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President of Brazil

The president of Brazil (presidente do Brasil), officially the president of the Federative Republic of Brazil (presidente da República Federativa do Brasil) or simply the President of the Republic, is the head of state and head of government of Brazil. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the Brazilian Armed Forces.

The presidential system was established in 1889, upon the proclamation of the republic in a military coup d'état against Emperor Pedro II. Since then, Brazil has had six constitutions, three dictatorships, and three democratic periods. During the democratic periods, voting has always been compulsory. The Constitution of Brazil, along with several constitutional amendments, establishes the requirements, powers, and responsibilities of the president, their term of office and the method of election.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is the 39th and current president. He was sworn in on 1 January 2023.

Constitutional powers
As a republic with a presidential executive, Brazil grants significant powers to the president, who effectively controls the executive branch, represents the country abroad, and appoints the cabinet and, with the approval of the Senate, the judges for the Supreme Federal Court. The president is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

Presidents in Brazil have significant lawmaking powers, exercised either by proposing laws to the National Congress or by using Medidas Provisórias (provisional measures), an instrument with the force of law that the president can enact in cases of urgency and necessity except to make changes to some areas of law (provisional measures cannot be used to change criminal law or electoral law). A provisional measure comes into effect immediately, before Congress votes on it, and remains in force for up to 60 days unless Congress votes to rescind it. The 60-day period can be extended once, up to 120 days. If Congress, on the other hand, votes to approve the provisional measure, it becomes an actual law, with changes decided by the legislative branch. The provisional measure expires at the end of the 60-day period (or the 120-day, in the case of extension), or sooner, if rejected by one of the Houses of Congress.

Article 84 of the current Federal Constitution, determines that the president has the power to
 * 1) appoint and dismiss the ministers of state;
 * 2) exercise, with the assistance of the ministers of state, the higher management of the federal administration;
 * 3) initiate the legislative procedure, in the manner and in the cases set forth in the Constitution;
 * 4) sanction, promulgate, and order the publication of laws, as well as issue decrees and regulations for the true enforcement thereof;
 * 5) veto bills, wholly or in part;
 * 6) provide, by means of decree, on organization and structure of federal administration if there is neither increase of expenses nor creation or extinction of public agencies; and extinction of offices or positions, when vacant;
 * 7) maintain relations with foreign States and to accredit their diplomatic representatives;
 * 8) conclude international treaties, conventions and acts, subject to the ratification of the National Congress of Brazil;
 * 9) decree the state of defense and the state of siege, in accordance with the constitutional procedures that precede and authorize those emergency decrees;
 * 10) decree and enforce federal intervention, in accordance with the constitutional procedures that precede and authorize such exceptional action;
 * 11) upon the opening of the legislative session, send a government message and plan to the National Congress, describing the state of the nation and requesting the actions he deems necessary;
 * 12) grant pardons and reduce sentences, after hearing the entities instituted by law, if necessary;
 * 13) exercise the supreme command of the armed forces, appoint the commanders of navy, army and air force, promote general officers and to appoint them to the offices held exclusively by them;
 * 14) appoint, after approval by the Federal Senate, the Justices of the Supreme Federal Court and those of the superior courts, the Governors of the territories, the Prosecutor General of the Republic, the president and the directors of the Central Bank and other civil servants, when established by law;
 * 15) appoint, with due regard for the provisions of Article 73, the Justices of the Court of Accounts of the Union;
 * 16) appoint judges in the events established by this constitution and the Attorney General of the Union;
 * 17) appoint members of the Council of the Republic, in accordance with article 89, VII;
 * 18) summon and preside over the Council of the Republic and the National Defense Council;
 * 19) declare war, in the event of foreign aggression, authorized by the National Congress or confirmed by it, whenever it occurs between legislative sessions and, under the same conditions, to decree full or partial national mobilization;
 * 20) make peace, authorized or confirmed by the National Congress;
 * 21) award decorations and honorary distinctions;
 * 22) permit, in the cases set forth by supplementary law, foreign forces to pass through the national territory, or to remain temporarily therein;
 * 23) submit to the National Congress the pluriannual plan, the bill of budgetary directives and the budget proposals set forth in this constitution;
 * 24) render, each year, accounts to the National Congress concerning the previous fiscal year, within sixty days of the opening of the legislative session;
 * 25) fill and abolish federal government positions, as set forth by law;
 * 26) issue provisional measures, with force of law, according to Article 62;
 * 27) perform other duties set forth in the constitution.

Requirements
The Constitution of Brazil requires that a president be a native-born citizen of Brazil, at least 35 years of age, a resident of Brazil, in full exercise of their electoral rights, a registered voter, and a member of a political party (write-in or independent candidates are prohibited).

Term limits
The president of Brazil serves for a term of four years, and may be re-elected for a single consecutive term. This two-term limit, however, is not for life—a former president who has served for two consecutive terms may run for the presidency again after at least one term has elapsed.

A vice president or other officer who succeeds to the presidency or who serves, albeit briefly, as acting president during a certain presidential term may subsequently be elected or reelected to the presidency only once, as the consecutive term limit already applies. In practice, Brazilian vice-presidents almost always serve as acting president at some point during a presidential term, given that, according to the Constitution, the vice-president becomes acting president during the president's travels abroad.

Running for other offices
A sitting president (or governor or mayor) who wishes to run for a different office, regardless of the intended jurisdiction or branch of government, must resign from office at least six months before election day.

History
The possibility of reelection was established by the 16th Amendment to the Constitution, in 1997. Before that, presidents had been barred from immediate reelection for all of Brazil's republican history, with the single exception of the latter half of the Vargas Era, from 1937 to 1945. The office was limited to men until the 1937 Constitution. Under the original text of the 1988 Constitution the presidential term lasted 5 years, but it was reduced to 4 years in 1994 by a constitutional amendment.

Compensation and privileges of office
As of 2015, the president receives a monthly salary of R$30,934.70, along with an undisclosed expense account to cover travel, goods and services while in office. Given that in Brazil all private and public sector employees and civil servants receive an additional compensation equivalent to one monthly salary after a year of work (this compensation is known as the thirteenth salary), the president receives 13 payments per year, resulting in an annual salary of R$402,151.10. The Palácio do Planalto in Brasília is the official workplace of the president and the Palácio da Alvorada their official residence. The president is entitled to use its staff and facilities. The Residência Oficial do Torto, popularly known as Granja do Torto, is a ranch located on the outskirts of the capital and is used as a country retreat by the president. The Palácio Rio Negro in Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, is a summer retreat of the president, although used rarely.

The official residence of the vice president is the Jaburu Palace in Brasília.

In the 2000s, the federal government decided to establish Regional Offices of the Presidency of the Republic in certain key Brazilian cities. Those regional offices are not presidential residences, but they are fully staffed offices ready to receive the president and his ministers at any time, and they function as a presidential workplace when the president is in those cities. The first regional office of the presidency was established in the city of São Paulo, and is located at the Banco do Brasil building at the Paulista Avenue; the building also houses Banco do Brasil's regional headquarters in São Paulo. The presidency of the republic also maintains regional offices in Porto Alegre and in Belo Horizonte. For ground travel, the president uses the presidential state car, which is an armored version of the 2019 Ford Fusion Hybrid built on a Ford CD3 platform. A 1952 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith is used by the president on ceremonial occasions, such as Independence Day commemorations, state visits and the inauguration of the president-elect. A modified version of the Airbus A319, air force designation VC-1A, is used to transport the president on all medium international flights, for intercontinental flights the president uses a military version of an Airbus A330-200, called KC-30. Two modified Embraer 190 jets, air force designation VC-2, are used for short and medium range presidential travel. When the president is on board, the aircraft receive the call sign "Brazilian Air Force One". Two modified military versions of the Eurocopter Super Puma, air force designation VH-34, are currently used as the main presidential helicopters.

Removal
The president may be removed from office using one of two procedures. In either case, two-thirds of the Chamber of Deputies must accept charges against the officeholder (impeachment); and if the Senate accepts the investigation, the president is suspended from exercising the functions of office for up to 180 days. In the case of "common criminal offenses", a trial then takes place at the Supreme Federal Court. In the case of "crimes of malversation", which must fall into one of seven broad areas and which is defined in more detail in law, a trial takes place at the Federal Senate. During the trial, the vice president exercises executive power. If the trial does not result in a conviction within 180 days, the president resumes office; a conviction results in removal from office and succession by the vice president. The seven areas are:

 * 1) The existence of the Union
 * 2) The free exercise of the Legislative Power, the Judicial Power, the Public Prosecution and the constitutional Powers of the units of the Federation
 * 3) The exercise of political, individual and social rights
 * 4) The internal security of the country
 * 5) Probity in the administration
 * 6) The budgetary law
 * 7) Compliance with the laws and with court decisions

Post-presidency
The following privileges are guaranteed to former presidents by law:
 * Permanent security protection (by the presidential guard – Batalhão da Guarda Presidencial)
 * The use of two official vehicles (for life)
 * Repository funding for a presidential library
 * Lifelong monthly pension for their widows and unmarried daughters
 * Pension for sons of deceased ex-presidents until they come of age

Office-holders
All presidents of Brazil have borne the title President of the Republic. That title has been used by all the constitutions of Brazil since the proclamation of the Republic to refer to the head of the Executive Branch. However, from the proclamation of the Republic in 1889 until 1937 the country was officially styled Republic of the United States of Brazil, and from 1937 to 1967 the country was styled simply The United States of Brazil, and thus the full title of the presidents of the Republic from 1891 until 1967—that is, from Deodoro da Fonseca's inauguration as President (between 1889 and 1891 he served as Head of the Provisional Government) until the end of Humberto Castello Branco's term in 1967—was President of the Republic of the United States of Brazil. On 15 March 1967, the country's official name was changed to Federative Republic of Brazil. On that same date, Arthur da Costa e Silva was sworn in as President succeeding Castello Branco. Since Costa e Silva, therefore, all presidents of Brazil have borne the full title of President of the Federative Republic of Brazil.

