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MODERN TRANSFORMATION IN THE FORM OF A MIXED
REPUBLIC
Khayitjon Turdiev
PhD, acting associate professor, Tashkent State Law University
Tashkent, Uzbekistan
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13466392
Annotation:
The article analyzes the mixed or semi-presidential form of
government. The form of government as an element of the form of government
is one of the most significant categories of the theory of state and law. This
category allows us to identify the most typical features that make it possible to
unite into several classification groups the majority of states in the world, both
those that exist at present and those that existed in the historical past. Historical
analogs of such an organization of supreme power are given. Distinctive features
of a mixed form of government are revealed: separation of powers,
rationalization, arbitration, etc. Using the example of Uzbekistan, unique, hybrid
varieties of the semi-presidential form of government are defined and
characterized.
Keywords:
President, form of government, mixed form of government,
presidential-parliamentary model, parliamentary-presidential model, semi-
presidential form of government
Historically, in the science of the theory of state and law, the problem of the
form of government occupies a leading place in the study of forms of
manifestation of state life. The concept of “form of government” logically
precedes other aspects of the form of state. As noted in the literature, there are
two approaches to determining the form of government - broad and narrow. It is
most often noted that the broad approach assumes that the form of government
determines the order of formation and activities of all supreme bodies of state
power. The narrow approach assumes that the form of government is
determined by the order of formation and activities of any one supreme div of
state power, as a rule, the head of state. In simple words the form of government
is an element of the form of the state that determines the system of organization
of the highest bodies of state power, the procedure for their formation, terms of
activity and competence, as well as the procedure for the interaction of these
bodies.
The form of government should not be confused with the form of
government and the political regime of the state. Taken together, these three
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characteristics complement each other and describe the form of the state. The
form of government shows: how the highest authorities in the state are created,
their structure, what principles underlie the interaction between government
bodies, how the relationship between the supreme power and ordinary citizens
is built, to what extent the organization of state bodies allows for ensuring the
rights and freedoms of citizens. In this context, I.Y. Opritov distinguishes at least
seven basic concepts that determine the form of government: 1) the legal status
of the head of state, 2) the structure and system of relationships between the
highest bodies of state authorities, mainly the head of state, the highest
legislative div, government, 3) the formation, organization and functioning
(structure, legal status and relationships) of the highest (supreme, sovereign)
power in the state; 4) the formation and organization of the highest state bodies,
as well as their relationship with the population, 5) the organization and
functioning of not only the highest authorities, but also all state bodies as a
whole, 6) the role of local authorities in the overall state system, relations of
supreme government bodies with centers of political and economic power,
political environment, etc. 7) form of government as a process, as well as
internal and external forms of government
1
. Forms of government differ
depending on whether the supreme power in the state belongs to one person,
who is also the symbol of the state, or whether it is exercised through various
democratic institutions (representative bodies of government, referendums and
etc.) In this regard, all states according to the form of government are divided
into monarchies and republics.
Monarchy is a form of government in which the highest power in the state
combines the functions of the head of state and, in many ways, the functions of
other authorities - legislative, executive, judicial, and which belongs to one
person - the monarch (emperor, Grand Duke, Sultan, Shah and e.t.c)
A republic is a form of government in which the highest bodies of state
power are elected by the people or are formed by special representative
institutions for a certain period of time and are fully responsible to the voters.
The republican form of government is distinguished by the following features: 1)
the election of public authorities for a certain period of time and their
collegiality, 2) the presence of a head of state elected for a certain term, 3) the
derivative nature of state power, which is exercised on behalf of the sovereign
people, 4) legal responsibility of the head of state.
1
Onpumoe I And Specificity of the form of government in modern Russia theoretical and legal research Abstract of
Cand. Sci. (Law) Volgograd, 2001 pp. 11-12.
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Republics differ mainly in which of the authorities - the parliament or the
president - forms the government and directs its work, as well as to which of
these the government is responsible. A presidential republic is a state in which,
along with parliamentarism, the powers of the head of state and the head of
government are simultaneously combined in the hands of the president. A
parliamentary republic is a state in which the supreme role in organizing public
life belongs to parliament. Mixed republic - in states with this form of
government, strong presidential power is simultaneously combined with the
presence of effective measures for parliamentary control over the activities of
the executive branch in the form of the government, which is formed by the
president with the mandatory participation of parliament. Thus, the government
is responsible simultaneously to both the president and the country’s
parliament. In political science, the concept of “semi-presidential system" was
introduced by M. Duverger, who used it in 1970
2
.
however, the term “semi-
presidential” was introduced in 1959 in an article by journalist Hubert Beve-
Méry
3
.
