Parliamentary republic


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A parliamentary republic or parliamentary constitutional republic is a type of republic which operates under a parliamentary system of government (a system with no clear-cut separation between the executive and legislative branches, but with a clear differentiation between the head of government and the head of state).

1 The Power of Parliament
2 Historical Development
3 List of current Parliamentary republics
4 List of former Parliamentary republics
5 Notes
6 See also

The Power of Parliament

In contrast to republics operating under either the presidential system or the semi-presidential system, the head of state usually does not have broad executive powers as an executive president would, because many of those powers have been granted to a head of government (usually called a prime minister). However, the head of government and head of state may form one office in a parliamentary republic (such as South Africa, Botswana and Nauru), but the president is still selected in much the same way as the prime minister is in most Westminster systems. This usually means that they are the leader of the largest party or coalition of parties in parliament.

In some instances, the President may legally have executive powers granted to them to undertake the day-to-day running of government (as in Finland) but by convention they either do not use these powers or they use them only to give effect to the advice of the parliament and/or head of government. Some parliamentary republics could therefore be seen as following the semi-presidential system but operating under a parliamentary system.

Historical Development

Parliamentary republics around the world, shown in Orange (Parliamentary republics with a non-executive President) and Green (Parliamentary republics with an executive President linked to Parliament). Constitutional monarchies are shown in red.

Typically, parliamentary republics are states that were previously constitutional monarchies, with the position of head of state hitherto a monarch (and, in the case of some Republics in the Commonwealth of Nations, formerly represented by a Governor General) being replaced by an elected non-executive president (as is the case in the Republic of Ireland, Malta, Trinidad and Tobago, India and Vanuatu).

List of current Parliamentary republics

Country	Formerly	Parliamentary republic adopted	Head of state elected by
Albania	One-party state	1991	Parliament, by three-fifths majority
Austria	One-party state	1955	Direct, by second-round system
Bangladesh ^[1]	Presidential republic (Part of Pakistan)	1971	Parliament
Botswana	Constitutional monarchy (Commonwealth realm)	1966	Parliament
Bulgaria	One-party state	1947	Directly, by second-round system
Croatia	One-party state (Part of Yugoslavia)	1991	Directly, by second-round system
Czech Republic	One-party state (Part of Czechoslovakia)	1993	Parliament, by majority
Dominica	British overseas territory	1978	Parliament, by majority
East Timor	Military junta (Occupied by Indonesia)	1999	Directly, by second-round system
Estonia ^[2]	Constitutional monarchy (Part of Russian Empire)	1918	Parliament, by two-thirds majority
Ethiopia	One-party state	1991	Parliament, by two-thirds majority
Finland	Constitutional monarchy (Part of Russian Empire)	1919	Directly, by second-round system
Germany	One-party state ^[3]	1949 ^[4]	Federal assembly (Parliament and state delegates), by absolute majority
Greece	Military junta; Constitutional monarchy	1975	Parliament, by majority
Hungary	One-party state	1990	Parliament, by absolute majority
Iceland	Constitutional monarchy (Part of Denmark)	1944	Direct, by transferable vote
India	Constitutional monarchy (Commonwealth realm)	1950	Parliament and state legislators, by single transferable vote
Iraq	One-party state	2005	Parliament, by two-thirds majority
Ireland	Constitutional monarchy (Commonwealth realm)	1936^[5]	Direct, by single transferable vote
Israel	Protectorate (Part of British Mandate of Palestine)	1948	Parliament, by majority
Italy	Constitutional monarchy	1946	Parliament, by majority
Kiribati	Protectorate	1979	Citizens
Latvia ^[2]	Constitutional monarchy (Part of Russian Empire)	1918	Parliament
Lebanon	Protectorate (French mandate of Lebanon)	1941	Parliament
Lithuania ^[2]	Constitutional monarchy	1918	Direct, by second-round system
Macedonia	One-party state (Part of the Yugoslavia)	1991	Directly, by second-round system
Malta	Constitutional monarchy (Commonwealth realm)	1974	Parliament, by majority
Marshall Islands	UN Trust Territory (Part of Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands)	1979	Parliament
Mauritius	Constitutional monarchy (Commonwealth realm)	1992	Parliament, by majority
Federated States of Micronesia	UN Trust Territory (Part of Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands)	1986	Parliament
Mongolia	One-party state	1949	Parliament
Montenegro	One-party state (Part of Yugoslavia)	1992	Directly, by second-round system
Nauru	Australian Trust Territory	1968	Parliament
Poland	One-party state	1990	Directly, by second-round system
Portugal	One-party state (Military junta transition)	1976	Directly, by second-round system
Samoa	Territory of New Zealand	2007	Parliament
Serbia	One-party state (Part of Yugoslavia)	1991	Directly, by second-round system
Singapore	Constitutional monarchy (Part of Malaysia)	1965	Directly, by second-round system
Slovakia	One-party state (Part of Czechoslovakia)	1993	Parliament (before 1999) Directly, by second-round system (since 1999)
Slovenia	One-party state (Part of Yugoslavia)	1991	Directly, by second-round system
South Africa	Constitutional monarchy (Commonwealth realm)	1961	Parliament, majority
Suriname	One party Military Dictatorship	1987	Parliament
Switzerland	Military junta (Occupied by France)	1802	Parliament ^[6]
Trinidad and Tobago	Constitutional monarchy (Commonwealth realm)	1976	Parliament
Turkey	Constitutional monarchy (Ottoman Empire)	1923	Direct (since 2007, previously by parliament)
Vanuatu	Constitutional monarchy (Commonwealth realm)	1980	Parliament and regional council presidents, by majority
Zimbabwe	Presidential republic	2008	Directly, by second-round system