Presidents by birth state

 Minas Gerais: 9 (Afonso Pena, Venceslau Brás, Delfim Moreira, Artur Bernardes, Carlos Luz, Juscelino Kubitschek, Pedro Aleixo, Tancredo Neves, Dilma Rousseff)

 São Paulo: 7 (Prudente de Morais, Campos Sales, Rodrigues Alves, Júlio Prestes, Ranieri Mazzilli, Michel Temer, Jair Bolsonaro)

 Rio Grande do Sul: 6 (Hermes da Fonseca, Getúlio Vargas, João Goulart, Artur da Costa e Silva, Emílio Garrastazu Médici, Ernesto Geisel)

 Rio de Janeiro: 5 (Nilo Peçanha, Washington Luís, João Figueiredo, Fernando Collor de Mello, Fernando Henrique Cardoso)

 Alagoas: 2 (Deodoro da Fonseca, Floriano Peixoto)

 Ceará: 2 (José Linhares, Castelo Branco)

 Bahia: 2 (Itamar Franco,  Manuel Vitorino)

 Mato Grosso: 1 (Eurico Gaspar Dutra)

 Mato Grosso do Sul: 1 (Jânio Quadros)

 Maranhão: 1 (José Sarney)

 Paraíba: 1 (Epitácio Pessoa)

 Pernambuco: 1 (Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva)

 Rio Grande do Norte: 1 (Café Filho)

 Santa Catarina: 1 (Nereu Ramos)

title: President of Brazil


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Popular Front (Spain)

The Popular Front (Frente Popular) was an electoral alliance and pact formed in January 1936 to contest that year's general election by various left-wing political organizations during the Second Spanish Republic. The alliance was led by Manuel Azaña. In Catalonia and the modern-day Valencian Community, the coalition was known as the Front of the Lefts (Front d'Esquerres).

The Popular Front included the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), Communist Party of Spain (PCE), and the republicans: Republican Left (IR), (led by Azaña) and Republican Union (UR), led by Diego Martínez Barrio. This pact was supported by Galician (PG) and Catalan nationalists (ERC), the POUM, socialist union Workers' General Union (UGT), and the anarchist trade union, the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT). Many anarchists who would later fight alongside Popular Front forces during the Spanish Civil War did not support them in the election, urging abstention instead.

The Comintern had decided in 1935 that, in response to the growth of Fascism, popular fronts allying Communist parties with other anti-Fascist parties including Socialist and even bourgeois parties were advisable. In Spain, it was a coalition between leftist republicans and workers' organizations to defend social reforms of the first government (1931–1933) of the Second Spanish Republic, and liberate the prisoners, political prisoners according with the front propaganda, held since the Asturian October Revolution (1934).

The Popular Front defeated the National Counterrevolutionary Front (a collection of right-wing parties) and won the 1936 election, forming the new Spanish Government. Manuel Azaña was elected President of the Republic in May 1936, but the PSOE did not join the government because of the opposition of Francisco Largo Caballero.

In July 1936, conservative/monarchist generals instigated a coup d'état which started the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). The Government dissolved the Spanish Republican Army in the loyal territory and brought weapons to armed groups organized by the unions (UGT and CNT) and workers' parties (PSOE, PCE, POUM) that had initial success in defeating the Francoist forces in Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia. In October the same year, the Spanish Republican Army was reorganized. After a protracted war of attrition, General Francisco Franco would defeat the Republican forces and rule Spain as a dictatorship until he died in 1975.

Foundation and the manifesto of the Popular Front
The Popular Front was formed in 1936 by a coalition of left-wing republican parties. The Popular Front's founding manifesto condemned the actions of the conservative-led government, demanding the release of political prisoners detained after November 1933, the re-hiring of state employees who had been suspended, fired, or transferred "without due process or for reasons of political persecution", it proposed establishing a judiciary independent from government control, the investigation and prosecution of acts of unwarranted violence by police, and revision of the Law of Public Order to protect the rights of citizens against arbitrary power. The manifesto stressed political moderation against radicalism.

The manifesto advocated a moderate left-leaning economic policy that rejected the idea of nationalization of land and instead supported the provision of state economic assistance to agriculture, a new progressive tenancy law, and promotion of collective forms of production. It supported protectionist measures to defend national industry, encouraged state research to assist national industry, promised protection of small businesses, major expansion of public works, and progressive tax reform. The manifesto declared the Popular Front's opposition to class-based society, stating "The Republic conceived of by the Republican parties is not a Republic dominated by social or economic class interests, but a regime of democratic liberty..." but it promised the restoration of certain economic policies of the 1931–33 Spanish government, including increased wages for farmworkers.

The manifesto promised the restoration of legislation guaranteeing regional autonomy that was revoked by the conservative-led government.

Members
Members to the coalition were:
 * Spanish Socialist Workers' Party – Socialist
 * Communist Party of Spain – Communist
 * Workers' Party of Marxist Unification – Libertarian Marxist
 * Syndicalist Party – Syndicalist
 * Republican Left – Republican
 * Republican Union – Republican
 * Republican Left of Catalonia – Catalan nationalist
 * Galicianist Party – Galician nationalist
 * Basque Nationalist Action – Basque nationalist

It was also supported by:
 * Workers' General Union – Socialist trade union
 * CNT-FAI – Anarcho-syndicalist trade union

1936 election and immediate aftermath
In the 1936 general election, the Popular Front won the election with its leader Manuel Azaña elected President of Spain. The Popular Front received 4,654,116 votes compared to the opponent combined right-wing vote of 4,503,524 votes. It elected 278 deputies – 99 of which belonged to the Socialists (PSOE), while the right-wing elected 124 deputies – 88 of which belonged to the CEDA. Many of the elected members of the Popular Front were professional persons, several of whom were from wealthy backgrounds. People of various political backgrounds within the Popular Front were appointed to President Azaña's cabinet, such as Amós Salvador, architect and wealthy landowner, and José Alonso Mallol, a former Radical Socialist. Upon the election of the Popular Front, the Popular Front held a victory march in Madrid with over 250,000 supporters, with its Socialist and Communist party components marching in uniform in the thousands. The Popular Front immediately delivered its promise in its manifesto of rehiring workers fired for political reasons without due process and to reimburse them based on individual cases for wages lost to an extent of not less than thirty-nine days' wages nor more than six months.

Azaña responded to the recent surge of acts of violence, arson, and vandalism by radical leftists against right-wing parties and Catholic Church institutions by denouncing these actions. Uncontrolled political violence continued through to March with the greatest disturbance taking place in Granada where a violent act by right-wing political forces provoked a general strike and mass riot by left-wing political forces there. In particular, violence involving Communists and Socialists versus Falangists resulted in multiple murders. By July there had been 269 political killings.

Azaña acceded to demands by left-wing movements for punishment of General Eduardo López Ochoa, the army leader of the 1934 Asturian campaign against workers' movements there. The Spanish Republican government also made major changes to the Spanish Army, pro-Republican or neutral commanders were installed in multiple posts while commanders with questionable loyalties were moved to lesser or remote positions: for example, General Francisco Franco was removed as chief of staff of the army and moved to a position in the Canary Islands and General Emilio Mola was demoted from a major command in Spanish Morocco to a position as commander of a brigade in Pamplona.

The government did not stay in power long, mainly because of the conflict of ideological views by many of the parties. The only factor working for the government was unity for the conquest of fascism. After the Republican defeat in the Spanish Civil War, the popular front was dissolved, and Franco ruled Spain as a dictator until his death in 1975.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Popular Front (Spain)


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Ultraproduct

The ultraproduct is a mathematical construction that appears mainly in abstract algebra and mathematical logic, in particular in model theory and set theory. An ultraproduct is a quotient of the direct product of a family of structures. All factors need to have the same signature. The ultrapower is the special case of this construction in which all factors are equal.

For example, ultrapowers can be used to construct new fields from given ones. The hyperreal numbers, an ultrapower of the real numbers, are a special case of this.

Some striking applications of ultraproducts include very elegant proofs of the compactness theorem and the completeness theorem, Keisler's ultrapower theorem, which gives an algebraic characterization of the semantic notion of elementary equivalence, and the Robinson–Zakon presentation of the use of superstructures and their monomorphisms to construct nonstandard models of analysis, leading to the growth of the area of nonstandard analysis, which was pioneered (as an application of the compactness theorem) by Abraham Robinson.