Maurice Duverger's original definition of semi-presidentialism stated that
A political regime is considered as semi-presidential if the constitution which
established it, combines three elements: (1) the president of the republic is
elected by universal suffrage, (2) he possesses quite considerable powers; (3) he
has opposite him, however, a prime minister and ministers who possess
executive and governmental power and can stay in office only if the parliament
does not show its opposition to them
4
.
It is generally accepted that the prototype of the established in the
twentieth century. and became widespread in the 21st century. A mixed (semi-
presidential) form of government, combining the features of presidential and
parliamentary models of organization of supreme state power, is the Fifth
Republic established on the basis of the French Constitution of 1958.
There are two distinct subtypes of semi-presidentialism: premier-
presidentialism and president-parliamentarism.
Under the
premier-presidential system
, the prime minister and cabinet
are exclusively accountable to parliament. The president may choose the prime
minister and cabinet, but only the parliament may approve them and remove
them from office with a vote of no confidence. This system is much closer to pure
parliamentarism.
2
Duverger, Maurice. Échec au roi. — Paris: Éditions Albin Michel, 1978. — ISBN 9782226005809.
3
Le Monde, 8 January 1959.
4
Elgie, Robert (2 January 2013). "Presidentialism, Parliamentarism and Semi-Presidentialism: Bringing Parties Back In"
(PDF). Government and Opposition. 46 (3): 392–409. doi:10.1111/j.1477-7053.2011.01345.x. S2CID 145748468.
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Semi-presidential system with elements parliamentarism (Austria, Ireland,
Iceland, as well as Bulgaria, Macedonia, Slovenia, Croatia).
Thus, the scope of
powers of the federal president of Austria is typical for presidents in
parliamentary republics (Articles 27, 28, 29, 65, 70 of the Federal Constitutional
Law); all his powers are exercised on the basis of government proposals, and all
his decisions must be countersigned by the Federal Chancellor or Minister
(Article 67 of the mentioned Law). The Federal Chancellor and, at his proposal,
the remaining members of the government are appointed by the Federal
President (Part 1, Article 70 of the Law), taking into account the balance of
political forces in Parliament. The government is formed for the duration of the
National Council, to which it is responsible (Part 1, Article 74 of the Law).
Parliamentary system with direct election of the Prime Minister - used in Israel,
where the Prime Minister is elected by universal, equal, direct and secret
suffrage (Article 36 of the Basic Law: The Government of 1992). Elections to the
Knesset are held simultaneously with the elections of the Prime Minister;
ministers are appointed by the Prime Minister, but their appointment must be
approved by the Knesset (Article 3b of the Government Law)
5
Under the
president-parliamentary system
, the prime minister and
cabinet are dually accountable to the president and to the parliament. The
president chooses the prime minister and the cabinet, but must have the support
of a parliamentary majority for his choice. In order to remove a prime minister,
or the whole cabinet, from power, the president can either dismiss them, or the
parliament can remove them through a vote of no confidence. This form of semi-
presidentialism is much closer to pure presidentialism. It is used in: Guinea-
Bissau,Mozambique, Russia, and Taiwan.
Mixed systems of a similar type have also developed in Azerbaijan, Belarus,
Kazakhstan and some other countries. In Azerbaijan, the Milli Majlis is deciding
the issue of confidence in the Cabinet of Ministers, but the decision to resign the
cabinet is received by the president (subclause 14 part 1 Art. 95, subparagraph 6
of Art. 109 of the Constitution of Azerbaijan)
6
. The Constitution of the Republic
of Belarus provides for several cases of the House of Representatives deciding
the issue of confidence in the government (if the program is repeatedly rejected
government activities; on the initiative of the Prime Minister; on the initiative of
the chamber), however, the decision to dismiss the government is also left to the
president (subclause 7 of article 84 of the Constitution of Belarus). In the mixed
5
Воробьев В. П. Конституционно-правовая система Государства Израиль. М., 2002. С. 202, 236.
6
Kovalev A. M. Institute of the President in the system of separation of powers (Comparative experience of France
and Russia): dis. ...cand. legal Sci. M., 1998. P. 25.
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republics that emerged in the post-Soviet and post-socialist space, a certain
tendency is observed, largely dependent on the geographical location: in
Lithuania and in the former socialist countries of Eastern Europe (except Croatia
and the former Soviet Union Yugoslavia), mixed republics with a tendency
toward a parliamentary form of government are being established, which is
explained by the geographical proximity to Western Europe. In Georgia, as well
as in the Central Asian republics of the former USSR (except for the autocratic
Turkmenistan), a mixed republic with a tendency toward a presidential form of
government has been established (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan). Between
these varieties of mixed republics are semi-presidential republics (Azerbaijan,
Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine, Croatia
7
).
