Talk:President of the French Republic

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[edit] Why five year terms?

Today I have learnt that presidential terms is five years instead of seven as before. Just wondering why the presidential term has been shortened.--129.94.6.28 05:16, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

because 7 years was ok for a president that was just here for honorary reasons, like during the 3rd and 4th Republic, but a bit too long for a head of the executive. Public opinion was in favour of such reduction so finally, after a first term of 7 years, Chirac decided to proposed the reduction to 5 years for the next term, by referendum that has been accepted.Alain10 19:15, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

BTW, if you want some very good, complete and detailed information, go to Government of France Alain10 19:18, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

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Was the move from President of France to President of the French Republic ever discussed? john k 02:36, 9 Jun 2005 (UTC)

In French the President is NEVER described as "President of France" - he (or she) is President of the French Republic, i.e. the French state. See the distinction during the Revolution of the notion of "King of France" (ruler over the France as a whole)and "King of the French" (head of the French political system). french r batty <obscenity removed> lmao —The preceding unsigned comment was added by [[User:{{{1}}}|{{{1}}}]] ([[User talk:{{{1}}}|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/{{{1}}}|contribs]]).

No. It was because King of France indicated king of a territory, whereas King of the French means king of the French people. The latter was what is called a Popular monarchy. It is standard in most European republics for the head of state to be called President of the <name> Republic. Ireland is one of the few that doesn't, simply because it had a president before it became a republic. FearÉIREANN\^(caint) 14:35, 30 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] oldest in Europe?

The claim that the French presidency is the oldest in Europe seems dubious. The First President of the Swiss Confederation take office on 21 November 1848. By contrast, Louis Napoleon did not take office until 20 December 1848. This would seem to make the Swiss presidency the oldest in Europe. john k 22:34, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Power of the president and constitutional convention

I do not agree about what is said about the president having power both coming from constitution and from constitutional convention.

This is actually the opposite: the president has a lot of power from the constitution that, from constitutional convention, he cannot use. For example, the president promulgates the laws, but he has no veto power. When Mitterand in 1986 refused to sign and ordinance, it has been criticized by most legal scholars as illegal because, by constitutional convention, he had to sign it.

I believe the article err on many aspects of constitutional law. Please see rather the excellent article government of France, which is fully accurate. Alain10 20:56, 13 March 2007 (UTC)