Definition
The general method for getting ultraproducts uses an index set $$I,$$ a structure $$M_i$$ (assumed to be non-empty in this article) for each element $$i \in I$$ (all of the same signature), and an ultrafilter $$\mathcal{U}$$ on $$I.$$

For any two elements $$a_\bull = \left(a_i\right)_{i \in I}$$ and $$b_\bull = \left(b_i\right)_{i \in I}$$ of the Cartesian product ${\textstyle\prod\limits_{i \in I}} M_i,$ declare them to be, written $$a_\bull \sim b_\bull$$ or $$a_\bull =_{\mathcal{U}} b_\bull,$$ if and only if the set of indices $$\left\{i \in I : a_i = b_i\right\}$$ on which they agree is an element of $$\mathcal{U};$$ in symbols, $$a_\bull \sim b_\bull \; \iff \; \left\{i \in I : a_i = b_i\right\} \in \mathcal{U},$$ which compares components only relative to the ultrafilter $$\mathcal{U}.$$ This binary relation $$\, \sim \,$$ is an equivalence relation on the Cartesian product $${\textstyle\prod\limits_{i \in I}} M_i.$$

The is the quotient set of $${\textstyle\prod\limits_{i \in I}} M_i$$ with respect to $$\sim$$ and is therefore sometimes denoted by $${\textstyle\prod\limits_{i \in I}} M_i \, / \, \mathcal{U}$$ or $${\textstyle\prod}_{\mathcal{U}} \, M_\bull.$$

Explicitly, if the $$\mathcal{U}$$-equivalence class of an element $$a \in {\textstyle\prod\limits_{i \in I}} M_i$$ is denoted by $$a_{\mathcal{U}} := \big\{x \in {\textstyle\prod\limits_{i \in I}} M_i \; : \; x \sim a\big\}$$ then the ultraproduct is the set of all $$\mathcal{U}$$-equivalence classes $${\prod}_{\mathcal{U}} \, M_\bull \; = \; \prod_{i \in I} M_i \, / \, \mathcal{U} \; := \; \left\{a_{\mathcal{U}} \; : \; a \in {\textstyle\prod\limits_{i \in I}} M_i\right\}.$$

Although $$\mathcal{U}$$ was assumed to be an ultrafilter, the construction above can be carried out more generally whenever $$\mathcal{U}$$ is merely a filter on $$I,$$ in which case the resulting quotient set $${\textstyle\prod\limits_{i \in I}} M_i / \, \mathcal{U}$$ is called a .

When $$\mathcal{U}$$ is a principal ultrafilter (which happens if and only if $$\mathcal{U}$$ contains its kernel $$\cap \, \mathcal{U}$$) then the ultraproduct is isomorphic to one of the factors. And so usually, $$\mathcal{U}$$ is not a principal ultrafilter, which happens if and only if $$\mathcal{U}$$ is free (meaning $$\cap \, \mathcal{U} = \varnothing$$), or equivalently, if every cofinite subset of $$I$$ is an element of $$\mathcal{U}.$$ Since every ultrafilter on a finite set is principal, the index set $$I$$ is consequently also usually infinite.

The ultraproduct acts as a filter product space where elements are equal if they are equal only at the filtered components (non-filtered components are ignored under the equivalence). One may define a finitely additive measure $$m$$ on the index set $$I$$ by saying $$m(A) = 1$$ if $$A \in \mathcal{U}$$ and $$m(A) = 0$$ otherwise. Then two members of the Cartesian product are equivalent precisely if they are equal almost everywhere on the index set. The ultraproduct is the set of equivalence classes thus generated.

Finitary operations on the Cartesian product $${\textstyle\prod\limits_{i \in I}} M_i$$ are defined pointwise (for example, if $$+$$ is a binary function then $$a_i + b_i = (a + b)_i$$). Other relations can be extended the same way: $$R\left(a^1_{\mathcal{U}}, \dots, a^n_{\mathcal{U}}\right) ~\iff~ \left\{i \in I : R^{M_i}\left(a^1_i, \dots, a^n_i\right)\right\} \in \mathcal{U},$$ where $$a_{\mathcal{U}}$$ denotes the $$\mathcal{U}$$-equivalence class of $$a$$ with respect to $$\sim.$$ In particular, if every $$M_i$$ is an ordered field then so is the ultraproduct.

Ultrapower
An ultrapower is an ultraproduct for which all the factors $$M_i$$ are equal. Explicitly, the is the ultraproduct $${\textstyle\prod\limits_{i \in I}} M_i \, / \, \mathcal{U} = {\textstyle\prod}_{\mathcal{U}} \, M_\bull$$ of the indexed family $$M_{\bull} := \left(M_i\right)_{i \in I}$$ defined by $$M_i := M$$ for every index $$i \in I.$$ The ultrapower may be denoted by $${\textstyle\prod}_{\mathcal{U}} \, M$$ or (since $${\textstyle\prod\limits_{i \in I}} M$$ is often denoted by $$M^I$$) by $$M^I / \mathcal{U} ~:=~ \prod_{i \in I} M \, / \,\mathcal{U}\,$$

For every $$m \in M,$$ let $$(m)_{i \in I}$$ denote the constant map $$I \to M$$ that is identically equal to $$m.$$ This constant map/tuple is an element of the Cartesian product $$M^I = {\textstyle\prod\limits_{i \in I}} M$$ and so the assignment $$m \mapsto (m)_{i \in I}$$ defines a map $$M \to {\textstyle\prod\limits_{i \in I}} M.$$ The is the map $$M \to {\textstyle\prod}_{\mathcal{U}} \, M$$ that sends an element $$m \in M$$ to the $$\mathcal{U}$$-equivalence class of the constant tuple $$(m)_{i \in I}.$$

Examples
The hyperreal numbers are the ultraproduct of one copy of the real numbers for every natural number, with regard to an ultrafilter over the natural numbers containing all cofinite sets. Their order is the extension of the order of the real numbers. For example, the sequence $$\omega$$ given by $$\omega_i = i$$ defines an equivalence class representing a hyperreal number that is greater than any real number.

Analogously, one can define nonstandard integers, nonstandard complex numbers, etc., by taking the ultraproduct of copies of the corresponding structures.

As an example of the carrying over of relations into the ultraproduct, consider the sequence $$\psi$$ defined by $$\psi_i = 2 i.$$ Because $$\psi_i > \omega_i = i$$ for all $$i,$$ it follows that the equivalence class of $$\psi_i = 2 i$$ is greater than the equivalence class of $$\omega_i = i,$$ so that it can be interpreted as an infinite number which is greater than the one originally constructed. However, let $$\chi_i = i$$ for $$i$$ not equal to $$7,$$ but $$\chi_7 = 8.$$ The set of indices on which $$\omega$$ and $$\chi$$ agree is a member of any ultrafilter (because $$\omega$$ and $$\chi$$ agree almost everywhere), so $$\omega$$ and $$\chi$$ belong to the same equivalence class.

In the theory of large cardinals, a standard construction is to take the ultraproduct of the whole set-theoretic universe with respect to some carefully chosen ultrafilter $$\mathcal{U}.$$ Properties of this ultrafilter $$\mathcal{U}$$ have a strong influence on (higher order) properties of the ultraproduct; for example, if $$\mathcal{U}$$ is $$\sigma$$-complete, then the ultraproduct will again be well-founded. (See measurable cardinal for the prototypical example.)

Łoś's theorem
Łoś's theorem, also called, is due to Jerzy Łoś (the surname is pronounced , approximately "wash"). It states that any first-order formula is true in the ultraproduct if and only if the set of indices $$i$$ such that the formula is true in $$M_i$$ is a member of $$\mathcal{U}.$$ More precisely:

Let $$\sigma$$ be a signature, $$\mathcal{U}$$ an ultrafilter over a set $$I,$$ and for each $$i \in I$$ let $$M_i$$ be a $$\sigma$$-structure. Let $${\textstyle\prod}_{\mathcal{U}} \, M_\bull$$ or $${\textstyle\prod\limits_{i \in I}} M_i / \mathcal{U}$$ be the ultraproduct of the $$M_i$$ with respect to $$\mathcal{U}.$$ Then, for each $$a^1, \ldots, a^n \in {\textstyle\prod\limits_{i \in I}} M_i,$$ where $$a^k = \left(a^k_i\right)_{i \in I},$$ and for every $$\sigma$$-formula $$\phi,$$ $${\prod}_{\mathcal{U}} \, M_\bull \models \phi\left[a^1_{\mathcal{U}}, \ldots, a^n_{\mathcal{U}}\right] ~\iff~ \{i \in I : M_i \models \phi[a^1_i, \ldots, a^n_i]\} \in \mathcal{U}.$$

The theorem is proved by induction on the complexity of the formula $$\phi.$$ The fact that $$\mathcal{U}$$ is an ultrafilter (and not just a filter) is used in the negation clause, and the axiom of choice is needed at the existential quantifier step. As an application, one obtains the transfer theorem for hyperreal fields.

Examples
Let $$R$$ be a unary relation in the structure $$M,$$ and form the ultrapower of $$M.$$ Then the set $$S = \{x \in M : R x\}$$ has an analog $${}^* S$$ in the ultrapower, and first-order formulas involving $$S$$ are also valid for $${}^* S.$$ For example, let $$M$$ be the reals, and let $$R x$$ hold if $$x$$ is a rational number. Then in $$M$$ we can say that for any pair of rationals $$x$$ and $$y,$$ there exists another number $$z$$ such that $$z$$ is not rational, and $$x < z < y.$$ Since this can be translated into a first-order logical formula in the relevant formal language, Łoś's theorem implies that $${}^* S$$ has the same property. That is, we can define a notion of the hyperrational numbers, which are a subset of the hyperreals, and they have the same first-order properties as the rationals.

Consider, however, the Archimedean property of the reals, which states that there is no real number $$x$$ such that $$x > 1, \; x > 1 + 1, \; x > 1 + 1 + 1, \ldots$$ for every inequality in the infinite list. Łoś's theorem does not apply to the Archimedean property, because the Archimedean property cannot be stated in first-order logic. In fact, the Archimedean property is false for the hyperreals, as shown by the construction of the hyperreal number $$\omega$$ above.

Direct limits of ultrapowers (ultralimits)
In model theory and set theory, the direct limit of a sequence of ultrapowers is often considered. In model theory, this construction can be referred to as an ultralimit or limiting ultrapower.

