President of Slovakia

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox official post Template:Politics of Slovakia The president of the Slovak Republic (Template:Langx) serves as the head of state of Slovakia and commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. The people directly elect the president for five years, for a maximum of two consecutive terms. The presidency is essentially a ceremonial office, but the president exercises certain limited powers with absolute discretion. Their official residence is the Grassalkovich Palace in Bratislava.

History

The office was established by the constitution of Slovakia on 1 January 1993, when Slovakia permanently split from Czechoslovakia and became independent. The office was vacant until 2 March, when the first president, Michal Kováč, was elected by the National Council of Slovak Republic. However, in 1998, the National Council could not elect a successor to Kováč. As a result, the position was vacant for half a year after Kováč's term ended in March 1998. The duties and powers of the office devolved upon the then-prime minister and speaker of the National Council. To resolve the issue, the constitution was changed to provide for the popular election of the president. Presidential elections have been held in 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014, 2019, and 2024.

Peter Pellegrini is the current president, taking office on 15 June 2024.

Role and powers

Grassalkovich Palace, seat of the president of Slovakia

The president of Slovakia has a limited role in policy-making, as the office is largely ceremonial within the framework of a parliamentary republic. According to the constitution, the president is the supreme representative of the state both in Slovakia and abroad.<ref name=con>Template:Cite web</ref>

The president represents the Slovak Republic externally and concludes and ratifies international treaties. The president may delegate to the government or, with the government's consent, to individual members of the Slovak Republic, the conclusion of international treaties.<ref name=con /> Historically, all Slovak presidents delegated this power to the government which has been doneTemplate:Clarify by Decision of President No. 250/2001 Coll. (which superseded Decision of President No. 205/1993 Coll.).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Among the president's constitutional powers are nominating and appointing the prime minister. The constitution does not limit the president's choice; through their decisions, the president ensures the due performance of constitutional bodies.Template:Clarify Because the government of whoever is appointed prime minister must receive a vote of confidence in parliament, the president usually appoints the winning party or coalition leader in parliamentary elections.

The president has sole discretion to appoint three members of the judicial council, one member of the Budget Council, and two members of the council of the Nation's Memory Institute; to award distinctions,Template:Clarify to appoint the president and vice-president of the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic (from among the Constitutional Court judges), and to grant pardon or parole.<ref name=con /> They can veto any bill or proposal by the National Council, except for constitutional amendments.<ref name=con /> This veto can be overridden if the National Council passes the same bill again with a majority of all council members, so this power is considered relatively weak.

Honour Guard of the President

The president is formally the commander-in-chief of the Slovak armed forces, but this role is ceremonial because by the constitution when the president acts as the commander-in-chief, their decision is valid only after it is signed by the prime minister or a minister authorized by the prime minister.<ref name=con />

Among their other constitutional duties are signing bills into law, appointing ministers on the prime minister's recommendation, and appointing various other state officials, such as generals, professors, judges, rectors, and prosecutors.<ref name=con />

The president has discretionary power over the appointments of some officials. For example, there have been cases when the president has refused to appoint vice-governors of the National Bank of Slovakia recommended by the government. These actions of the president were confirmed by the Constitutional Court.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Presidential powers are substantially increased in special circumstances when the National Council passes a vote of no confidence in the government.<ref name=con /> In such a case, many executive powers of government (e.g., appointment of officials, foreign trips, signing treaties) are subject to the president's approval, and the president can appoint the government without being subject to the parliament's approval.<ref name="slovakia">Template:Cite news</ref>

List of presidents of Slovakia

(First) Slovak Republic (1939–1945)

Template:Abbr	Portrait	Name Template:Small	Term of office			Party	Election
			Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
style="background: Template:Party color; color:white" |1		Jozef Tiso Template:Small	Template:Smaller 1939	Template:Smaller 1945	Template:Age in years and days	HSĽS-SSNJ	1939 by his party

Slovak Republic (since 1993)

Template:Abbr	Portrait	Name Template:Small	Term of office			PartyTemplate:Efn	Election
			Template:Small	Template:Small	Template:Small
1		Michal Kováč Template:Small	Template:Smaller 1993	Template:Smaller 1998	5 years	HZDS	1993
Template:Small
2		Rudolf Schuster Template:Small	Template:Smaller 1999	Template:Smaller 2004	5 years	SOP	1999
3		Ivan Gašparovič Template:Small	Template:Smaller 2004	Template:Smaller 2014	10 years	HZD	2004
						None	2009
4		Andrej Kiska Template:Small	Template:Smaller 2014	Template:Smaller 2019	5 years	None	2014
5		Zuzana Čaputová Template:Small	Template:Smaller 2019	Template:Smaller 2024	5 years	PS	2019
6		Peter Pellegrini Template:Small	Template:Smaller 2024	Incumbent	Template:Age in years and days	Hlas	2024

Timeline

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id:SOP   value:rgb(0.96,0.24,0.08)    legend:Party_of_Civic_Understanding
id:HZD   value:rgb(0.475,0.714,0.843) legend:Movement_for_Democracy
id:PS    value:rgb(0,0.741,1)         legend:Progressive_Slovakia
id:Hlas  value:rgb(0.49,0.07,0.28)   legend:Voice_Social_Democracy
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 from: 02/03/1993 till: 02/03/1998 color:HZDS text:"Michal Kováč"
bar:Schuster
 from: 15/06/1999 till: 15/06/2004 color:SOP  text:"Rudolf Schuster"
bar:Gašparovič
 from: 15/06/2004 till: 15/06/2009 color:HZD  
 from: 15/06/2009 till: 15/06/2014 color:Ind  text:"Ivan Gašparovič"
bar:Kiska
 from: 15/06/2014 till: 15/06/2019 color:Ind  text:"Andrej Kiska"
bar:Čaputová
 from: 15/06/2019 till: 15/06/2024 color:PS   text:"Zuzana Čaputová"
bar:Pellegrini
 from: 15/06/2024 till: end        color:Hlas text:"Peter Pellegrini"

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Acting presidents

Name	Term
Vladimír Mečiar Ivan Gašparovič	2 March 1998 – 30 October 1998
Mikuláš Dzurinda Jozef Migaš	30 October 1998 – 15 June 1999

See also

• List of prime ministers of Slovakia
• List of speakers of Slovak parliaments
• List of presidents of Czechoslovakia