“President of Austria”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

The President of Austria ({{lang-de|Bundespräsident der Republik Österreich|lit|Federal President of the Republic of Austria}}) is the head of state of the Austrian Republic. Though theoretically entrusted with great power by the constitution, in practice the president is mainly a ceremonial and symbolic figurehead.

The president is directly elected by universal suffrage every six years and can continuously remain in office for twelve years. The president is a supreme executive organ alongside with the ministers, state secretaries and members of state governments. One of the most important presidential tasks is the appointment of the chancellor and, upon his advice, the other members of the government.

The president ranks first in Austria's order of precedence, being above the President of the National Council and the chancellor. The president's workplaces are located in the Leopoldine Wing of the Hofburg Imperial Palace in Vienna.

The office of president was created by the constitution on 1 October 1920. According to the constitutional amendment of 1929, the president was to be directly elected by the people. Nevertheless, the re-election of president Wilhelm Miklas in 1931 was performed by the Federal Assembly. Miklas remained under the dictatorial federal state until his resignation in 1938. Even Karl Renner was still elected by the Federal Assembly as of 20 December 1945. Only in 1951, Theodor Körner became the first president to be elected by the people.

Many presidents have gained tremendous popularity while in office, and no president has ever lost a bid for re-election, although Kurt Waldheim did not run for a second term. Five presidents have died in office. From 2004 to 2016, the office was occupied by social democrat Heinz Fischer. Since the establishment of the popular vote in 1951, only members and nominees of the Social Democratic Party and the People's Party had been elected president, until the election of the Green-endorsed incumbent Alexander Van der Bellen in 2016.

History

Prior to the collapse of the multinational Austro-Hungarian Empire towards the end of World War I, what now is the Republic of Austria had been part of a monarchy with an emperor as its head of state and chief executive. The empire noticeably began to fracture in late 1917 and manifestly disintegrated into a number of independent states over the course of the following year.

Effective 21 October 1918, the Imperial Council parliamentarians representing the empire's ethnically German provinces formed a Provisional National Assembly for their paralyzed rump state and appointed veteran party leader Karl Seitz as one of their three largely coequal chairmen (21 October 1918 – 16 February 1919). As chairman, he became an ex officio member of the State Council (Deutschösterreichischer Staatsrat). On 12 November 1918, the State Council collectively assumed the functions of head of state according to a resolution of the National Assembly.

On 11 November, Emperor Charles I announced "I relinquish every participation in the administration of the State. Likewise I have released the members of the Austrian Government from their offices".^[2] The next day, parliament proclaimed the Republic of German-Austria. The assembly presidents (Seitz, Franz Dinghofer and Johann Nepomuk Hauser) continued to serve as acting heads of state until 4 March 1919, when the Constituent National Assembly collectively assumed these functions. Seitz (5 March 1919 – 10 November 1920) was the only President of the Constituent National Assembly.

Karl Seitz performed the duties of head of state according to a law of 1 October 1920, which transferred these duties to the "former president of the National Constituent Assembly" for the period from 10 November 1920, to the day of inaugurating the first president (9 December 1920). Since Austria had not finalized its decision to structure itself as a federation prior to the formal promulgation of the Constitution of Austria on 1 October 1920, referring to Seitz as president would have been inaccurate. Austria's first Bundespräsident proper thus was Michael Hainisch, Karl Seitz' immediate successor. In a related note, many popular sources quote some more or less random date between October 1918 and March 1919 as the beginning of Seitz' tenure. While most of them are merely misleading, others are plainly wrong: even though Seitz was appointed president of the Provisional National Assembly in October 1918, it would have been impossible for him to serve as Bundespräsident, since the republic has not even been proclaimed back-then.

