President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo , is Congo

Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...

's elected Head of State

Head of State

A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...

, and the ex officio "Supreme Commander" (Commander-in-Chief

Commander-in-Chief

A commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the military...

) of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC).

The position of President in the DRC has existed since the first constitution - known as The Fundamental Law - of 1960. However the powers of this position have varied over the years, from a limited shared role in the executive branch, with a prime minister, to a full-blown dictatorship. Under the current constitution

Constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the basic law governing the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Constitution has been changed and/or replaced several times since its independence in 1960.- Current Constitution :...

, the President exists as the highest institution in a semi-presidential

Semi-presidential system

The semi-presidential system is a system of government in which a president and a prime minister are both active participants in the day-to-day administration of the state...

Republic.

The current President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is Joseph Kabila

Joseph Kabila

Joseph Kabila Kabange is a Congolese politician who has been President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo since January 2001. He took office ten days after the assassination of his father, President Laurent-Désiré Kabila...

Presidential powers

The semi-presidential system established by the constitution is largely borrowed from the French constitution. Although it is the prime minister

Prime minister

A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...

and parliament

Parliament of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Parliament of the Democratic Republic of the Congo consists of two chambers:*The Senate *The National Assembly -External links:*...

that oversee much of the nation's actual lawmaking, the president wields significant influence, both formally and from constitutional convention. The president holds the nation's most senior office, and outranks all other politicians.

Perhaps the president's greatest power is his or her ability to choose the prime minister. However, since only the National Assembly

National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Composition of the National Assembly...

has the power to dismiss the Prime Minister's government, the president is forced to name a prime minister that commands the support of the majority of this assembly.

When the majority of the Assembly has opposite political views to that of the president, this leads to political cohabitation. In that case, the president's power is diminished, since much of the de facto power relies on a supportive prime minister and National Assembly, and is not directly attributed to the post of president. Still, the constitutional convention is that the president directs foreign policy, though he must work on that matter with the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
When the majority of the Assembly sides with him, the President can take a more active role and may, in effect, direct government policy. The prime minister is then often a mere "fuse" and can be replaced if the administration becomes unpopular.

Among the formal powers of the president:

The president promulgates laws.
The president has a very limited form of suspensive veto: when presented with a law, he or she can request another reading of it by Parliament, but only once per law.
The president may also refer the law for review to the Constitutional Council prior to promulgation.
The president may refer laws to popular referendum, within certain conditions.
The president names certain high officials (with the assent of the cabinet).
The president names certain members of the Constitutional Council.
The president receives foreign ambassadors.
The president may grant a pardon (but not an amnesty) to convicted criminals; the president can also lessen or suppress criminal sentences. This was of crucial importance when France still operated the death penalty: criminals sentenced to death would generally request that the president commute their sentence to life imprisonment.
The President is the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and thus heads the High Council on Defence.

Election

Under the 2006 constitution

Constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

, the President of Democratic Republic of the Congo is directly elected to a five-year term - renewable only once - by universal suffrage

Universal suffrage

Universal suffrage consists of the extension of the right to vote to adult citizens as a whole, though it may also mean extending said right to minors and non-citizens...

. The first President to have been elected under these provisions is Joseph Kabila

Joseph Kabila

, in the 2006 elections

Democratic Republic of the Congo general election, 2006

General elections were held in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on July 30, 2006, the first multiparty elections in the country in 41 years. Voters went to the polls to elect both a new President of the Republic and a new National Assembly, the lower-house of the Parliament.The polls were...

.

In the DRC, the president is elected by a Two-round system

Two-round system

The two-round system is a voting system used to elect a single winner where the voter casts a single vote for their chosen candidate...

of voting, which ensures the elected President always obtains a majority of the vote. If none of the candidates manage to receive the majority of the votes then the top two candidates in the election arrive at a run off. This allows smaller parties to have a greater impact on the outcome of elections, thus guaranteeing a multi-party system, as opposed to a two-party system.

After the president is elected, he goes through a solemn investiture

Investiture

Investiture, from the Latin is a rather general term for the formal installation of an incumbent...

ceremony.http://www.presidentrdc.cd/practu061206.html

Requirements

Article 72 of the Congolese constitution states that the President must be a natural born citizen - or more accurately: - of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and at least 30 years of age. Additionally, the President must be free of any legal constraints on their civil and political rights.

Article 10 of the same constitution defines citoyen d'origine as : "anyone belonging to the ethnic groups whose persons and territory constituted what became the Congo (currently the Democratic Republic of the Congo), at independence".

Succession

Articles 75 and 76 of the constitution state that upon the death or resignation of the President, the vacancy of the position is declared by the Constitutional court. The President of the Senate

Senate of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Senate is the upper house of the Parliament of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.During the transition period in the Democratic Republic of the Congo , the Senate, aside from its Legislative role, also had the task of drafting the country's new constitution...

then becomes interim president.

The Independent Electoral Commission has to organize elections between sixty (60) and eighty (90) days after the official declaration of vacancy by the Constitutional court.

Other information

The official office of the president is the Palais de la Nation (Palace of the Nation) in Kinshasa

Kinshasa

Kinshasa is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is located on the Congo River....

.

The official residence of the president is the Camp Tshatshi Palace in Kinshasa