The President of the Mexico is the Head of the State. According to the constitution of the country, the president is also the Chef of the government, the commander-in-chief of the Army, the navy and the air force. He is elected for a six years mandate ( sexenio in Spanish), nonrenewable.

History

Between XIVe century and the years 1520, the emperors Aztèques reigned on Mexico City by gradually subjecting most of the inhabitants of the central plate. Then, after the conquest by Hernán the Cortes, Mexico belonged to the News-Spain which was directed by a Vice-roi sent by the kings of Spain. At the beginning of the XIXe century, Mexico became a republic directed by a president, the first Mexican president is Guadalupe Victoria on October 10th 1824. Nevertheless, two people took the title of emperor. Since the constituion of 1917, written during the Mexican Revolution, the presidents cannot be twice elected at the position of president.

Presidents of Mexico of 1821 to our days

Conditions to become president

Chapter III of the milked constitution of the Executive power and draws up the following points:

• the executive power is excercé by the President;

• the president is elected by the direct suffrage in accordance with the electoral law;
• to be eligible, should be met the following conditions:
• Mexican of birth, wire of a mother or a Mexican father, and to have lived during at least 20 years in Mexico;
• old from at least 35 at the time of the election;
• not to occupy an official position in any Church or religion;
• not to have actively served in the Armed during the six months preceding the elections;
• not to be a secretary (equivalent post of minister) or under-secretary of State, public prosecutor, governor of a State, during the six months preceding the elections;
• not to have been before president - that it is after an election or for any event.

Presidential elections

Since 1934 the presidential elections were held every six years (the constitution before envisaged a four years mandate). However, it is only since 1994 that these elections approached an acceptable standard of democratic transparency and cleanliness.

The president is elected by the universal direct suffrage. A simple majority of the votes of the country decides that which becomes president and as in many of other presidential systems, it does not have there a second turn. President Vicente Fox had been elected was elected with a majority of 43% of the popular vote whereas its predecessor Ernesto Zedillo had obtained an absolute majority of 51%.

The Histoire of Mexico was not peaceful. After the fall of the dictator Porfirio Díaz in 1910 following the Mexican Revolution, it had there no stable government until all the generals link in only one party: the Partido of Revolucion Mexicana , which will name then Partido Nacional Revolucionario and finally Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI).

The PRI instituted a strict internal discipline, incarnating the government of the country and the electoral fraud became current. After the return of peace, this fraud continued making lose with the opposition all the elections until worms the end of the 20th century.

The first presidential election being able to be regarded as practically legitimates took place in 1994, when the PRI Ernesto Zedillo took up duty and set up of the reforms to ensure the regularity of the elections. Partly because of these reforms, the election with the federal Congress lives for the first time a House of Commons rocked in the opposition then the general elections of 2000 transfer the election of Vicente Fox of alliance SIDE/PVEM which was the first candidate of the opposition to gain an election since 1911. This historical defeat at the polls was recognized at the evening of the election by President Zedillo in the name of the PRI; what appaisa fears of violences, that also fed the questions concerning the role of the president in the electoral process and of knowing with which returned the responsibility to concede the defeat at the time of an democratic election.

Presidential capacities

With the democratic reforms of these last years and more democratic elections, the Constitution started to apply and the capacities of the President are legally limited. Current capacities and rights include/understand:

• supreme executive power to lead and manage the country.

• right to name the General Procuraduría of República (Public prosecutor).
• right to name the Ministers and all the members of the Legal Gabinete (executive Cabinet).
• right to name all the ambassadors of Mexico.
• supreme capacity on the army, the navy and the air forces.
• capacity to declare the war and peace.
• capacity to negotiate treaties.
• capacity to emit decrees.
• right to name the Suprema Corte de Justicia of Nación (Short Supreme).
• capacity to put its veto at the laws. (However as it was the case with the discussed budget of 2004, it does not have the capacity to put its veto at a decree of the Congress.)

Presidential residence

The principal residence of the President is Los Pinos located in the park of Chapultepec. The president has the right to make of it his residence for the six years of his mandate.

The National Palate which is vis-a-vis the Zócalo , the most important place of the city is used for the national festivals of September 16th (birthday of the Grito de Dolores) and of November 20th (commemoration of the Mexican Révolution). Some of its parts are opened with the public and others are reserved for the government.

Succession

Article 84 of the Mexican constitution provides that " in the event of absolute absence of Président" one or the other of the clauses which follow must occur:

• If the Congress is not in session session, it is its Standing committee which elects President Provisoire ( President Provisional ), and convenes the Congress in extraordinary session, as of this moment the process continues as it is indicated below.

• If absence (death, prevention, etc) occurs in the first two years of the mandate, the Congress must elect in the majority at the time of a vote with secret bulletin with a quorum of at least two-third of its members a President by interim ( President Interino ). The congress can also organize elections after a 14 month minimum but not more than 18 months as of the absence of the President; the elected person will be then President for the remainder of six years the original presidential mandate.
• If the absence occurs in the last four years of the mandate, the Congress will elect a president of substitution ( President Substituto ) in the majority of the voices to the secret bulletin. The President of substitution will be then President of the Mexicains United States until the end of six years the original presidential mandate.

No one cannot be elected provisional President, by interim or of substitution if it were already useful as a President elected, provisional, by interim or of substitution.

See

• Minister for the war of Mexico