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:: CONSTITUTIONAL FUNCTIONS AND
RESPONSIBILITIES ::...
 The new constitution has established the
office of the president of the Republic. Elected in January 1991, Mr.
Kiro
Gligorov was the first president of the Republic of Macedonia in the full
sense of the world in the political and constitutional history of Macedonia.
Elected in December 1999
Boris
Trajkovski is the second president of Macedonia.
"The president of the Republic of
Macedonia represents the Republic. The president of the Republic is
commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Macedonia." (Article 79)
The president of the Republic is elected in
general and direct elections, by secret ballot, for a term of five years. A
person may be elected President of the Republic of Macedonia two times at most.
A person may be elected president of the Republic of Macedonia if aged over 40
on the day of election and if he/she has been a resident of the country for at
least ten years. A candidate for the president of the Republic can be nominated
by a minimum of 10.000 voters at least 30 representatives. A candidate is
elected President if voted by a majority of the total number of voters. If no
candidate wins an overall majority, the two most leading candidates enter a
second round and the candidate is elected President who wins a majority of the
voters of those who voted, provided that more than half of the registered voters
voted. If in the second round of no candidate wins the required the majority of
votes, the whole electoral voting procedure is repeated. The same applies in the
event of only one candidate being nominated for this post, but, of course, after
the first round. A novelty in the proposed draft for the election of President
of the Republic is that the costs of of the presidential election campaign
cannot exceed 1.000 average monthly salaries over the last three before the
elections.
The duty of the president of the Republic is
incompatible with the performance of any other public office, profession or
appointment in a political party. In case of death, resignation, permanent
inability to perform his/her duties, or in case of termination of the mandate in
accordance with the provisions of the
Constitution,
the office of the President of the Republic is carried out by the President
of the Assembly until the election of the new president. Should the president of
the Republic be temporary unable to perform his/her duties, the President of the
Assembly deputizes for him/her.
The President of the Republic of Macedonia:
1. Nominates a mandatory to constitute
the Government of the Republic of Macedonia;
2. appoints and dismisses by decree ambassadors and other diplomatic
representatives of the Republic of Macedonia abroad;
3. accepts the credentials and letters of recall foreign diplomatic
representatives;
4. proposes two judges to sit on the Constitutional Court of the Republic
of Macedonia;
5. proposes two members of the Republican Judiciary Court;
6. appoints three members to the Security Council of the Republic of
Macedonia;
7. proposes the members of the Council for Inter-Ethnic relations;
8. appoints and dismisses other holders of state and public offices
determined by the Constitution and the law;
9. grants decorations and honors in accordance with the law;
10. grants pardons in accordance with the law, and performs other duties
determined by the Constitution.
Relations between the Assembly and the
President of the Republic of Macedonia and based on the principle of division
and powers.
"The president of the Republic
addresses the Assembly on issues within his/her sphere of competence at least
once a year."
"The Assembly may request the president
of the republic to state an opinion on issues within his/her sphere of
competence."
The President of the Republic exercises
his/her rights and duties on the basis and within framework of the Constitution
and the law. The procedure for determining the President's answerability is
initiated by the Assembly with-thirds majority vote of al representatives. It is
the Constitutional Court that rules on the answerability of the President by a
two-thirds majority of the vote of all constitutional judges.
As can be seen from the areas of competence,
the office of the President of the Republic of Macedonia is not typically
representative. Conceptually, and according to the experience to date, it is
part of the executive power.
There is no doubt that the President has
large and important constitutional competencies, but they are far from
superseding the Assembly and the Government in the exercise of their functions.
We must bear in mind the present political composition of Macedonia and
particularly the situation in the Assembly where is possible that an almost
"ideal blockade" may be created which is automatically reflected in
the functioning of the government. Hence it is essential to the vital interest
of the citizens and the state that the office of the President of the Republic
may be exercised to its full capacity.
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The fulfillment of the function of the
President of the Republic in this period has mostly involved activities
promoting the full establishment of Macedonia as a subject of international law,
its sovereignty and political position. The sphere of foreign policy and its
creation within the constitutional competencies between the legislative and
executive powers, and between the president of the Republic and the Government
as proponents of the executive power, has proved to be an area which lies mostly
in the field of responsibilities and activities of the President of the
Republic.