The constitution originally defined Austria to be a parliamentary republic. Originally, the constitution was radically parliamentarian in character. The bicameral parliament, called the Federal Assembly, not only possessed legislative power, but also a good deal of executive power as well. The government was appointed by the National Council rather than the president, who in turn was elected by both houses of the Federal Assembly rather than the people. The president's term of office was four rather than six years. The president was answerable to the Federal Assembly and, in particular, had no authority to dissolve the National Council. Not even having much actual influence on the appointment of Constitutional Court justices, the president was confined to a nearly exclusively ceremonial role.

The role and nature of the president was the result of a compromise reached during the drafting of the constitution. The Social Democrats would have preferred that the president of the National Council serves as head of state, while the Christian Socials wanted a president with executive powers similar to those of the president of Germany. In the end, the framers enacted a compromise – while a separate presidency was created in accordance with the wishes of the Christian Socials, his role was almost entirely ceremonial to appease the Social Democrats. It was under this constitutional framework that Michael Hainisch and Wilhelm Miklas assumed office on 9 December 1920 and 10 December 1928, respectively.

The parliamentary system prescribed by the constitution was highly unpopular, however, with the authoritarian Heimwehr movement evolving during the 1920s. The Heimwehr was in favor of a system granting more powers to the president. On 7 December 1929, under growing pressure from the Heimwehr, the constitution was amended to give the president the sweeping executive and legislative authority he formally still has. It also called for the office to be filled by popular vote for a term of six years. The first election was scheduled for 1934. However, owing to the growing worldwide financial crisis, all parties agreed to suspend the election in favour of having Miklas reelected by parliament.

Only three years later, however, the Fatherland Front – an alliance of the Heimwehr and the Christian Social Party – tore down Austrian parliamentarism altogether, formally annulling the constitution on 1 May 1934. Though Austria now was a dictatorship in all but name, power was concentrated in the hands of the Chancellor, not those of the president. Wilhelm Miklas was stripped of the powers he'd gained in 1929, but agreed to act as a figurehead of institutional continuity anyway. He was not entirely powerless, however – during the Anschluss crisis, he provided some of the stiffest resistance to the Nazi demands.{{citation needed|date=February 2019}} He technically remained in office until 13 March 1938, the day Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany and thus lost sovereignty.

When Austria re-established itself as an independent state on 27 April 1945, the party leaders forming the provisional government decided not to frame a new constitution, reverting instead to that of 1920, as amended in 1929. Even though this revision was still somewhat controversial at that point, it was part of Austria's most recent constitutional framework, giving it at least some much-needed form of democratic legitimacy, and the party chairs were afraid that lengthy discussion might provoke the Red Army then in control of Vienna to barge in. The constitution thus reenacted effective 1 May therefore still included the provision calling for a president elected by popular vote. Following the November 1945 National Council elections, however, the National Assembly temporarily suspended this provision and installed Karl Renner as the president of Austria as of 20 December. The suspension in question seems to have been motivated mainly by lack of cash: no attempt was ever made to prolong it, and the benign septuagenarian Renner had been the universally respected provisional head of state anyway. Starting with the 1951 election of Renner's successor Theodor Körner, all presidents have in fact been elected by the people.

Election

The president of Austria is elected by popular vote for a term of six years and is limited to two consecutive terms of office. Voting is open to all people entitled to vote in general parliamentary elections, which in practice means that suffrage is universal for all Austrian citizens over the age of sixteen that have not been convicted of a jail term of more than one year of imprisonment. (Even so, they regain the right to vote six months after their release from prison.)

Until 1 October 2011, with the exception of members of any ruling or formerly ruling dynastic houses (a measure of precaution against monarchist subversion, and primarily aimed at members of the House of Habsburg), anyone entitled to vote in elections to the National Council who is at least 35 years of age is eligible for the office of president. The exception of ruling or formerly ruling dynasties has been abolished meanwhile within the Wahlrechtsänderungsgesetz 2011 (Amendment of the law on the right to vote 2011) due to an initiative by Ulrich Habsburg-Lothringen.^[3]

The president is elected under the two-round system. This means that if no candidate receives an absolute majority (i.e. more than 50%) of votes cast in the first round, then a second ballot occurs in which only those two candidates who received the greatest number of votes in the first round may stand. However the constitution also provides that the group that nominates one of these two candidates may instead nominate an alternative candidate in the second round. If there is only one candidate standing in a presidential election then the electorate is granted the opportunity to either accept or reject the candidate in a referendum.

