President of Austria

The Austrian Federal President (German: Österreichischer Bundespräsident) is the federal head of state of Austria. Though theoretically entrusted with great power by the constitution, in practice the President acts, for the most part, merely as a ceremonial figurehead. The President of Austria is directly elected by universal adult suffrage once in every six years. His or her offices are located in the Leopoldine Wing of the Hofburg Imperial Palace, in Vienna.

Responsibilities

Though technically wielding powers comparable to that of the chief executives of presidential systems, in practice Austria operates under a parliamentary system of government, and the Federal President is more a figurehead than an actual head of government.

Related Topics:
Presidential system - Parliamentary system - Head of government

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In constitutional theory, the President has free reign in appointing the head of the federal cabinet and, by extension, free reign in appointing federal cabinet ministers, Supreme Court justices, military officers, and most major bureaucrats. The President even has the authority to dissolve the National Council (the more powerful lower house of the Austrian parliament) more or less at will. However, as a practical matter, all the President ever does is fulfill purely ceremonial duties: much like British monarchs, holders of the office of President of Austria are bound by constitutional convention to aim at being nonpartisan custodians of political morality, to serve as symbols of national identity, and not to intervene in actual politics.

Related Topics:
Lower house - Austrian parliament - British monarchs - Constitutional convention

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Chief appointments officer

The President appoints and swears in the Federal Chancellor and, upon the advice of the Chancellor, the federal ministers. While the President technically could assign the office of Chancellor and, by extension, the offices of the federal ministers to whomever he or she sees fit, the National Council can divest individual ministers of the cabinet as a whole from office through a motion of no confidence. Also, even a cabinet not dismissed but merely not supported by the National Council could easily end up paralyzed. In practice, therefore, the cabinet's composition reflects National Council election rather than presidential election results, the president customarily assigning the office of chancellor to the National Council majority leader.

Related Topics:
Federal Chancellor - Cabinet - Motion of no confidence

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The President also appoints and swears in judges, military officers, and federal civil servants. Responsibility for the less relevant of these appointments is largely conferred upon the federal ministers, but vacancies in top-level positions such as those of Constitutional Court justices are in fact filled by the President in person. Finally, the governors of Austria's federal states are sworn in by the president.

Related Topics:
Governor - Austria's federal states

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Legislation

The President signs bills into law. The president does not have the power to veto bills, his or her signature is a technical formality notarizing that the bill has been introduced and resolved upon in accordance with the procedure stipulated by the constitution. The president does not even have the authority to refuse signing a bill he or she deems unconstitutional as such; a bill may be vetoed only on the grounds that its genesis, not its substance, is in violation of basic law. Adjudicating upon the constitutionality of the bill itself is the exclusive prerogative of the Constitutional Court. The President could, however, order a referendum concerning a bill passed by the legislature.

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Other duties

• The President represents Austria in international relations. Actual foreign policy being cabinet matter, however, this responsibility is exclusively ceremonial. Mainly, the president accredits foreign ambassadors and symbolically acts as the host for state visits to Austria.
• The President is commander in chief of Austria's armed forces.
• In theory, the President has the authority to dissolve the National Council, but exercising this power would be an unprecedented breach of constitutional convention.
• The President is a plenipotentiary authorized to rule by emergency decree in times of crisis.
• The President can, and frequently does, pardon criminals.