President of the Commonwealth of Sainte Genevieve

The President of the Commonwealth of Sainte Genevieve is the highest elected office in the Commonwealth, and the president functions as both chief of state and chief of the government. The first president was James W. McFadden (serving from 1903 to 1907), and the current president is Regan Shaw, serving since 1999.

History of the Presidency
Though Genevievans typically believe 1st January 1903 to be "Soviereignty Day," the Great Britain and Sainte Genevieve were working toward a transfer of sovereignty as far back as November 1901. While the territorial leaders saw the successes of the parliamentary system, they believed that the new country would be better served by a presidential system of government with three coequal branches. This was included in the Commonwealth Constitution of 1902, and went into effect on Sovereignty Day 1903.

Duties of the President

 * The president serves as chief of state, and is the ceremonial head of the Commonwealth
 * The president serves as chief executive, and is vested with executive power
 * The president serves as chief administrator, and is the head of the administration of the Commonwealth Government
 * The president serves as chief diplomat, and is the main architecht and spokesperson of foreign policy
 * The president serves as commander-in-chief, and commands the nation's armed forces
 * The president serves as chief legislator, and is the one who sets the agenda for the Commonwealth Congress
 * The president serves as chief citizen, and is the representative of the people, working for public interest

Requirements to be Elected President

 * The president must have been born in the Commonwealth of Sainte Genevieve
 * The president must be at least 34 years old
 * The president must have lived in the Commonwealth for at least 15 of the past 20 years.

Presidential Succession
The issue of succession was never a high priority during the drafting of the Commonwealth Constitution, and was almost omitted from the original document. The Constitution states that if the Office of the President becomes vacant within a term (by death, recall or resignation), the Vice-President will succeed to the office and the duties therein. This provision has been used only once, after the 1987 death of President Malachi Paulson, Vice-President Darrin R. Sullivan succeeded to his office. Sullivan was then re-elected in 1990 and 1994.

His 1994 candidacy caused some controversy within the country, as the Constitution states that no person may be elected to the presidency more than twice. Some believed that Sullivan's 1986 election to the Office of Vice-President should also be counted as an election to the Office of President. The Supreme Commonwealth Court eventually determined that, since Sullivan succeeded to his first term in office, he had only been elected to that office one time, and was fully within the law to be elected again. This decision officially separated the offices, and elections, of President and Vice-President into two distinct entities. Sullivan went on to serve an unprecedented 4,084 days as president.

Order of Presidential Succession

 * Vice-President
 * Speaker of the Commonwealth Representative Assembly
 * President pro tempore of the Commonwealth Senate

''Note: If a Vice-President succeeds to the Office of President, he or she must appoint a new Vice-President. As such, a Speaker of the Assembly or President pro tempore of the Senate succeeding to the Office of President would only occur if the Offices of both President and Vice-President were vacant simultaneously.

Electoral Procedure
The president is elected every four years in a direct popular vote. Voting is not compulsory, but typically over 80% of Genevievans vote in national elections. Seven of the nine provinces have declared presidential election days to be provincial holidays, and most employers will allow workers time off to vote. Election Day is held on the last Tuesday in October, and Inauguration Day in 10th January the following year.