List of former Parliamentary republics

Country	Year became a Parliamentary republic	Year status changed	Changed to	Status changed due to
Brazil	1961	1963	Presidential system	Referendum
Chile	1891	1925	Presidential system	Referendum
French Third Republic	1870	1940	Vichy France and Free France	German invasion (World War II)
French Fourth Republic	1946	1958	Semi Presidential republic (French Fifth Republic)	Political instability
Fiji	1987	2006	Military junta	Military coup (2006)
Guyana	1970	1980	Semi Presidential republic	Constitutional amendment
Indonesia	1945	1959	Presidential system	Constitutional amendment
Pakistan	1956		Presidential system	Constitutional amendment
Nigeria	1963	1979	Presidential system	Constitutional amendment
Sri Lanka	1972	1978	Presidential system	Constitutional amendment
Uganda	1963	1966	Presidential system	Suspension of the constitution

Notes

^ In Bangladesh, a Caretaker government takes over for three months during parliamentary elections. The Caretaker government is headed by a Chief adviser (the last Chief Justice to retire), and a group of neutral, non-partisan advisers chosen from the civil society. During this time, the president has jurisdiction over the Ministry of defense and the Ministry of foreign affairs.
^ ^a ^b ^c The three Baltic states were parliamentary republics after declaring their independence from the Russian Empire in 1918, but were all occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940. After regaining independence by 1991, all three countries resumed to parliamentary democracy.
^ In the case of the former West German states, including former West Berlin, the previous one-party state is Nazi Germany, but in the case of the New Länder and former East Berlin it is East Germany.
^ Please note that German reunification took place on 3 October 1990, when the five re-established states of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) joined the Federal Republic of Germany, and Berlin was united into a single city-state. Therefore, this date applies to today's Federal Republic of Germany as a whole, although the area of former East Germany was no part of that parliamentary republic until 1990.
^ Irish head of state from 1936 to 1949
^ There is neither a prime minister nor a president of Switzerland. The President of the Swiss Confederation is merely primus inter pares in the Swiss Federal Council, the seven-member executive council which constitutes the government as well as the head of state of Switzerland.