While in office the president cannot belong to an elected body or hold any other position.

Oath of office

Article 62 of the Austrian Constitution provides that the president must take the following oath or affirmation of office in the presence of the Federal Assembly (although the addition of a religious asseveration is admissible):

Latest elections

Legality of acts

Basics

Acts of the president are referred to as resolutions. Most of them require countersignature. While so-called appointment certificates are issued when appointing a new government, the dismissal of the government does not require a written form, but merely has to be brought to the attention of the persons concerned. The government can therefore also be dismissed against its will.

Advice and countersignature

Although the constitution vests the president with great power, his acts are bound to proposals and countersignatures, if the constitution doesn't say otherwise.^[4] This means that the president can only become active on advice of the Government (or a Minister). In addition, most acts of the president are only valid if they are countersigned by the Chancellor or by the Minister responsible. This considerably restricts the possibilities of the president to act on his own.

This however, also means that the president does not have to accept a proposal from the government either. He could even replace the Chancellor, to receive proposals such at will, and dissolve the National Council before it can initiate a vote of no confidence against the new Chancellor. So far – although this would not be unconstitutional – this has never been done for real-political reasons.

Powers and duties

Appointing the government

The president appoints the chancellor and, upon his advice, the other members of the government and the state secretaries.^[5] The president is not bound to any legal specifications when appointing the chancellor. However, since the National Council is empowered to remove any individual member of the government or even the entire government at any time through a vote of no confidence, the president is de facto obliged to respect majority situations within the National Council.

Until the year 2000, it has been an unwritten law that the president charges the top candidate of the largest party with the formation of a new government. As the government formation of 2000 has shown, the president cannot force the existence of a minority government. The initiative of forming a government can therefore entirely rely on interested parties. Since individual members of the government are appointed by the president, on advice of the chancellor, the president is still able to decline the appointment of a proposed minister or state secretary.

So far, only three cases have been known in which the president refused to appoint proposed government candidates. Karl Renner rejected a Minister – suspected of corruption – for a re-appointment. Thomas Klestil refused to appoint two ministers; one of the them was involved in a criminal case and the other had been frequently noticed for extreme and xenophobic statements during the election campaign. In 1953, president Theodor Körner bluntly declined the demands of ÖVP-chancellor Leopold Figl to appoint a concentration government with the participation of the Federation of Independents.

Dismissing the government

The president is not bound to an advice when dismissing the chancellor or the entire government. He can therefore dismiss them at his own discretion. Only the dismissal of individual members of the government are bound to an advice of the chancellor. So far, a dismissal of the entire government against its will has never occurred. president Wilhelm Miklas did not make use of his dismissal right when chancellor Engelbert Dollfuß terminated the constitution to proclaim the Austrian Federal State.

Dissolving the National Council

The president can dissolve the National Council at the request of the government, but only once for the same reason.^[6] The legal consequences of a parliamentary dissolution by the president differentiates to those of a self-dissolution of the National Council. If the president ends the legislative period, the National Council is immediately dissolved and thus incapacitated. However, the standing subcommittee of the principal committee remains as emergency committee until the newly elected National Council convenes. Prior to that, the president may issue emergency decrees on request of the government and with the consent of the standing subcommittee of the principal committee. In case of self-dissolution, the old National Council meets until a new one is elected.

So far only Wilhelm Miklas has made use of the dissolution right, after the Christian Social Party had lost its coalition partner and thus the majority in parliament. Since the following legislative election was not in the interest of the government, the instrument of presidential dissolution of parliament was not applied.

