President

   The head of state, under the constitution of the French Fifth Republic (Cinquième république) . The French president is elected by direct universal suffrage, for a term of five years in office. Since the 2008 constitutional reform introduced by President Sarkozy, a president may serve no more than two five-year terms in office. Election by universal suffrage was first introduced following a referendum organised by General de Gaulle in 1962. Originally the presidential term in office was seven years, with one president, F. Mitterrand, serving a full two terms. With presidential and legislative elections operating according to different calendars, swings in the popularity of parties and their leaders led in the mid eighties to situations or "Cohabitation", with presidents and parliamentary majorities from different sides of the political spectrum. In 2002, presidential and legislative elections were held within two months of each other, each leading to five year terms in office for those elected; thus president Chirac emerged for a second term in office with a solid parliamentary majority of his own supporters.

   The president is responsible for choosing his Prime Minister (see Premier Ministre), who proposes a team of government ministers which the president must approve. He is the chief of the executive, who oversees weekly cabinet meetings (see Conseil des ministres), and promulgates new laws. He is also the commander in chief of French forces. He has the power to dissolve theNational Assembly and call legislative elections - a power used rather disastrously in 1997 by Jacques Chirac, who dissolved the Assembly in attempt to give his "presidential majority" a rather less slender majority, only to see the Socialist opposition voted into power.

   In exceptional cases of national emergency, Article 16 of the Constitutiongives the president the power to rule without the consent of parliament.

   See also Giscard d'Estaing, Pompidou