President of Brazil

The president of Brazil (officially the President of the Federative Republic of Brazil or simply the President of the Republic) is both the head of state and head of government of the Federative Republic 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 the Emperor Pedro II. Since then, Brazil had six constitutions, two dictatorships and three democratic periods. During these democratic periods, voting has always been compulsory.

General description

The Brazilian Constitution of 1988, along with several constitutional amendments, establishes the requirements, powers, and responsibilities of the president, as well as the term of office and method of election.^[2]

Duties and powers

As a republic with a presidential Executive, Brazil grants significant powers to the President. He or she 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 Tribunal. The president is also the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.

Presidents in Brazil also have significant lawmaking powers, exercised either by proposing laws to the National Congress, or else 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, electoral law, tax law, among other cases). 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. This 60 day period can be extended once, up to a maximum of 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 120 day, in case of extension), or sooner, if rejected by one of the Houses of Congress.^[3]

Article 84 of the current 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. start 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 to 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, in the cases where 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;
9. decree the state of defense and the state of siege, in accordance with the constitional procedures that shall precede and authorize those emergency decrees;
10. decree and enforce federal intervention, in accordance with the constitutional procedures that shall 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 Senate, the Justices of the Supreme Federal Court and those of the superior courts, the Governors of the territories, the Attorney-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 Federal Court of Accounts;
16. appoint judges in the events established by this Constitution and the Advocate-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 to hold office

According to the 1988 Constitution, the president must be a native-born citizen of Brazil, be at least 35 years of age, be a resident in Brazil, be an elector, have all the electoral rights, and be inscribed in a political party (write-in candidates are forbidden).

Term of office

Currently the president serves his or her second four-year term without the possibility of reelection for another term sequentially. The reelection for executive posts has existed since 1997, when Constititutional Amendment nº 16 was passed.

Compensation and privileges of office

The president earns a R$26.723,13 monthly salary^[1], along with an undisclosed expense account to cover travel, goods and services during office.^[4] The most recent raise in salary was approved by Congress in December 2010 and went into effect in February 2011.^[1] Given that in Brazil all private and public sector employees and civil servants receive an aditional compensation equivalent to one monthly salary after a year of work (this compensation is known as the thirtheenth salary), the President receives thirteen payments of R$ 26.723,13 per year, resulting in an annual salary of R$ 347.400,69.

The Palácio do Planalto in Brasília is the official workplace of the president and the Palácio da Alvorada his/her official residence; he/she is entitled to use its staff and facilities.^[5][6] 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.^[7] The Palácio Rio Negro in Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, is a summer retreat of the president, although used rarely.^[8]

In addition, the Presidency of the Republic also maintains the Jaburu Palace in Brasilia for use by the Vice-President of the Republic as his official residence.

In the first decade of the 21st century, 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 2011 Ford Fusion Hybrid^[9][10] 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.^[11] A modified version of the Airbus A319, Air Force designation VC-1A, is used to transport the president on all medium and long-range international flights.^[12][13] Two modified Embraer 190 jets, Air Force designation VC-2, are used for short and medium range presidential travel.^[14] When the president is on board, the aircraft receive the call sign "Brazilian Air Force One".^[13] Two modified military versions of the Eurocopter Super Puma, Air Force designation VH-34, are currently used as the main presidential helicopters.^[15]

Living former presidents

As of July 2011, there are four living former presidents. The most recent deceased president was Itamar Franco (1930–2011).

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
• Life-long monthly pension for widows and unmarried daughters of ex-presidents;
• Pension for sons of ex-presidents until they come of age, should a president or former president die leaving an underage son.

Office-holders

All Presidents of Brazil bore 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 1967 the country was officially styled Republic of the United States of Brazil, and thus the full title of the Presidents from Deodoro da Fonseca to Humberto Castello Branco was President of the Republic of the United States of Brazil. On March 15, 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. Since Costa e Silva, therefore, all Presidents of Brazil bear the full title of President of the Federative Republic of Brazil.

Latest election

See also

• List of presidential trips made by Dilma Rousseff
• List of Presidents of Brazil
• Brazilian presidential inauguration
• Brazilian presidential election, 2010
• Politics of Brazil
• Cabinet of Brazil
• Vice-President of Brazil
• FAB Uno

References

• "Galeria dos Presidentes — informações históricas" (in Portuguese). Presidência da República. http://www.presidencia.gov.br/info_historicas/galeria_pres. Retrieved 2007-04-25. 
• "Federal Constitution of 1988" (in Portuguese). Presidência da República. http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/Constituicao/Constituiçao.htm. Retrieved 2007-04-25. 
• "New Air Force One for President Lula". MercoPress. http://www.mercopress.com/vernoticia.do?id=3138&formato=html. Retrieved 2006-07-06. 
• "Centro de Informação de Acervos dos Presidentes da República" (in Portuguese). Arquivo Nacional. Archived from the original on 2007-04-03. http://web.archive.org/web/20070403202732/http://www.arquivonacional.gov.br/memoria/crapp_site/default.asp. Retrieved 2007-04-25. 

External links

• Official website of the Presidency of the Republic (Portuguese)
• Official website of the National Archives of Brazil, featuring detailed information on every presidential administration (Portuguese)
• Museum of the Republic (Portuguese)
• Presidents of Brazil 1889–2006