of the State. [...]

Article 14 The President of the Republic shall accredit ambassadors and envoys extraordinary to foreign powers ; foreign ambassadors and envoys extraordinary shall be accredited to him.

Article 15 The President of the Republic shall be commander-in-chief of the armed forces. He shall preside over the higher national defence councils and committees.

Article 16 Where the institutions of the Republic, the independence of the Nation, the integrity of its territory or the fulfilment of its international commitments are under serious and immediate threat, and where the proper functioning of the constitutional public authorities is interrupted, the President of the Republic shall take the measures required by these circumstances, after formally consulting the Prime Minister, the Presidents of the assemblies and the Constitutional Council. He shall inform the Nation of these measures in a message. The measures must stem from the desire to provide the constitutional public authorities, in the shortest possible time, with the means to carry out their duties. The Constitutional Council shall be consulted with regard to such measures. Parliament shall convene as of right. The National Assembly shall not be dissolved during the exercise of the emergency powers.

Article 16 has been used only once, by Charles de Gaulle during the Algerian War, from April 23 to au September 29, 1961.

Article 17 The President of the Republic has the right to grant pardon.

Article 18 The President of the Republic shall communicate with the two assemblies of Parliament by means of messages, which he shall cause to be read and which shall not be the occasion for any debate. Outside sessions, Parliament shall be convened especially for this purpose.

Since 1875, the President is prohibited from entering the houses of Parliament.

Article 19 Acts of the President of the Republic, other than those provided for under articles 8 (first paragraph), 11, 12, 16, 18, 54, 56 and 61, shall be countersigned by the Prime Minister and, where required, by the appropriate ministers.

The fluctuating power of the French presidency

The position of France's presidents has grown and reduced in importance depending on the French constitution in place. Under the Second Republic the President possessed considerable power. Under the Third Republic France adopted a classic parliamentary system of government, with a weak presidency akin to a constitutional monarch. Though with somewhat different powers, the President under the Fourth Republic was also a weak, marginalised figure.

One of the major critics of that system was General Charles de Gaulle, the leader of the Free French during the German occupation in World War II who had urged the creation of a stronger presidency in the drafting of the Fourth Republic's constitution. De Gaulle's vision was reflected in the constitution of the Fifth Republic, which provided a classic dyarchy, with a strong president and a Prime Minister answerable to both parliament in the President (see semi-presidential system). Where the President's party controls the French National Assembly, he is the dominant political figure, controlling what is in effect his government. Where however the opposition control parliament, the President is forced to choose a prime minister from, or acceptable to, the opposition, leading to the sharing of power, a process known as cohabitation. Usually that involves the opposition-orientated prime minister and government dealing with the internal governance of France, without major policy involvement from the President. In turn the government give the President considerable freedom to represent France on the international stage, shaping foreign policy, with both the President and Prime Minister representing France at European Council meetings.

The changing fortune of presidents is reflected in their role with the Council of Ministers. All presidents since the Second Republic (1848-1852) have chaired the Council of Ministers. In most of the Republics, the Council operated as little more than a rubber stamp, to which decisions taken by ministers at separate extra-constitutional cabinet meetings chaired by the Prime Ministers were taken for formal adoption. Under the Fourth Republic the informal cabinet was given constitutional status as the Cabinet Council. However under the Fifth Republic, Council of Ministers' meetings under the President's chairmanship became the main and real formulator of governmental policy and not just a technical rubber stamp for decisions taken elsewhere.

Other information

The official residence and office of the president is the Élysée Palace in Paris. Other presidential residences include:

• the Fort de Bregançon, in southeastern France, is the current official presidential vacationing residence;
• the Hôtel de Marigny; standing next to the Élysée Palace, it houses foreign official guests;
• the Château de Rambouillet is normally open to visitors when not used for (rare) official meetings;
• the Domaine National de Marly is normally open to visitors when not used for (rare) official meetings;
• the Domaine de Souzy-la-Briche, not a historical monument, is a private residence.

Presidents of France are de jure Co-Prince of Andorra.

Presidents of France

The list below follows on from List of French monarchs.

• Second Republic
  • Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, (1848-1852)

• Third Republic
  • Adolphe Thiers, 1871-1873 (Thiers became president before the adoption of the Constitution of 1875 so his constitutional position was different to later presidents.)
  • Patrice MacMahon, duc de Magenta, 1873-1879
  • Jules Grévy, 1879-1887
  • Marie François Sadi Carnot, 1887-1894
  • Jean Casimir-Périer, 1894-1895
  • Félix Faure, 1895-1899
  • Émile Loubet, 1899-1906
  • Armand Fallières, 1906-1913
  • Raymond Poincaré, 1913-1920
  • Paul Deschanel, February 18 1920 - September 21 1920
  • Alexandre Millerand, 1920-1924
  • Gaston Doumergue, 1924-1931
  • Paul Doumer, 1931-1932
  • Albert Lebrun, 1932-1940

• Vichy France
  • Henri Philippe Pétain, 1940-1944 ("Head of State", not President)

• Free France
  • Charles de Gaulle, 1940-1944 ("Head of the Free French", not President)

• Provisional Government of the Republic ("Head of the Provisional Government", not President)
  • Charles de Gaulle, 1944-1946
  • Félix Gouin, Georges Bidault and Léon Blum, 1946-1947

• Fourth Republic
  • Vincent Auriol, 1947-1954
  • René Coty, 1954-1959

• Fifth Republic
  • Charles de Gaulle, 1959-1969
  • Georges Pompidou, 1969-1974
  • Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, 1974-1981
  • François Mitterrand, 1981-1995
  • Jacques Chirac, from 1995

Presidential elections results

French presidential election, 2002

Election results, first ballot (April 21, 2002):
Registered voters : 41 194 689
Number of voters : 29 495 733
Valid votes : 28 498 471

• Jacques Chirac 19.88%
• Jean-Marie Le Pen 16.86%
• Lionel Jospin 16.18%
• François Bayrou 6.84%
• Arlette Laguiller 5.72%
• Jean-Pierre Chevenement 5.33%
• Noël Mamere 5.25%
• Olivier Besancenot 4.25%
• Jean Saint-Josse 4.23%
• Alain Madelin 3.91%
• Robert Hue 3.37%
• Bruno Megret 2.34%
• Christine Taubira 2.32%
• Christine Boutin 1.19%
• Corinne Lepage 1.88%
• Daniel Gluckstein 0.47%

Election results, second ballot :

• Jacques Chirac (RPR) 82.21%
• Jean-Marie Le Pen (FN) 17.71%

See also : Politics of France, List of French prime ministers, List of Foreign Ministers of France

External link

• Web page of the President