Beginning with a structure, $$A_0$$ and an ultrafilter, $$\mathcal{D}_0,$$ form an ultrapower, $$A_1.$$ Then repeat the process to form $$A_2,$$ and so forth. For each $$n$$ there is a canonical diagonal embedding $$A_n \to A_{n+1}.$$ At limit stages, such as $$A_\omega,$$ form the direct limit of earlier stages. One may continue into the transfinite.

Ultraproduct monad
The ultrafilter monad is the codensity monad of the inclusion of the category of finite sets into the category of all sets.

Similarly, the is the codensity monad of the inclusion of the category $$\mathbf{FinFam}$$ of finitely-indexed families of sets into the category $$\mathbf{Fam}$$ of all indexed families of sets. So in this sense, ultraproducts are categorically inevitable. Explicitly, an object of $$\mathbf{Fam}$$ consists of a non-empty index set $$I$$ and an indexed family $$\left(M_i\right)_{i \in I}$$ of sets. A morphism $$\left(N_i\right)_{j \in J} \to \left(M_i\right)_{i \in I}$$ between two objects consists of a function $$\phi : I \to J$$ between the index sets and a $$J$$-indexed family $$\left(\phi_j\right)_{j \in J}$$ of function $$\phi_j : M_{\phi(j)} \to N_j.$$ The category $$\mathbf{FinFam}$$ is a full subcategory of this category of $$\mathbf{Fam}$$ consisting of all objects $$\left(M_i\right)_{i \in I}$$ whose index set $$I$$ is finite. The codensity monad of the inclusion map $$\mathbf{FinFam} \hookrightarrow \mathbf{Fam}$$ is then, in essence, given by $$\left(M_i\right)_{i \in I} ~\mapsto~ \left(\prod_{i \in I} M_i \, / \, \mathcal{U}\right)_{\mathcal{U} \in U(I)} \, .$$

title: Ultraproduct


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Prime Minister of Thailand

The prime minister of Thailand (นายกรัฐมนตรี,, ; literally 'chief minister of state') is the head of government of Thailand. The prime minister is also the chair of the Cabinet of Thailand. The post has existed since the Revolution of 1932, when the country became a constitutional monarchy. Prior to the 2014 coup d'état, the prime minister was nominated by a vote in the Thai House of Representatives by a simple majority, and is then appointed and sworn in by the king of Thailand. The house's selection is usually based on the fact that either the prime minister is the leader of the largest political party in the lower house or the leader of the largest coalition of parties. In accordance with the 2017 Constitution, the Prime Minister can hold the office for no longer than eight years, consecutively or not. The post of Prime Minister is currently held by Pheu Thai Party politician and former CEO of Sansiri, Srettha Thavisin.

History
The office of the "President of the People's Committee" (ประธานคณะกรรมการราษฎร), later changed to "Prime Minister of Siam" (นายกรัฐมนตรีสยาม), was first created in the Temporary Constitution of 1932. The office was modeled after the prime minister of the United Kingdom, as Siam became a parliamentary democracy in 1932 after a bloodless revolution. However, the idea of a separate head of government in Thailand is not new.

Prior to 1932, Thailand was ruled by absolute monarchs, who acted as both the head of state and the government. However, during the middle and latter reigns of the Chakri Dynasty, several individuals were perceived to hold a post equivalent to a head of government. During the reign of King Mongkut, Somdet Chao Phraya Si Suriyawongse had a very significant role in an otherwise absolutist system. During the reign of King Chulalongkorn, Prince Damrong Rajanubhab took over this role. In fact, the office most considered the precursor of that of the prime minister was the ancient office of Samuha Nayok (สมุหนายก), which was run by an Akkhra Maha Senabodi (อัครมหาเสนาบดี) or "chief minister in charge of civilian affairs".

The first prime minister of Siam was Phraya Manopakorn Nititada, a judge. The title of the office was changed from "Prime Minister of Siam" to "Prime Minister of Thailand" in 1945 and then permanently with the renaming of Siam to Thailand in 1949. For most of its existence, the office has been occupied by Army leaders; sixteen out of thirty. Military dominance began with the country's second prime minister, Phraya Phahonphonphayuhasena, who ousted his civilian predecessor in a coup in 1933. The longest-serving prime minister was Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram at 14 years, 11 months, and 18 days. The shortest was Thawi Bunyaket at just 18 days. Nine were removed by coups d'état, three were disqualified by court order, and eleven resigned from office. The youngest ever to occupy office was M.R. Seni Pramoj at 40 years old. Thailand received its first female prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, in 2011. Every prime minister since Manopakorn Nititada has been Buddhist.

The current 2017 constitution states that the Prime Minister shall hold the office for no longer than eight years, consecutively or not. The term limit was the subject of legal challenge in 2022 after there were debates of how to count the term. The Constitutional Court ruled 6–3 that the term would be counted from the promulgation of the 2017 constitution, so that Prayut Chan-o-cha was allowed to continue his premiership despite having held the position since the 2014 coup.

Appointment
According to the 2007 constitution, The prime minister of the Kingdom of Thailand must be a member of the House of Representatives. Therefore, the qualifications for the office of prime minister are the same as the qualifications for membership in the house.

Prior to the 2014 coup d'état, to be appointed, the nominee for the office must have the support of one-fifth of the members of the House of Representatives. Then after a simple majority vote in the house, a resolution will be passed and submitted to the king, who will then make a formal appointment by giving his royal assent to the resolution. This must take place within thirty days after the beginning of the first session of the House of Representatives after an election. If no candidate can be found within this time period, then it is the duty of the president of the National Assembly of Thailand to submit the name considered most worthy for the king to formalize.

The nominee and eventual prime minister is always the leader of the largest political party in the lower house or the leader of the majority coalition formed after an election.

Under the junta, until 2019, the nominee for the office was selected by National Legislative Assembly, with the House of Representatives having been abolished. Under the constitution written by the junta, the prime minister is currently appointed by the full National Assembly, including the military-appointed Senate

Function
The prime minister is the de facto chair of the Cabinet of Thailand. The appointment and removal of ministers can only be made with their advice. As the leader of the government, the prime minister is therefore ultimately responsible for the failings and performance of their ministers and the government as a whole. The prime minister cannot hold office for a consecutive period of more than eight years. As the most visible member of the government, the prime minister represents the country abroad and is the main spokesperson for the government at home. The prime minister must, under the constitution, lead the cabinet in announcing the government's policy statement in front of a joint session of the National Assembly, within fifteen days of being sworn in.

The prime minister is also directly responsible for many departments. These include the National Intelligence Agency, the Bureau of the Budget, the Office of the National Security Council, the Office of the Council of State, the Office of the Civil Service Commission, the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board, the Office of Public Sector Development Commission, and the Internal Security Operations Command. Legislatively all money bills introduced in the National Assembly must require the prime minister's approval.

The prime minister can be removed by a vote of no confidence. This process can be evoked, firstly with the vote of only one-fifth of the members of the House of Representatives for a debate on the matter. Then after the debate a vote is taken and with a simple majority the prime minister can be removed. This process cannot be repeated within one parliamentary session.

Office and residence
The prime minister is aided in his work by the Office of the Prime Minister (สำนักนายกรัฐมนตรี) a cabinet-level department headed usually by two ministers of state. These offices are housed in the Government House of Thailand (ทำเนียบรัฐบาล) in the Dusit area of Bangkok.

The official residence of the prime minister is the Phitsanulok Mansion (บ้านพิษณุโลก), in the center of Bangkok. The mansion was built during the reign of King Vajiravudh. It became an official residence in 1979. The mansion is rumored to have many ghosts, therefore most prime ministers live in their private residences and only use the house for official business.

Deputy prime ministers
Several deputy prime ministers of Thailand (รองนายกรัฐมนตรี) can be appointed. This position can be combined with other ministerial portfolios.

title: Prime Minister of Thailand


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President of Albania

The president of Albania (Presidenti i Shqipërisë), officially styled the President of the Republic of Albania (Presidenti i Republikës së Shqipërisë), is the head of state, commander-in-chief of the military and the representative of the unity of the Albanian people.

The president has the power to set the date of the elections for the Parliament as well as referendum, grants pardons and awards. In case of incapability to discharge duties of office, the speaker of the Parliament assumes the office's powers and duties as acting president until the president resumes those powers and duties, or until election of a new president. The Office of the President of Albania consists of the immediate staff of the president of the country, as well as support staff reporting to the president. The office is seated in the Presidential Office in the capital city Tirana. The Constitution of Albania defines the appearance and use of the presidential standard, flown on buildings of the Office of the President, the residence of the president, the transportation vehicles when in use by the president, and in other ceremonial occasions. The spouse of the president is recognized as the first lady of Albania, but holds no official role in the presidency. She often plays a protocol role at the Presidential Palace and during official visits.

The president is elected through a secret vote and without debate by the Parliament of Albania by a majority of three-fifths of all its members and is elected for 5 years. However, the Constitution of Albania sets a limit to a maximum of two terms in office. The president-elect is required to take an oath of office before the members of the Parliament of Albania.

History
Albania has experienced different models of governance, including an international protectorate, a monarchy, a state-party regime and the parliamentary republic as well. Throughout all this period the function of the president of Albania and head of state has been exercised in various forms.