Dissolving a Landtag

The president can dissolve every Landtag (state legislature) at the request of the government and with the consent of the Federal Council.^[7] However, he may only do so once for the same reason – as with the dissolution of the National Council. The Federal Council must agree to the dissolution with a two-thirds majority. The representatives of the state whose Landtag is to be dissolved may not take part at the vote.

The dissolution of a Landtag is regarded as a direct intervention of the federal government in the autonomy of the states. As in the case of the dissolution of the National Council by the president, a dissolved Landtag is considered incapable of action until its newly elected successor meets. This power has never been used by any president yet.

Signing bills into law

As "state notary" and in the course of the constitutional formation of laws, the president signs bills into law.^[8] If this is the case, he must sign. Whether and to what extent the president has a substantive examination competence with regard to the constitutional conformity of a law is controversial. The prevailing opinion assumes in case of severe and obvious unconstitutionality of the submitted act that the president has to deny the validation. This has happened only once, when Heinz Fischer refused to sign a law containing a retrospective criminal provision. A refusal to sign, despite of the law being constitutional, could lead to an indictment at the Constitutional Court.

Representing the Republic

The president represents the Austria Republic and concludes international treaties, of which some require the approval of the National Council. When Austria joined the EU, there was a disagreement between president Thomas Klestil and chancellor Franz Vranitzky, who may represent Austria in the European Council. Materially, the legal view of the chancellor has prevailed, the president however, was of the opinion that he had only delegated this right to the chancellor.

Rule by decree

The president is plenipotentiary authorized to rule by emergency decree in times of crisis.^[9] The constitution states: "to defend obvious, irreparable damages to the general public, at a time where the National Council is not assembled and cannot be assembled in time, at the request of the Government, and with consent of the standing subcommittee of the principal committee of the National Council, the president is entitled to adopt provisional regulations amending the law". Such emergency decrees do not change constitutional law and other important provisions. As soon as the National Council is able to convene again, active emergency decrees are to be confirmed by the latter in law, and if the National Council declares these invalid, they are to be repealed immediately. The power to pass emergency decrees has never been used yet.

Executing findings of the Constitutional Court

The president is entrusted with the execution of findings of the Constitutional Court in cases that are not subject to ordinary courts.^[10] The request for execution is lodged by the Constitutional Court itself. The constitution provides the head of state with extensive enforcement rights. Execution jurisdiction can encompass state and federal authorities as well as a state or the republic in its entirety. Therefore the president can issue direct orders to all federal and state authorities, including the armed forces and the police. If a federal organ or the republic as a whole are affected, the president's directives do not require countersignature.

Chief appointments officer

The president appoints the federal officials, including military officers, judges and other functionaries.^[11] These powers can be, and usually are, delegated to the ministers.^[12] Supreme organs, however, are appointed by the president himself.

The president also appoints the justices of the Constitutional Court – the Constitutional Court's president, Vice president, six further members and three substitute members on advice of the government; three members and two substitute members on advice of the National Council; three members and one substitute member are nominated by the Federal Council.^[13]

Commander-in-chief

The President is the commander-in-chief (Oberbefehlshaber) and thus (nominally) the ultimate authority of the Austrian Armed Forces.^[14]^[15] Although the role’s detailed powers remain unclear, it cannot solely be seen as ceremonial and symbolic, but rather as a very powerful reserve right. In theory, a presidential military command is not bound to any proposal or countersignature and would outrank the commands of every other military authority (inducing the Minister of Defense).^[16]^[17]

No President has ever made use of this power. Day-to-day military affairs are overseen and managed by the Minister of Defense, who is simply denoted as the ‘commander’ (Befehlshaber) of the armed forces and seen as its de facto highest authority.^[18]^[19] Key decisions on the use of the armed forces are usually made by the Government.

