!!!Bundespräsident

Federal President, Head of State of the Republic of Austria, highest 
organ of the executive along with the  Federal Chancellor, the  Vice 
Chancellor and the  Federal Ministers. The office of the Federal 
President was set up by the  Federal Constitution of October 1, 1920. 
According to the constitutional amendment of 1929, the Federal 
President is elected by direct vote of the people and thus constitutes 
a political counterbalance to the parliament (first election of a 
federal president in 1951).

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Every person who is entitled to take part in legislative elections and 
who is over the age of 35 before January 1 of the election year is 
eligible to run for office. Members of ruling or formerly ruling 
families (especially the Habsburgs) are not eligible. The candidate 
who obtains more than half of the valid votes cast is elected. If no 
candidate receives more than half of the votes at the first ballot, a 
second ballot between the two candidates with the most votes has to 
take place. The federal president is sworn in by the  
Bundesversammlung. The federal president enjoys extensive  Immunity 
from prosecution. During his/her tenure of office s/he must not 
practise any other profession nor belong to a general representative 
body. The Federal President is elected for a six-year term. S/he may 
be re-elected for a second six-year term. Premature removal is only 
possible by a  Volksabstimmung (plebiscite), a decision of the  
Constitutional Court or a criminal conviction (which presupposes the 
withdrawal of the President's immunity). If the president is prevented 
from fulfilling his/her duties (for 20 days at most), the Federal 
Chancellor assumes the functions of the federal president; if the 
federal president is prevented from holding office for a longer 
period, his/her functions are assumed by the 3 presidents of the 
Nationalrat. If s/he is permanently incapacitated, a new election has 
to be called immediately and the 3 presidents of the Nationalrat 
exercise the functions of the Federal President until the newly 
elected president is sworn in.

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The duties of the Federal President are laid down in the articles 
60-68 of the Federal Constitution. Most acts of the Federal President 
("resolutions") require a proposal by the  Federal Government or by a 
federal minister and the counter-signature of the federal chancellor 
or a federal minister. When the federal president appoints the federal 
chancellor, s/he is not subject to any legal obligations but usually 
charges the chairman of the majority party with the formation of a 
government.

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The President's most important competencies are the following: s/he 
appoints and dismisses the Federal Chancellor, the Federal Ministers 
and the Staatssekretaere; s/he swears in the Landeshauptmaenner; 
authenticates federal laws duly established and enacted; convenes and 
dissolves parliament; dissolves the Landtage; is commander-in-chief of 
the armed forces; represents the Republic; concludes state treaties 
for the federal and provincial governments; receives and acknowledges 
foreign diplomatic representatives; appoints federal civil servants 
and members of the constitutional and administrative courts; creates 
and awards titles; quashes criminal proceedings and grants pardons; 
declares the legitimacy of illegitimate children. Under certain 
conditions the federal president is entitled to enact emergency 
decrees.

!Literature
M. Welan, Der Bundespraesident, 1992.


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