Word: parliament
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...presidential system envisaged by De Gaulle dispenses with the checks and balances of the U.S. presidency, which many Gaullists profess to admire. "The President," said he, "must be a chief, not an umpire." All foreign policy, defense and budgetary decisions would in effect still be "reserved" for the President. Parliament would be a virtual rubber stamp body, subject at any time to dissolution by the all-powerful chief executive. And though De Gaulle has described a strong presidency as an eventual "influence of continuity," his blueprint contains no provision for vice-presidential succession in an emergency. If De Gaulle were...
Until le grand Charles, France's President had been a largely ceremonial figurehead -"an announcer of ambassadors" in his scornful words, who "reigns but does not rule." Presently the President is chosen by a college of 80,000 electors: municipal and departmental officials, members of Parliament, and representatives of France's Overseas Territories. De Gaulle seeks to widen this mandate...
What disturbs many admirers of De Gaulle is that by going directly to the people he will plainly be circumventing the constitution that was tailor-made to his specifications four years ago; it specifically requires all constitutional amendments to be submitted to Parliament before going to a popular vote. But De Gaulle seemed grandly unconcerned. According to a tale making the rounds in Paris last week, the President was asked whether his reforms will not in fact be a "rape of the constitution." His reply: "Does one rape his own wife...
...Syria coups d'état are about as routine as city council elections, but last week's upheaval was one for the books. The eighth coup in 13 years-and the third since September 1961-it was engineered by a Parliament that had been dissolved by the army last March, and it brought to power as Premier a politician who had been tossed into jail at the same time. After announcing their return, the civilian upstarts told the army to go back to soldiering, and the army obeyed. With no violence at all, constitutional rule was restored...
...been groping for the right groove. First it leaned too far to the right, reversing reforms in the rush to erase Nasser's traces.A ground swell of pro-Nasser sentiment surged up as a result, and the army, anxious to restore stability, staged the March coup and dissolved Parliament...