In Uzbekistan we have also this practice. According to the article 119 of the
Constitution in case, when firm contradictions arise between the Prime Minister
of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of
the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan against the proposal officially
presented to the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan by the deputies of the
Legislative Chamber in quantity of not less than one-third of a total number,
issues of vote of no confidence to the Prime Minister shall be introduced for
discussion to the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of
Uzbekistan.
Vote of no confidence to the Prime Minister shall be considered as
approved, if not less than two-thirds of a total number of the deputies of the
Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan respectively
vote for it. In such case, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan shall make a
decision on the removal of the Prime Minister from his post. Meanwhile, the
whole composition of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan
shall resign together with the Prime Minister.
In Uzbekistan prime minister and
cabinet are dually accountable to the president and the legislature.
Candidacy of
the Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan for consideration and approval
by the Legislative Chamber shall be submitted by the President of the Republic
of Uzbekistan following consultations with all factions of political parties within
a month after the election of officials and the formation of the bodies of the
chambers of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan or within a month after
the release from office or resignation of the Prime Minister and the current
composition of the Cabinet of Ministers.
This form of semi-presidentialism is
7
A.E.Kalinovich. Forms of government in a constitutional state (theoretical and legal aspect). Abstract of a dissertation
for the degree of candidate of legal sciences. St. Petersburg. 2008.
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much closer to pure presidentialism. In order to remove a prime minister, or the
whole cabinet, from power, the president can either dismiss them, or the
parliament can remove them through a vote of no confidence. Article 11 of the
Constitution of Uzbekistan defines state power as a combination of three
independent branches of power, legislative, executive and judicial. The question
naturally arises as to which branch of state power the power exercised by the
President of Uzbekistan belongs. And although this topic has been widely
discussed, there is no consensus in science on this matter.
The answer to the
question about the place of the President in the mechanism of functioning of
state power must be sought in Article 105 of the Constitution of Uzbekistan,
which is quite justifiably considered as one of the key ones in the concept of
presidential power. The President of the Republic of Uzbekistan is the head of
the state and ensures confirmed functioning and interaction of the state
authorities.
Thus, we believe that the President of Uzbekistan cannot be
attributed to any one branch of the triad of state power, as a result of which it is
entirely justified to consider the President as the bearer of independent
presidential power, incorporating elements of arbitration and coordination
participation in both the legislative and executive branches, but not limited to
any single branch of power. The President, as the head of state, is a systemic
coordinator and the main integrating link of the entire system of state power
and embodies the unity of the state and state power as a whole, and not one or
another branch of power separately. As is known, the form of government is
largely determined based on one criterion: who forms and controls the activities
of the Government. While granting the President significant power potential, the
Constitution of Uzbekistan nevertheless determines that virtually all
appointments to the highest positions in the state are subject to agreement
between the President and the chambers of parliament.
The President is not
legally the head of the executive power and is not in any way part of its system,
but the Constitution of Uzbekistan has granted him significant powers that allow
the President to have a fundamental influence on the management of the entire
system of executive power. For instance, The candidate for the Prime Minister of
the Republic of Uzbekistan is presented by the President of the Republic of
Uzbekistan after consultations with all political party factions.
According to the Constitution Uzbekistan is a semi-presidential republic
and has the following main features: election of the president by the population
of the country (as in a presidential republic) and thus giving equal legitimacy to
both the president and the parliament, the presence of a government as a
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collegial div of executive power and the post of head of government (as in a
parliamentary republic), the formation of the government jointly by the
president and parliament, the exercise of executive power by the president (as
in a presidential republic) and the government (as in a parliamentary republic)
jointly, the president exercises general leadership of the government, and the
head of government directly manages it, dual responsibility of the government
to the president and to the government
To conclude, it can be said that semi-presidentialism has many advantages.
In particular, this system, an alternative to the presidential and parliamentary
forms of government, resolves the problem of the relationship between the
legislative and executive powers. Semi-residentialism is a more flexible system
compared to the presidential system, allowing to overcome the situation of
divided government relatively painlessly. Another potential advantage of semi-
residentialism is the coalition potential that is absent in the presidential system,
i.e. the attraction of various political and social elements to power.
The presence
of parliamentary control over the government, as well as the potential role of the
president as an arbitrator, are also strong arguments in favor of a semi-
presidential system. According to the article 105 of the Constitution of Republic
of Uzbekistan The President of the Republic of Uzbekistan is the head of the
state and ensures confirmed functioning and interaction of the state authorities.
