Opponents said Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade 's decision to run for another term violated the constitution. Voters failed to renew his mandate in 2012.
Those laws, adopted by parliaments and regimes in the past, give the president overwhelming powers over a broad range of areas, such as the police, internal security, the economy, land allocation, and state corporations. Prempeh said they’ve become entrenched over time, and have come to define the president’s powers.
Accumulated powers
Prempeh said other modes of unchecked behavior persist. Among them are presidential directives, which some call
“
government by press release.” In addition, legislatures and courts often rely on the president for their budgets and other resources. He notes that budgetary support from overseas donors often goes through the president’s finance ministers, not the parliament. As a result, both the legislature and the courts often fail to act as a form of “checks and balances” against presidential power.
Some legislatures have openly relinquished power. Prempeh said in 2001, Ghana’s national assembly renewed a law from the 1960s giving the president the sole authority to establish government ministries and departments. In many countries, the president appoints legislators to the cabinet and to other positions. Prempeh said in Zambia, former president Federick Chiluba appointed nearly half of all legislators to his administration, effectively buying off potential rivals within the party.
最新
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25