President of Austria

In the deliberations on the Federal Constitutional Law (B-VG) from 1919 onwards, the Christian Socialists in particular had insisted on a separate head of state. Until March 1919, the three presidents of the Provisional National Assembly had performed these functions, subsequently Karl Seitz, (First) President of the National Assembly, as an individual. The Social Democrats, on the other hand, preferred a variant in which the President of the National Assembly would perform the duties of head of state, as they did not want to create a "substitute emperor". As a compromise, the Federal President was created in 1920 as a separate organ of state, but his powers were very weak. The Federal President was elected by the Federal Assembly.

The 1929 constitutional amendment considerably upgraded the position of the Federal President under pressure from authoritarian forces. Although a presidential system of government, as demanded by authoritarian forces, was not introduced, the popular election of the Federal President and the appointment by the Federal President of the Federal Chancellor and, on his recommendation, of the Federal Ministers was introduced as a compromise. Furthermore, the Federal President was entitled to dissolve the National Council (Art. 29 B-VG). However, the obligation to propose and countersign remained.

Since the 1929 version of the constitution was reinstated when the Second Republic was founded in 1945, the Federal President still has a potentially powerful position today. His legal status and duties are in principle more significant than those of the Federal President in Germany. In practice, however, the Federal Presidents of the Second Republic exercised restraint and concentrated on behind-the-scenes influence and their representative duties; this is also referred to as "role renunciation". Under these circumstances, authority flows to them mainly by virtue of their personality.

Basic

Legal acts of the Federal President are called resolutions. They usually require countersignature (see below). While so-called certificates of appointment are issued when a new government is appointed and sworn in, the dismissal of the government does not require a written form, but only has to be brought to the attention of the persons concerned. They can thus also be dismissed against their will.

Binding to proposal and countersignature

Although the Federal Constitution grants the Federal President far-reaching powers, his ability to act is limited by the obligation to propose and countersign (Art. 67 B-VG). This means that, in principle, the Federal President can only act on the proposal of the Federal Government (or of a Federal Minister authorised by the Federal Government). Exceptions to this binding are only possible by constitutional provisions. Moreover, most acts of the Federal President are only valid if they are countersigned by the Federal Chancellor or the competent federal minister. This considerably limits the Federal President's ability to act on his own initiative.

However, the constitutional situation also means that the Federal President does not have to accept a proposal from the government side at all. This means that laws are certified and promulgated by the Federal President with the countersignature of the Federal Chancellor. Possible amendments to the law could thus be obstructed by the Federal President. He could even change the Federal Chancellor so that suitable proposals would be submitted to him, and before a vote of no confidence by the National Council against the new Federal Chancellor, at the latter's request, dissolve the National Council and thus trigger new elections. (So far, although this would not be unconstitutional, it has never been done in this way for reasons of realpolitik).

The following acts of the Federal President do not require a proposal:

• the appointment of the Federal Chancellor (Art. 70 para. 1 B-VG)
• the dismissal of the Federal Chancellor or the entire Federal Government (Art. 70 para. 1 B-VG; for the dismissal of individual Federal Ministers, however, a proposal of the Federal Chancellor is required)
• the appointment of a provisional federal government (Art. 71 B-VG)
• the swearing-in ceremony of the Federal Chancellor, the Federal Ministers, State Secretaries, Governors, etc.
• the proposal-binding nature of acts of the supreme command over the armed forces is disputed
• the prevailing doctrine and practice also excludes purely representational tasks from the proposal principle

The following acts of the Federal President do not require countersignature:

• the dismissal of the Federal Government (Art. 70 para. 1 B-VG)
• the dismissal of individual federal ministers (according to Art. 70 B-VG this requires the proposal of the Federal Chancellor but no formal countersignature)
• the convening of an extraordinary session of the National Council (Art. 28 para. 3 B-VG)
• Instructions in the context of an execution of decisions of the Constitutional Court (Art. 146 para. 2 B-VG)