The first government after the independence was headed by Ismail Qemali, who also enjoyed the competences of the head of state. On 6 February 1914, Prince Wilhelm Wied was appointed as head of state by the Ambassadors Conference. From September 1914 until January 1920, Albania was transformed into a battle field and experienced the change of a number of governments, where the post of the head of state was played by different governments regencies. On 8 January 1920 the Congress of Lushnjë elected the 'High Council' composed by four members, one of whom would exercise the functions of the head of state by introducing and bringing back the parliamentarian way of governance. In 1924, Fan Noli was elected as head of government while exercising at the same time the functions of the head of state. After the frequent changes in governance, the Parliament of Albania approved and passed the republican form of regime on 25 January 1925 and elected Zog I of Albania as the president of Albania. The nation was proclaimed a monarchy and Ahmet Zogu was crowned the King of Albanians on 28 September 1928. After Albania was occupied by Italy in April 1939 and the unification of the two countries, Victor Emmanuel III became the King of Albania. From 1943 to 1944 the regencies governance was introduced once again under the German occupation.

The end of the second World War and the liberation of Albania that took place in 1944 were followed by the holding of the first parliamentary elections in December 1945 and also by the transformation of the head of state's function into a collegial body, the Presidium of the Parliament of Albania. During the communism from 11 January 1946 until 12 December 1990, the functions of the head of state were carried out by Omer Nishani from 10 January 1946 to 1 August 1953, by Haxhi Lleshi from 1 August 1953 to 22 November 1982 and by Ramiz Alia from 22 November 1982 to 22 February 1991. The 'Presidential Council', headed by Ramiz Alia was founded on 22 February 1991 and it lasted until 30 April 1991.

The election of the first president of the parliamentary Republic of Albania on 30 April 1991 by a multi political parties Assembly, marked the foundation of the constitutional institution of the president of Albania.

Electoral system
The President of Albania is elected by a secret vote and without debate in the Parliament of Albania. A candidate needs to receive votes from three-fifths of the total number of parliamentarian to win. If the required majority is not reached in the first round of voting, a second round takes place within seven days. If a majority is still not reached, a third round must take place within a further period of seven days. If required, a further two rounds must be held within seven days, with the majority needed to win reduced to an absolute majority of 50% +1 votes of the total number of parliamentarian. In the fifth round, only the two top candidates from the fourth round are kept. If after five rounds of voting no candidate has attained the necessary majority outlined for each round of voting, Parliament will be dissolved and elections must be held within 45 days.

Elections history
Following the disintegration of the communist regime, the first multi-party elections in Albania were held in 1991, simultaneously with the 1991 parliamentary elections. The result was a victory for Ramiz Alia of the Party of Labour of Albania (PPSh), who received 56.2% of the vote in the third round of the elections, ahead of 3 other candidates. Sali Berisha, the Democratic Party of Albania (PD) candidate and runner-up in the election, received almost 38.7% of the vote. Ramiz Alia resigned as the president on 3 April 1992. The same year, the second presidential elections were held on 22 March 1992. The result was a victory for Sali Berisha of the Democratic Party of Albania (PD), who received 57.3% of the vote in the second round of the elections, ahead of 5 other candidates, he was elected as president on 9 April 1992. Berisha also won the third presidential election in 1997 and was re-elected on 3 February 1997, he resigned due to the Albanian unrest. The fourth presidential election were held after the 1997 parliamentary election. The result was a victory for Rexhep Meidani of the Socialist Party of Albania (PS), who was elected by the Parliament of Albania through a vote of 110 to 3. The fifth presidential elections were held on 24 June 2002. The result was a victory for Alfred Moisiu, he was chosen by both Socialist Party of Albania (PS) and Democratic Party of Albania (PD) leaders at the time Fatos Nano (PS leader) and Sali Berisha (PD leader). He was elected by the Parliament of Albania through a vote of 97 to 19.

The sixth presidential elections were held on 20 June 2007 with almost four rounds. In the first round on 20 June 2007 and 27 June 2007, no candidate was presented. The Government of Albania and the opposition presented their proposed candidate lists on 5 July 2007, but did not accept either list. Afterwards, on 14 July 2007 the third round were held. At least in the fourth round on 20 July, Bamir Topi of the Democratic Party of Albania (PD) won the election. The seventh presidential elections were held on 30 May 2012 with four rounds until 11 June 2012. The first through third rounds of voting were inconclusive. In the fourth round, the result was a victory for Bujar Nishani of the Democratic Party of Albania (PD). The most recent and eighth presidential elections were held on 19, 20, 27 and 28 April 2017. In the fourth round the incumbent Chairman of the Parliament of Albania, Ilir Meta of the Socialist Movement for Integration (SMI) was elected as seventh president of Albania with 87 votes.

Powers, duties and responsibilities
As of Article 89 of the Albanian Constitution sets the following qualifications for holding the presidency, to be a natural-born citizen of the Albanian Republic, to be at least forty years old and to be a resident in the Republic of Albania for at least ten years.

The president of Albania, officially styled President of the Republic of Albania represents the unity of the Albanian people in the country and abroad as the head of state. The president begins his duties officially after he takes the oath before the Parliament, but not before the mandate of the president who is leaving has been completed. The president of Albania is the supreme commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Albania and appoints and relieves military commanders of duty, conforming to applicable legislation. Furthermore, the Chief of the General Staff is appointed as well by the president.

The Constitution, states that the president addresses messages to the Parliament, exercises the right of pardon according to the law, grants Albanian citizenship and permits it to be given up according to the law, gives decorations and titles of honor according to the law, accords the highest military rank according to the law, on the proposal of the Prime Minister, he appoints and withdraws plenipotentiary representatives of the Republic of Albania to other states and international organizations, accepts letters of credentials and the withdrawal of diplomatic representatives of other states and international organization accredited to him, signs international agreements according to the law, upon proposal of the Prime Minister, he appoints the Director of the National Security Department, nominates rectors of universities upon proposal of their council's representatives, sets the date of the elections for the Parliament, for the organs of local power and for the conduct of a referendum and requests opinions and information in writing from the directors of state institutions for issues that have to do with their duties.

Oath
Before assuming presidential duty, the president-elect is required to take an oath of office before the Parliament, swearing loyalty to the Constitution. The text of the oath in its Albanian form is sensitive to gender and all nouns always retain a neutral form. The president-elect takes the following oath of office, specified by the Constitution:

Albanian: Betohem se do t’i bindem Kushtetutës dhe ligjeve të vendit, do të respektoj të drejtat dhe liritë e shtetasve, do të mbroj pavarësinë e Republikës së Shqipërisë dhe do t’i shërbej interesit të përgjithshëm dhe përparimit të Popullit Shqiptar. Zoti më ndihmoftë! English: I swear that I will obey to the Constitution and laws of the country, that I will respect the rights and freedoms of citizens, protect the independence of the Republic of Albania, and I will serve the general interest and the progress of the Albanian people. So help me God!

Office and residence

The Presidential Office is the official workplace of the president. It consists of the immediate staff of the president, as well as support staff reporting to the president. Since the collapse of communism, the building was used as the Office of the president, having been used for this purpose uninterrupted up to this day. The building consists three floors where two entrance gates lead an oval driveway from the Dëshmorët e Kombit Boulevard.

The Presidential Palace, popularly known as the Palace of Brigades , is the official residence of the president of Albania. The Palace was commissioned by King Zog I of Albania to serve as his main official residence. After the second World War it has been used by the Government of Albania for holding official ceremonies and state receptions. Due to its location near the Grand Park of Tirana, its gardens are quite extensive. It is surrounded by trees for nearly 200 metres and decorated in patterns and shapes of various designs. In addition the Palace was designed by Italian well-known architect Gherardo Bosio.

First Lady of Albania

The title First Lady of Albania is an unofficial title; it is not an elected one, carries no official duties, and receives no salary. Nonetheless, first ladies have held a highly visible position in Albanian society. The role has evolved over the years, but she is, first and foremost, the spouse of the president. However, she accompanies the president in state and official visits abroad the borders of Albania. She generally oversees the administration of Presidential Palace, the mansion that serves as the official residence, while the Presidenca serves as the official office. They also organize events and civic programs, and typically get involved in different charities and social causes.

title: President of Albania


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Empress Michiko

Michiko (美智子) is a member of the Imperial House of Japan. She was Empress of Japan as the wife of Akihito, the 125th Emperor of Japan reigning from 7 January 1989 to 30 April 2019.

Michiko married Crown Prince Akihito and became Crown Princess of Japan in 1959. She was the first commoner to marry into the Japanese imperial family. She has three children with her husband: Naruhito, Fumihito, and Sayako. Her elder son, Naruhito, is the current emperor. As crown princess and later as empress consort, she has become the most visible and widely travelled imperial consort in Japanese history. Upon Akihito's abdication, Michiko received the new title of Jōkōgō (上皇后), or Empress Emerita.

Early life and education

Michiko Shōda was born on 20 October 1934 at the University of Tokyo Hospital in Bunkyō, Tokyo, the second of four children born to Hidesaburō Shōda (正田英三郎), president and later honorary chairman of Nisshin Flour Milling Company, and his wife, Fumiko Soejima (副島 富美子). Raised in Tokyo and in a cultured family, she grew up receiving a careful education, both traditional and "Western", learning to speak English and to play piano and being initiated into the arts such as painting, cooking and kōdō. She has an older brother Iwao, a younger brother Osamu, and a younger sister Emiko. She is the niece of several academics, including Kenjirō Shōda, a mathematician who was the president of the University of Osaka from 1954 until 1960.

Shōda attended Futaba Elementary School in Kōjimachi, a neighbourhood in Chiyoda, Tokyo, but was required to leave in her fourth-grade year because of the American bombings during World War II. She was then successively educated in the prefectures of Kanagawa (in the town of Katase, now part of the city of Fujisawa), Gunma (in Tatebayashi, the home town of the Shōda family), and Nagano (in the town of Karuizawa, where Shōda had a second resort home). She returned to Tokyo in 1946 and completed her elementary education in Futaba and then attended the Sacred Heart School for Junior High School and High School in Minato, Tokyo. She graduated from high school in 1953.