As commander-in-chief the President succeeds the Emperor in his capacity as Supreme Commander of the Austro-Hungarian Military. After the fall of the monarchy in 1918 the Principal Committee of the National Council functioned as highest decision-making organ of the then-newly established Bundesheer. In 1929, the Christian Social Party transferred supreme command over the armed forces from the Principal Committee to the President via constitutional amendment, in order to advance authoritarianism in Austria.

The President can definitely issue exceptional recruitment measures and possesses an extensive right to be informed.

Other powers and duties

The president also holds many other rights, which are typically part of the duties of a head of state. These include, for example, the creation and awarding of honorary and professional titles,^[20] and the de facto meaningless right to declare illegitimate children to legitimate children at the request of the parents. Among the presidential rights, which were formed from simple federal laws, is the "Promotio sub auspiciis Praesidentis rei publicae", in which PhD students with extraordinary credentials receive a ring of honor from the president. In addition, the president has the right to shut down criminal proceedings (right of abolition) or to pardon prisoners. According to the case law of the Constitutional Court, pardon acts of the president do not only undo the punishment itself, but also the associated blame. Accordingly, a disciplinary process may no longer rely on such a conviction: "The repayment of a conviction granted by the grace of the president has the consequence that this conviction may no longer be considered in case of disciplinary proceedings".^[21]

Immunity, removal and representation

Immunity

The president is enjoys full immunity from judicial or any type of official prosecution during his incumbency. The president may only be prosecuted with the explicit assent of the Federal Assembly. If an authority intends to prosecute the president, it must address a "request for extradition" before the National Council. If the National Council consents a prosecution, the chancellor shall convene the Federal Assembly, which will then decide over the extradition.^[22]

Indictment at the Constitutional Court

The president can be sued at the Constitutional Court for "violating the constitution".^[23] This process requires a resolution by either the National Council or the Federal Council; upon such a decision, the chancellor shall convene the Federal Assembly, which will thereupon decide over the indictment. The vote of the Federal Assembly shall take place in the presence of at least half of the members of the National Council and Federal Council; a two-thirds majority is required.^[24]

Deposition

The president can only be deposed by the people through a plebiscite.^[25] This requires an application of the National Council to convene the Federal Assembly – such a resolution is formed with the same quorums as when changing constitutional law, which means it requires the presence of at least half of the deputies and a two-thirds majority. If the National Council has concluded such a resolution, the chancellor shall convene the Federal Assembly, which then decides over the request. Already from the National Council's request to convene the Federal Assembly on, the president is "prevented from exercising his office" and is represented by the three Presidents of the National Council.^[26] If the people reject the president to be deposed, the referendum is treated as new election and causes the immediate dissolution of the National Council; even in such a case, the president's term of office may not exceed twelve years in total.

Representation

The constitution makes no provision for an office of vice president. Should the president fall ill, or for some other reason be temporarily incapacitated, presidential powers and responsibilities devolve upon the chancellor. Should the president die, be impeached, be removed from office as a result of impeachment or recall, or for some other reason to be unable to fulfill the duties of office for a period of more than twenty days, presidential powers and responsibilities devolve upon the Presidium of the National Council (consisting of the three Presidents of the National Council).

Resignation

The Constitution does not state any rules on resignation, which is why it is debatable whether a resignation is de jure possible.^[27]

Legal protection

The president is particularly protected by special criminal law provisions. This includes in particular § 249 StGB, "Violence and dangerous threat against the president". The offense belongs to the fifteenth section of the Criminal Code, "Attacks on supreme state organs":

The insult of the president in contrast to most offenses is not a private prosecution, but an authorization offense. Hence, the president does not have to act as a prosecutor in person, but delegate the right to prosecute to the prosecutor's office. An example of this is the so-called "Hump-Dump affair". The title "Bundespräsident" (=president) may – even with additions or in context with other designations – not be used by anyone other than the incumbent president, because of him being protected by law.

List of presidents