Democratic Alternative Information Service:
  Ross Garrad: Policies
  Electing a People's President:

Tenure and Dismissal

1.  The President should be elected for a single six-year term. However, the Parliament should have the power to extend this term by up to 50% (three years) by a three-quarters majority vote of both houses of Parliament, by secret ballot.

The "single term" provision is intended to reflect the fundamentally non-political role of the President. "Running for re-election" should not be an option. The role of the President is simply to serve the nation to the best of his or her ability for the time allocated. However, there may be cases in which the national interest would be best served by a continuation in office by the serving President. The role of the President will be to some extent self-created, and there may be some vital national or international project that requires continued involvement by that particular person to bring it to fruition. As well, this provision would allow the timing of a presidential election to be adjusted, where it may otherwise be too close to a parliamentary election.

2.  Parliament will have the power to remove a President from office by a three-quarters majority vote of both houses of Parliament, by secret ballot. For such removal to be constitutionally valid, Parliament must

• appoint a caretaker President, who will be a former President or Governor-General if such a person is available, and
• set a date, no more than three months away, for the opening of nominations for election of a new President. The dismissed President, not having served a full term, will be eligible to offer himself or herself for nomination.

The majority required to remove the Head of State, or extend the term of office, has been set at three-quarters instead of two-thirds in order to emphasise that these are steps which would only be taken in extraordinary circumstances. It is conceivable that one party could have a two-thirds majority in Parliament, but a three-quarters majority would be unlikely to ever occur. Taking either of these steps would therefore require consensus among the major parties.

3.  In the case of a President who dies in office or resigns without notice, the Chief Justice of the High Court will automatically fill the role of President until the Parliament can meet, to appoint a caretaker President and set a date for nominations as above.

A Vice-President does not seem necessary in the case of a non-executive Presidency, but it would be necessary to have an automatic line of succession to avoid leaving the country without a Head of State.

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Ross Garrad, 5 November 1997