In 1957, Shōda graduated summa cum laude from the Faculty of Literature at the University of the Sacred Heart (a Catholic university in Tokyo) with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature.

Since she came from a particularly wealthy family, her parents were very selective about her suitors. There had been several contenders for her hand in marriage in the 1950s. Biographers of the writer Yukio Mishima, including Henry Scott Stokes, report that Mishima had considered marrying Michiko Shōda, and that he was introduced to her for that purpose sometime in the 1950s.

Engagement and marriage
In August 1957, she met then-Crown Prince Akihito on a tennis court at Karuizawa near Nagano. The Imperial Household Council formally approved the engagement of the Crown Prince to Michiko Shōda on 27 November 1958. At that time, the media presented their encounter as a real "fairy tale", or the "romance of the tennis court". The engagement ceremony took place on 14 January 1959.

The future Crown Princess was the daughter of a wealthy industrialist, but she was still a commoner. During the 1950s, the media and most persons familiar with the Japanese monarchy had assumed that the powerful Imperial Household Agency would select a bride for the Crown Prince from the daughters of the former court nobility, or from one of the former branches of the Imperial Family. Some traditionalists opposed the engagement, as Shōda came from a Catholic family, and although she was never baptized, she was educated at Catholic institutions and seemed to share the faith of her parents. It was also widely rumoured that Empress Kōjun had opposed the engagement. After the death of Empress Kōjun in 2000, Reuters announced that the former Empress was one of the strongest opponents of the marriage, and that in the 1960s, she had driven her daughter-in-law to depression by persistently accusing her of not being suitable for her son. Death threats alerted the authorities to ensure the security of the Shōda family. Yukio Mishima, known for his traditionalist position, said at the time: "The imperial system becomes 'tabloidesque' in its move toward democratization. It's all wrong—the idea (of the Imperial Family) losing its dignity by connecting with the people."

However, the young couple had by then gained wide public support. That support also came from the ruling political class. Additionally, everyone showed affection for the young "Mitchy" who had become the symbol of Japan's modernization and democratization (the media at the time hinted at the phenomenon of a "Mitchy boom"). The wedding finally took place as a traditional Shinto ceremony on 10 April 1959. The wedding procession was followed in the streets of Tokyo by more than 500,000 people spread over an 8.8 km route, while parts of the wedding were televised, thus making it the first imperial wedding to be made available for public viewership in Japan, drawing about 15 million viewers. In accordance with tradition, Shōda received a personal emblem (o-shirushi (お印)): the white birch of Japan (Shirakaba (白樺)) upon admission to the imperial family.

Crown Princess
The young couple then moved to Tōgū Palace (東宮御所), or "East Palace", the traditional name of the official residence of the crown prince installed since 1952, located within the grounds of the Akasaka Estate in Motoakasaka, Minato, Tokyo. They left Tōgū Palace after her husband acceded to the throne in 1989.

The couple have three children (two sons and a daughter):
 * 1) Naruhito, Prince Hiro (浩宮徳仁親王)
 * 2) Fumihito, Prince Aya (礼宮文仁親王)
 * 3) Sayako, Princess Nori (紀宮清子内親王), following her marriage to urban designer Yoshiki Kuroda on 15 November 2005, Princess Nori gave up her imperial title and left the Imperial Family as required by 1947 Imperial Household Law, took the surname of her husband and became known as "Sayako Kuroda" (黒田清子).

In 1963, the Associated Press reported that the Crown Princess, then about three months pregnant, underwent an abortion on 22 March, in Tokyo. As the article stated, "The operation was advised by her physician, Prof. Takashi Kobayashi, who delivered Michiko's first child, three-year-old Prince Hiro, a spokesman said. The spokesman said it is believed the 28-year-old princess' health has been impaired by a continuous round of official and social functions before pregnancy".

Contrary to the tradition that the children of the imperial family should be separated from their parents and placed with private tutors, Crown Prince Akihito and his wife Crown Princess Michiko again broke precedent from the start by preferring to raise their children instead of entrusting them to the care of court chamberlains; the Crown Princess even breastfed. She and her husband have also built up a strong position among the general public, by their frequent trips in the 47 prefectures in the country to meet people but also for the liberties taken by the imperial couple vis-a-vis the protocol. At a more formal level, the Crown Prince and Princess visited 37 foreign countries between 1959 and 1989.

Empress of Japan

Upon the death of Emperor Shōwa on 7 January 1989, Crown Princess Michiko's husband became the 125th Emperor of Japan, and she became empress consort. The new Emperor and Empress were enthroned (Sokui Rei Seiden no Gi) at the Tokyo Imperial Palace on 12 November 1990.

Since their enthronement, the imperial couple have visited many countries, and have done much to make the Imperial Family more visible and approachable in contemporary Japan. They also tried to be close to the people, visiting the 47 prefectures of Japan.

Her official duties, apart from visits to other countries, are to assist her husband at events and ceremonies, both within and outside the Imperial Palace, receiving official guests including state guests and also to visit the social, cultural and charitable institutions and facilities. For example, in 2007, Michiko performed duties in her official capacity on more than 300 occasions. For many years Akihito and Michiko visited facilities for children on Children's Day and facilities for the elderly on Respect for the Aged Day. The Imperial Household Agency announced that after 2014 they will pass on these duties to the younger generation. Their health has had no bearing on this decision. Following the death of her mother-in-law, Empress Dowager Nagako, on 16 June 2000, she succeeded her as honorary president of the Japanese Red Cross Society.

As empress, she was particularly responsible for Momijiyama Imperial Cocoonery, a sericulture farm on the grounds of the imperial palace. She participated in the annual ceremony of harvesting silk, personally feeds silkworms with mulberry leaves and is responsible for taking care of them, the frames, and the harvesting. The production and harvesting of silk were part of her ceremonial duties, linked to Shintoism, Japanese culture, and tradition. From 1994 to 2019, the Empress offered a part of the harvested silk of the koishimaru variety (the oldest species now kept in Japan) to the Shōsōin Treasure-house in the Buddhist temple Tōdai-ji in Nara to be used for the restoration of its treasures.

The Empress is expected to be the embodiment of traditional values such as modesty and purity. She has demonstrated a strong sense of duty throughout her life, which makes her quite popular amongst the Japanese. She takes part in religious ceremonies with her husband, such as visits to Ise Grand Shrine, other Shinto shrines and Imperial mausoleums to pray to the Imperial Family's ancestral spirits. In addition, she is an accomplished classical pianist.

The Empress was elevated into the Hall of Fame of International Best Dressed List in 1990.

On the abdication of her husband Emperor Akihito on 30 April 2019, she became The Empress Emerita. Since the abdication, the couple's primary residence has been the Takanawa Residence.

Hobbies, passions and literary works
The Empress Emerita particularly enjoys reading, music and plays the piano and harp. Moreover, the imperial family has been known for several decades to form, occasionally, a family piano trio, with Crown Prince Akihito playing the cello, Crown Princess Michiko playing the piano, and Prince Naruhito playing the violin. Empress Michiko is also known to be particularly keen on gagaku, a kind of traditional Japanese court music.

She is also a fan of poetry, including the works of Michio Mado that she has selected, compiled and translated several of his poems in a series of collections under the titles Dobutsu-tachi (Animals) in 1992 and Fushigina Poketto (The Magic Pocket) in 1998.

She has composed several poems, including waka. Some of them have been published: a series of compound waka by Akihito and Michiko, Crown Prince and Princess, were published in 1987 and then republished in 1991 under the title Tomoshibi: Light. Finally, a collection of 367 waka by the Empress was published in 1997 under the title Seoto (瀬音), and 53 of them have been translated into French and published in France by Signatura under the title Sé-oto, song of the ford.

In 1991, she wrote a children's book, illustrated by Wako Takeda: Hajimete no Yamanobori ("My First Mountain Climb").

She is a hibernophile with an interest in Children of Lir, recites I See His Blood Upon The Rose by Joseph Plunkett as a party piece, and even speaks passable Irish.

Health
Michiko suffered from several nervous breakdowns because of the pressure of the media and, according to Reuters, the attitude of her mother-in-law, Empress Nagako, that had resulted in particular in making her lose her voice for seven months in the 1960s. She briefly collapsed at the Akasaka Palace on her birthday in 1993 and did not speak for two months, a condition caused by "deep sadness" and attributed by her doctors to negative media coverage.

Empress Michiko had to cancel many of her official duties in the spring of 2007, while suffering from mouth ulcers, nosebleeds and intestinal bleeding due to psychological stress, according to her doctors. This would be similar to the situation of her daughter-in-law, Masako, who also underwent several episodes of depression due to the pressures of her position.

In June 2019, it was announced that Michiko had heart valve abnormalities and an irregular pulse, though she was reported to be well enough to undergo cataract operations. In August 2019, it was revealed that she was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer a month prior while undergoing a routine medical appointment, and was scheduled to have the growth removed. In September 2019, it was reported by The Japan Times that the surgery was successful. On her 86th birthday in October 2020, it was revealed that she had been suffering from a mild fever since May. She was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis in August 2022 following the discovery of a clot in her right calf.

On 3 June 2024, Michiko tested positive for COVID-19 but recovered after a week.

Issue
Michiko and Akihito have three children (two sons and a daughter).

