President of Slovakia

President of the Slovak Republic Prezident Slovenskej republiky
Presidential Standard
Incumbent Ivan Gašparovič since 15 June 2004
Residence	Grassalkovich Palace Bratislava
Appointer	Popular vote
Term length	Five years renewable once, consecutively
Inaugural holder	Michal Kováč 2 March 1993
Formation	Constitution of Slovakia
Salary	c. 110,880 €[1]
Website	President of the Slovak Republic

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v t e

The President of the Slovak Republic (Slovak: Prezident Slovenskej republiky) is the head of state of Slovakia. The president is directly elected by the people for five years, and can be elected for a maximum of two consecutive terms. The presidency is largely a ceremonial office, but the president does exercise certain limited powers with absolute discretion. The president's official residence is the Grassalkovich Palace in Bratislava.

History of the office

The office was established by the constitution of Slovakia on 1 January 1993 when Slovakia permanently split from Czechoslovakia and became independent. However, the office was vacant until 2 March 1993 when the first president Michal Kováč was elected by the National Council of Slovak Republic. However, in 1998 due to then political situation the National Council was unable to elect new president for another term. The result was that for half a year the position became vacant. The duties and powers of the office were devolved upon the then prime minister and speaker of the National Council. In order to come to a solution the constitution was changed in so that the president would be elected in the national presidential election. Presidential elections have been held in 1999, 2004 and 2009.

The current president is Ivan Gašparovič who took office on 15 June 2004.

Role and Powers

The president has a very limited role in state as the office is largely ceremonial. According to the constitution the president is the supreme representative of the state both in Slovakia and abroad, and also acts as the commander-in-chief of the Slovak army. Among his constitutional powers are nominating and appointing the prime minister, three judges of the constitutional court and three members of the judicial council. The president can also veto any bill (not including constitutional one) from the National Council. His veto can be overridden if the National Council passes the same bill again with majority of all members of the Council.

Among his constitutional duties are signing the bills into the law, appointing the ministers on the recommendation of the prime minister and appointing various other state officials: generals, professors, judges, rectors, procurators and such. The president can grant a parole on the recommendation of the minister of justice.

Presidents of the Slovak Republic

Parties

      HZDS       SOP       HZD

No.	President		Took office	Left office	Party	Term	Previous office
1		Michal Kováč (born 1930)	2 March 1993	2 March 1998	Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS)	1 (1993)	Chairman of the Federal Assembly of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic (1992)
2		Rudolf Schuster (born 1934)	15 June 1999	15 June 2004	Party of Civic Understanding (SOP)	2 (1999)	Member of the National Council (1998–1999) Mayor of Košice (1994–1999)
3		Ivan Gašparovič (born 1941)	15 June 2004	Incumbent	Movement for Democracy (HZD)	3 (2004)	Chairman of the National Council (1993–1998)
						4 (2009)

Acting Presidents

Latest election

References

1. ↑ "ZÁKON O PLATOVÝCH POMEROCH NIEKTORÝCH ÚSTAVNÝCH ČINITEĽOV SLOVENSKEJ REPUBLIKY". Government of Slovakia. 13 March 2013.  (Slovak)

See also

• List of Presidents of Czechoslovakia
• List of Prime Ministers of Slovakia
• List of leaders of Slovak parliaments

v t e Presidents of Slovakia First Republic Jozef Tiso (1939-1945) Second Republic Michal Kováč (1993-1998) Rudolf Schuster (1999-2004) Ivan Gašparovič (2004-)