President of Brazil

President of Brazil
Tonyjeff and others · Public domain · source
Post	President of Brazil
Native name	Presidente do Brasil
Insigniacaption	Coat of arms of Brazil
Flagcaption	Presidential standard
Incumbent	Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Incumbentsince	1 January 2023
Style	Excelência
Type	Head of state and head of Government of Brazil (see note)
Seat	Brasília
Residence	Palácio da Alvorada
Appointer	Direct popular vote
Termlength	Four years, renewable once consecutively
Constituting instrument	Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil (1988)
Precursor	President of the Provisional Government of the Republic of the United States of Brazil
Formation	15 November 1889
Inaugural	Deodoro da Fonseca

President of Brazil

The President of Brazil is the head of state and head of Government of Brazil, the chief executive of the Federative Republic of Brazil, and commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Brazil. The office is established by the Constitution of Brazil (1988), combining national representation functions with executive authority over federal administration, foreign relations, and defense. The president operates from Brasília and interacts with institutions such as the National Congress of Brazil, the Supreme Federal Court, and the Federal Police of Brazil.

Role and powers

The president wields executive authority defined by the Constitution of Brazil (1988), including the power to sign or veto bills passed by the Federal Senate and the Chamber of Deputies (Brazil), issue provisional measures under crisis conditions, and appoint ministers to the Cabinet of Brazil. As head of state the president receives foreign envoys and concludes international treaties ratified by the National Congress of Brazil; as head of Armed Forces of Brazil the president commands military operations and appoints military high command subject to parliamentary oversight. The president also designates justices to the Supreme Federal Court and other federal courts, nominates heads of federal agencies such as the Central Bank of Brazil and the Attorney General of the Union (Brazil), and can grant pardons per constitutional limits.

Election and term of office

Presidential elections are direct, universal, and secret, conducted under the rules of the Superior Electoral Court and the Electoral Justice (Brazil). The president is elected for a four-year term and may be re-elected once consecutively under the Constitution of Brazil (1988). If no candidate obtains an absolute majority in the first round, a second round run-off is held between the top two candidates, in a process regulated by the Electoral Code (Brazil). Candidates typically emerge from national parties such as the Workers' Party (Brazil), Brazilian Social Democracy Party, Liberal Party (Brazil), and coalitions involving state-level parties and political figures like Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and Jair Bolsonaro.

Office and residence

The president's official workplace is the Palácio do Planalto in Brasília, designed by Oscar Niemeyer as part of the Plano Piloto de Brasília project initiated under Juscelino Kubitschek. The official residence is the Palácio da Alvorada, situated on the banks of Paranoá Lake. Ceremonial functions take place in locations such as the Catedral Metropolitana de Brasília and during inaugurations on the Esplanada dos Ministérios in ceremonies attended by foreign dignitaries, including representatives from the United Nations, the Organization of American States, and neighboring states like Argentina and Uruguay.

Functions and duties

The president proposes the federal budget to the National Congress of Brazil and issues decrees for administration, subject to judicial review by the Supreme Federal Court and oversight by the Tribunal de Contas da União. The president conducts foreign policy with counterparts such as the heads of state of United States, China, France, and South Africa and represents Brazil in forums such as the G20, the BRICS summit, the Union of South American Nations, and the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization. Domestic duties include coordinating federal responses to crises like pandemics (e.g., COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil), natural disasters in the Amazon Rainforest or the Pantanal, and public security operations involving agencies like the Federal Highway Police.

Historical overview

Since the proclamation of the Republic of the United States of Brazil in 1889, the office evolved through periods including the Old Republic (1889–1930), the Vargas Era, the Estado Novo, the Fourth Brazilian Republic, the Military dictatorship in Brazil (1964–1985), and the redemocratization culminating in the Constitution of Brazil (1988). Prominent presidents include Getúlio Vargas, Juscelino Kubitschek, João Goulart, Fernando Collor de Mello, Itamar Franco, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and Dilma Rousseff. The office has been shaped by events such as the 10 November 1937 coup d'état, the 1964 Brazilian coup d'état, and the impeachment trials of Fernando Collor de Mello and Dilma Rousseff.

List of presidents

A comprehensive list of holders begins with Deodoro da Fonseca (1889) and continues through transitional and constitutional heads including Floriano Peixoto, Nilo Peçanha, Getúlio Vargas, Juscelino Kubitschek, Jânio Quadros, João Goulart, the military presidents such as Emílio Garrastazu Médici and Ernesto Geisel, to post-authoritarian presidents José Sarney, Itamar Franco, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Dilma Rousseff, Michel Temer, and Jair Bolsonaro. Acting and interim presidents have included vice presidents and interim authorities during impeachment, death, or incapacity, drawn from figures like Michel Temer and Itamar Franco.

Impeachment and succession procedures

The Constitution of Brazil (1988) prescribes impeachment by the Chamber of Deputies (Brazil) and trial by the Federal Senate (Brazil), with precedents in the impeachments of Fernando Collor de Mello (1992) and Dilma Rousseff (2016). During impeachment or inability, the vice president assumes the presidency; further succession follows the President of the Chamber of Deputies (Brazil), the President of the Federal Senate (Brazil), and the President of the Supreme Federal Court. Interim succession has been invoked during crises that involved constitutional mechanisms and decisions by institutions such as the Superior Electoral Court and the Constitutional and Electoral Courts.

Category:Politics of Brazil Category:Presidents by country