Executive Office of the President

The Executive Office of the President is the office represented by the head of state of Costa Maustan - President, established in 1958 and introduced by James Shields.

According to the Constitution of 1958, the president has the right to veto any laws passed by the Parliament, although that happened rather rarely. He can also propose and amend bills. The president was the most important politician in the country, followed by the Vice President. The office was elected every eight years.

History
On 7 June 1958, James Shields participated in the signing of the Memn Treaty that year as a member of the newly formed Parliament. Two days later he was approached by King Joseph Gunderson who was impressed by Shields’ achievements in the war. He offered to help him become the President, and James agreed since he wanted to rule as people’s representative. According to the documents preserved in the old National Archive, he was elected by the Royal Family who didn’t have much power at the time since the Constitution had restricted their power. Shields was of course not happy and tried to come to a compromise with the Parliament. After the discussion, the members allowed Shields to give the northern region of Costa Maustan under the condition that the territory is partially owned by the Upper Government of Costa Maustan. When some tweaks were made in the new government, the function of Chief Minister was abolished and James Shields as President, took control of the government and made the monarchy less powerful. He was appointed President for 10 years, but he declined deciding that the government should allow 8 years of governing maximum. At his final speech in 1966, he wished good luck to Costa Maustan and was succeeded by a dark horse candidate Jerry Bolton.

According to the IRSA leaked confidential documents, the new President was confirmed to be a suspect the IRSA agents looked for. He was revealed to be a former Second Officer of the Pruanian People’s Army. He was assassinated in 17 June, 1966. The Queen who was in power at the time, suggested Linda Bolton, who would remain in office until 1968, in a tie with Maja Tereza for the second shortest presidential term in Maustanian history.

Cristian I was a conservative, but under public pressure he was forced to limit appointed officials (including the President) to six year terms. In 1852, this was a move towards democracy by instituting liberal reforms.

Since 1882, the President has been elected by popular vote. Filip Van Buskirk, who already had a term as President, was the first democratically elected official.

In 1902, the post of Prime Minister was introduced and since then, the President of Brunant has acted as acting head of government. Until then, the President was responsible to form a government.

In 1978, Silvia Van Damme became the first female President of Brunant.

The office of president was abolished in 2014 following much discussion into the matter and a popular referendum in the spring of 2014. Gert Henneman was the last President.