Titles and styles

 * 10 April 1959 – 7 January 1989: Her Imperial Highness The Crown Princess (皇太子妃殿下 Kōtaishi-hi Denka)
 * 7 January 1989 – 30 April 2019: Her Majesty The Empress (皇后陛下 Kōgō Heika)
 * 1 May 2019 – present: Her Majesty The Empress Emerita (上皇后陛下 Jōkōgō Heika)

Honours

 * 🇦🇹 Austria: Grand Star of the Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria
 * 🇧🇪 Belgium: Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold I
 * 🇩🇰 Denmark: Knight of the Order of the Elephant
 * 🇫🇷 France: Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit
 * 🇩🇪 Germany: Grand Cross Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
 * 🇮🇩 Indonesia: Star of Mahaputera, 1st Class
 * Nepalese Royal Family:
 * Member of the Order of the Benevolent Ruler
 * Recipient of the King Birendra Coronation Medal
 * 🇳🇴 Norway: Grand Cross of the Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav
 * 🇵🇭 Philippines: Member of the Order of Gabriela Silang
 * 🇵🇱 Poland: Knight of the Order of the White Eagle
 * 🇵🇹 Portugal:
 * Grand Cross of the Military Order of Saint James of the Sword
 * Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Henry
 * 🇪🇸 Spain:
 * Dame Grand Cross of the Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Charles III
 * Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic
 * 🇸🇪 Sweden: Knight of the Royal Order of the Seraphim
 * 🇹🇭 Thailand:
 * Dame of the Most Illustrious Order of the Royal House of Chakri
 * Commemorative Medal on the Occasion of the 60th Anniversary of the Accession to the Throne of H.M. King Bhumibol Adulyadej

Honorary positions

 * Honorary president of the Japanese Red Cross Society (passed on to her daughter-in-law Masako)

title: Empress Michiko


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Prime Minister of Greece

The prime minister of the Hellenic Republic (Πρωθυπουργός της Ελληνικής Δημοκρατίας), usually referred to as the prime minister of Greece (Πρωθυπουργός της Ελλάδας), is the head of government of the Hellenic Republic and the leader of the Greek Cabinet.

The officeholder's official seat (but not residence) is the Maximos Mansion in the centre of Athens. After the Presidency of the Government (Προεδρία της Κυβερνήσεως) was established, the office is referred to either as Prime Minister or President of the Government (Πρόεδρος της Κυβερνήσεως).

Election and appointment of the prime minister
The prime minister is officially appointed by the president of Greece.

According to Article 37 of the Greek Constitution, the president of the Hellenic Republic shall appoint the leader of the political party with the absolute majority of seats in the parliament as prime minister. If no party has the absolute majority, the president shall give the leader of the party with a relative majority (plurality) an exploratory mandate in order to ascertain the possibility of forming a government enjoying the confidence of parliament.

If this possibility cannot be ascertained, the president shall give the exploratory mandate to the leader of the second largest party in Parliament, and if this proves to be unsuccessful, to the leader of the third largest party in parliament. Each exploratory mandate shall be in force for three days.

If all exploratory mandates prove to be unsuccessful, the president summons all party leaders, and if the impossibility to form a cabinet enjoying the confidence of the parliament is confirmed, the president shall attempt to form a cabinet composed of all parties in parliament for the purpose of holding parliamentary elections. If this fails, the president shall entrust the president of the Supreme Administrative Court or of the Supreme Civil and Criminal Court or of the Court of Auditors to form a cabinet as widely accepted as possible to carry out elections after the president dissolves Parliament.

Therefore, the election of members of a certain party to parliament is the equivalent to a vote for that party's leader for prime minister.

Religious oath of office
Before taking office, the prime minister is sworn in at a religious ceremony inside the Presidential Mansion. Prime ministers are sworn in by the archbishop of Athens who is the head of the Church of Greece. The archbishop begins with a few prayers and the Kyrie Eleison, and then the prime minister-elect places his hand on the Bible placed in between two lit candles, all on a table between him and the archbishop. Following after the archbishop, the prime minister-elect then recites the oath:

I swear in the name of the Holy, Consubstantial and Indivisible Trinity to safeguard the Constitution and the laws and to serve the general interest of the Greek People.

The archbishop then recites a few more blessings, and the participants make the sign of the cross three times. The archbishop then congratulates the new prime minister, who then shakes hands with the president before the pertinent documents are signed.

Civil oath of office
In 2015 Alexis Tsipras, a self-proclaimed atheist, became the first prime minister to opt for a secular affirmation instead of the traditional religious oath. He was sworn in by President Karolos Papoulias instead of the archbishop of Athens, and, in place of the above oath, recited the affirmation:

Mr President, I would like to assure you, on my honour and conscience, that I will follow the Constitution and the laws and will always serve the general interest of the Greek People. He then shook hands with the president, who congratulated him, before proceeding to sign the official documents as normal.

When Tsipras assumed the premiership again, on 21 September 2015, President Prokopis Pavlopoulos decided that the affirmation had to be more formal, as it follows:

I affirm, on my honour and conscience, that I will follow the Constitution and the laws and will serve the general interest of the Greek People.

Official seat of the prime minister
The Maximos Mansion (Greek: Μέγαρο Μαξίμου) has been the official seat of the prime minister of Greece since 1982. It is located in central Athens, near Syntagma Square. Although the building contains the offices of the head of the Greek Government, it is not used as the residence of the prime minister.

During the revolution (1821–1832)
During the Greek War of Independence, different regions of Greece that were free of Ottoman control began establishing democratic systems for self-government, such as the Peloponnesian Senate. Meanwhile, a series of overarching National Assemblies, such as the First National Assembly at Epidaurus, met from time-to-time to provide overall coordination. The First Assembly elected a 5-member executive council, which was headed by Alexandros Mavrokordatos.

The Executive continued to govern Greece until 1828, when Ioannis Kapodistrias assumed the governance of the state as "Governor of Greece"—simultaneously head of state and of the government. Kapodistrias was assassinated in 1831 and his government, presided over by his brother Augustinos, collapsed the following year. It was replaced by a series of collective governmental councils, which lasted until 1833, when Greece became a monarchy.

Under Otto's absolute monarchy (1832–1843)
In 1832, Greece's nascent experiment with democracy was ended and a monarchy was established with the underage Bavarian Prince Otto as king. Initially the government was led by a regency council made up of Bavarians. The president of this council, Count Josef Ludwig von Armansperg was the de facto head of government under Otto. Later Otto dismissed his Bavarian advisers and wielded power as an absolute monarch, effectively as head of state and his own head of government.

Constitutional monarchy (1843–1910)
King Otto's reign as an absolute monarch came to an end when agitators for a constitution (as had been promised when the monarchy was established) rose up in the 3 September Revolution in 1843. Otto was forced to grant a constitution and Andreas Metaxas took power; he is credited with being the first Greek to formally serve as "Prime Minister."

Once the office of prime minister was established, the responsibility for self-government again fell to the Greek people. However, two factors maintained significant power for the crown: the Greek party structure was weak and client-based and the monarch was free to select any member of parliament to form a government.

In 1862, Otto was finally deposed and the Greek people chose a new monarch in the person of King George I of Greece. In the next 15 years, the party structures began to evolve into more modern ideological parties with the Nationalist Party led by Alexandros Koumoundouros on the right and the more liberal New Party led by Charilaos Trikoupis. Trikoupis was successful after the election of 1874 in forcing the king to accept the "dedilomeni principle" (αρχή της δεδηλωμένης)--that the leader of the majority in parliament must be selected as prime minister by the king.

The Nationalists were later led by Theodoros Deligiannis who famously said "was against everything Trikoupis was for." This two-party system existed until 1910, even as Georgios Theotokis took over the New Party after the death of Trikoupis in 1895 and the assassination of Deligiannis in 1905 which led to a splintering of parties on the conservative and nationalist side.

Upheaval, revolts and war (1910–1946)
In 1910, military officers sparked the fall of civilian government when they issued the Goudi Pronunciamento. This event led to the arrival in Greece of the Cretan politician Eleftherios Venizelos. His followers gathered in the Liberal Party, which, despite Venizelos' dominant status, constituted the first true party in the modern sense, in that it was formed around a progressive, liberal and pro-republican political agenda.

The Liberal Party was eventually opposed by the more conservative and pro-royalist People's Party, initially led by Dimitrios Gounaris. The antagonism between the two parties, and the supporters of monarchy and republicanism, would dominate the political landscape until after the Second World War.

title: Prime Minister of Greece


text:
Prime Minister of Greenland

The prime minister of Greenland (Naalakkersuisut siulittaasuat; Landsstyreformand), officially the premier of Greenland, is the head of government of Greenland, a constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark. The prime minister is usually leader of the majority party in the Parliament of Greenland. Jonathan Motzfeldt became the first prime minister after home rule was granted to Greenland in 1979. The incumbent prime minister is Múte Bourup Egede.

title: Prime Minister of Greenland


text:
President of Lithuania

The president of the Republic of Lithuania (Lietuvos Respublikos Prezidentas) is the head of state of the Republic of Lithuania. The president directs and appoints the executive branch of the Government of Lithuania, represents the nation internationally and is the commander-in-chief of the Lithuanian Armed Forces. The president is directly elected by the citizens of Lithuania for a five-year term, with the office holder limited to serving two terms consecutively. The current president is Gitanas Nausėda who assumed office on July 12, 2019.

Eligibility
To be eligible for election, candidates must be at least 40 years old on the election day and reside in Lithuania for at least three years, in addition to satisfying the eligibility criteria for a member of the parliament. A person who has been removed from office through impeachment for breach of constitution or an oath of office may not be elected as a president.

