President of Slovakia

President of the Slovak Republic
Prezident Slovenskej republiky

Presidential Standard
Incumbent
Andrej Kiska
since 15 June 2014
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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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 Andrej Kiska, who took office on 15 June 2014.

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       Independent       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 Independent 2 (1999) Member of the National Council
(1998–1999)
Mayor of Košice
(1994–1999)
3 Ivan Gašparovič
(born 1941)		 15 June 2004 15 June 2014 Movement for Democracy
(HZD)		 3 (2004) Chairman of the National Council (1993–1998)
4 (2009)
4 Andrej Kiska
(born 1963)		 15 June 2014 Incumbent Independent 5 (2014) None

Acting Presidents

NameTerm
Vladimír Mečiar 1 January 1993 – 2 March 1993
Vladimír Mečiar
Ivan Gašparovič		 2 March 1998 – 30 October 1998
14 July 1998 – 30 October 1998
Mikuláš Dzurinda
Jozef Migaš		 30 October 1998 – 15 June 1999

Latest election

 Summary of the 15 March and 29 March 2014 Slovak presidential election results
Candidates and nominating parties 1st round 2nd round
Votes % Votes %
Robert Fico (Smer) 531,919 28.0 893,841 40.61
Andrej Kiska (Independent) 455,996 24.0 1,307,065 59.38
Radoslav Procházka (Independent) 403,548 21.2  
Milan Kňažko (Independent) 244,401 12.9
Gyula Bárdos (SMK–MKP) 97,035 5.1
Pavol Hrušovský (KDH, SDKÚ–DS, Most) 63,298 3.3
Helena Mezenská (Independent) 45,180 2.4
Ján Jurišta (KSS) 12,209 0.6
Ján Čarnogurský (Independent) 12,207 0.6
Viliam Fischer (Independent) 9,514 0.5
Jozef Behýl (Independent) 9,126 0.5
Milan Melník (Independent]) 7,678 0.4
Jozef Šimko (SMS) 4,674 0.2
Stanislav Martinčko (KOS) 2,547 0.1
Total (turnout 43.40% / 50.48% ) 1,899,332 100.00 2,200,906 100.00
Sources: statistics.sk

See also

References

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