Powers
The Lithuanian president has somewhat more executive authority than their counterparts in neighboring Estonia and Latvia; the Lithuanian president's function is very similar to that of the presidents of France and Romania. Similarly to them, but unlike presidents in a fully presidential system such as the United States, the Lithuanian president generally has the most authority in foreign affairs. In addition to the customary diplomatic powers of Heads of State, namely receiving the letters of credence of foreign ambassadors and signing treaties, the president determines Lithuania's basic foreign policy guidelines. The president is also the commander-in-chief of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, and accordingly heads the State Defense Council and has the right to appoint the Chief of Defence (subject to Seimas consent).

The president also has a significant role in domestic policy, possessing the right to submit bills to the Seimas and to veto laws passed by it, appointing the prime minister and approving the government formed by them, and also having the right to dissolve the Seimas and call snap elections following a successful motion of no confidence or if the Seimas refuses to approve the government's budget within sixty days. However, the next elected Seimas may retaliate by calling for an earlier presidential election.

Finally, the president ensures an effective judiciary, being responsible for nominating one third of the judges of the Constitutional Court, and the entirety of the Supreme Court, for appointment by the Seimas; the president also has the right to directly appoint all other judges.

Election
Under the Constitution of Lithuania adopted in 1992, the president is elected to a five-year term under a modified two-round system: a candidate requires an absolute majority of the vote and either voter turnout to be above 50% or for their vote share to be equivalent to at least one-third of the number of registered voters to win the election in the first round. If no candidate does so, the two candidates with the most votes face each other in a second round held two weeks later. Upon taking office, the president must suspend any formal membership in a political party.

If the president dies or becomes incapacitated while in office, the Speaker of the Seimas assumes the office until a new president can be inaugurated following fresh elections.

title: President of Lithuania


text:
President of Romania

The president of Romania (Președintele României) is the head of state of Romania. It is directly elected by a two-round system, and, following a modification to the Romanian Constitution in 2003, serves for five years. An individual may serve two terms that may be consecutive. During their term in office, the president may not be a formal member of a political party. The president of Romania is the supreme commander of the Romanian Armed Forces.

The office of president was created in 1974, when communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu elevated the presidency of the State Council to a fully fledged executive presidency. It took its current form in stages after the Romanian Revolution, culminating in the adoption of Romania's current constitution in 1991.

Klaus Iohannis is the incumbent president since his inauguration on 21 December 2014. Iohannis is of full Transylvanian Saxon ethnicity/descent, making him the first president from Romania's German minority.

Communist era
In the Communist era, the president was elected for a five-year term by the Great National Assembly (GNA) on the recommendation of the Romanian Communist Party's Central Committee and the Front of Socialist Unity and Democracy, with no term limits. Ceaușescu was the only holder of the office under this system; he was elected by the GNA in 1974 and reelected in 1980 and 1985, each time unopposed. The president continued to serve as ex officio president of the State Council, and had the right to act on any matter that did not require a State Council plenum. He also appointed and dismissed ministers and heads of central agencies. When the GNA was not in session (in practice, for most of the year), the president could appoint and dismiss the president of the Supreme Court and the prosecutor general without State Council's approval; indeed, he was not even required to consult his State Council colleagues when making such decisions. Ceaușescu created the office in order to make himself chief decision-maker in both name and fact. Previously, he had nominally been first among equals on the State Council, deriving his real power from his leadership of the Communist Party. In practice, he used his power to act on all matters that did not require a plenum to rule by decree. Over time, he also usurped many powers that constitutionally belonged to the State Council as a whole.

Oath of office
After the Constitutional Court acknowledges the legality of the election, the Houses of Parliament meet in a joint session. The elected President takes the following oath of office, specified by article 82 of the Constitution:

Jur să-mi dăruiesc toată puterea și priceperea pentru propășirea spirituală și materială a poporului român, să respect Constituția și legile țării, să apăr democrația, drepturile și libertățile fundamentale ale cetățenilor, suveranitatea, independența, unitatea și integritatea teritorială a României. Așa să-mi ajute Dumnezeu!

''I solemnly swear that I will dedicate all my strength and the best of my ability for the spiritual and material welfare of the Romanian people, to abide by the Constitution and laws of the country, to defend democracy, the fundamental rights and freedoms of my fellow-citizens, Romania's sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity. So help me God!''

Powers and duties
Under the 1991 Constitution, which was amended in 2003, presidential powers were curtailed in contrast to communist Romania; the office continues to wield significant influence within a semi-presidential system of government.

The president's duties are set out in Title III, Chapter II of the Constitution. These are not exclusive, and are supplemented by other constitutional and legal provisions.

In home affairs:
 * Embodies the state and safeguards its independence, unity and territorial integrity.
 * Guards the observance of the Constitution and the functioning of public authorities.
 * Designates and appoints the Prime Minister, subject to parliamentary approval (the President cannot dismiss the Prime Minister).
 * Appoints and removes ministers, on the advice of the Prime Minister (a proposal by the Prime Minister may be rejected only once; in such cases, the Prime Minister cannot re-submit the same nomination for ministerial office; the President cannot refuse the appointment of a second, different, nominee).
 * Consults the Government on major policy matters.
 * Chairs Government when matters of national interest with regard to foreign policy, the defence of the country or public order are debated and, at the Prime Minister's request, in other instances as well.
 * Addresses Parliament on issues of national interest.
 * Assents to bills (the President may ask Parliament to reconsider a bill only once).
 * Refers bills for review to the Constitutional Court before signifying his assent.
 * Summons Parliament after a legislative election.
 * Requests extraordinary sessions of Parliament.
 * Dissolves Parliament (The President may dissolve Parliament if no vote of confidence has been obtained to form a government within 60 days after the first request was made, and only after rejection of at least two Prime Ministerial candidates).
 * Calls referendums (after consultation with Parliament). Such referendums are advisory and Parliament may choose not to implement their result. However, if a referendum is valid (this requires a majority vote in favour and above 30 percent turnout), Parliament may not legislate contrary to the referendum result.

In foreign affairs:
 * Undertakes state, official and working visits overseas.
 * Concludes international treaties negotiated by the Government and submits them to Parliament for ratification.
 * Appoints and recalls ambassadors and diplomatic envoys on the advice of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs (following such advice is not mandatory).
 * Receives letters of credence from foreign diplomatic envoys.
 * Approves the setting up, closing down, or change in rank of diplomatic missions.

In defence issues:
 * Exerts the role of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
 * Presides over the Supreme Council of National Defence.
 * Declares mobilisation of the Armed Forces, subject to prior approval from Parliament (or, in special circumstances, subsequent approval).
 * Acts to repel armed aggression towards the country.
 * Institutes the state of siege or the state of emergency (nationally or locally, with subsequent parliamentary approval).

Other duties:
 * Confers decorations and titles of honour.
 * Makes appointments to senior military ranks.
 * Makes appointments to public offices as provided by law.
 * Grants individual pardons.

In the exercise of his functions, the president issues decrees. Decrees issued under Article 91 (1) and (2), Article 92 (2) and (3), Article 93 (1), and Article 94 a), b) and d) of the Constitution must be countersigned by the Prime Minister in order to take effect.

Impeachment
An incumbent president who severely violates the Constitution may be suspended by the Parliament in joint session. If the suspension motion passes, there is a call for a referendum of impeachment within no more than 30 days from the suspension.

If the Senate and Chamber of Deputies, in joint session, accuse the president of high treason, the president is suspended from powers and duties by right. The accusations are judged by the High Court of Cassation and Justice. The incumbent president is dismissed by right if found guilty of high treason.

History
The suspension and impeachment procedure has been implemented three times. The first time regarded President Ion Iliescu, following a statement regarding the returning of the illegally confiscated properties during the years of the Socialist Republic of Romania to the original owners or their heirs. This first attempt in 1995 did not pass the vote in Parliament.

The second attempt was successful, with the person suspended being Traian Băsescu, in office as of April 2007. He became the first president to successfully be suspended and also the first to face an impeachment vote before the people, regarding issues with supposed unconstitutional acts. The impeachment plebiscite was held on 19 May 2007, and Băsescu survived the impeachment attempt. The result was the rejection of the proposal by 24.94% in favor to 75.06% opposed.

The third attempt lead to a second successful suspension in July 2012, again against Traian Băsescu. The referendum was held on 29 July 2012, and the results were 88.7% in favor and 11.3% opposed, with voter turnout calculated to be 46.24%; below the 50% + one vote threshold required at the time the referendum was held. The Constitutional Court did not give a verdict on the validation of the referendum at the time, citing irregularities in the permanent electoral lists. On 21 August, the Court deemed the referendum invalid, and again Băsescu prevailed from being ousted.

Succession
Should the office of the president become vacant due to resignation, impeachment, permanent inability to perform the duties of office, or death while in office, the president of the Senate or the president of the Chamber of Deputies, in that order, step in as Ad Interim President of Romania (Președinte Interimar al României). Neither relinquish their position as president of their respective Legislative House for the duration of the ad interim term. An ad interim president cannot address the Parliament, dissolve the Parliament, nor call for a referendum (the impeachment referendum after a motion of suspension is called by Parliament). The vacancy of the office cannot be longer than three months. While the president is suspended, the office is not considered vacant.

title: President of Romania


text:
User:Himu1978

Hello, welcome to Wikipedia. I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian. You can learn more on the how to edit page. The naming conventions and manual of style pages are also useful. Feel free to experiment at the Sandbox. If you have any questions about the project then check out Help or add a question to the Village pump. Thanks for your contributions to the Gangetic Plains. I have merged some of it with the article that already existed on the Ganges River. Angela 16:00 20 Jul 2003 (UTC)

title: User:Himu1978