The constitutional and legal status of the President of the Russian Federation is not very clearly determined by the current version of the main law. On the one hand, the Constitution positions the President of Russia as the head of state. On the other hand, the regulations governing his activities do not give a definite answer to the question of which of the branches of power he represents. For some reason, it is generally accepted that the head of state at the same time leads the executive branch.
Definition Issues
In our opinion, this approach is not entirely correct from the formal legal point of view. Yes, indeed, there is an example of such a combination - the owner of the White House is also the head of the American state and leads the national government. But this is almost an isolated case, which can be considered as an exception to the rule. In Russia, the prime minister is elected - what kind of power does he assign? Obviously the same - executive. In addition, the President has been given the broadest powers to approve the federal administrative-bureaucratic apparatus. Broad legislative powers also do not mean that he is the first person of legislative power. Direct management and administration of the judicial system, control over the personnel and activities of the judicial bureaucracy also do not give grounds to assert its legal dominance in the judicial system. Obviously, we should not just say who the president of the Russian Federation is, whose constitutional status is rather difficult to determine. We are talking about the head of state as a supra- institutional body, which is “on top” of all political and state institutions. Actually, that's why he is considered the head of the Russian state.
Election
In general, the constitutional status of the president is determined by the rules prescribed in the law on presidential elections. Election methodology - secret ballot in general elections, the date of which is determined by the Federation Council. In the event that the senators for some reason are not able to decide on this task, the election date is set by the CEC. By tradition, the presidential "Day X" is held on the second Sunday of March once every four years.
Requirements
So, the candidate for president of the Russian Federation. The constitutional legal status of the head of state implies compliance with three basic requirements:
- the presence of Russian citizenship;
- age - from 35 years;
- residence in Russia (not necessarily permanent) for more than 10 years.
Mandatory party affiliation
The practice of recent years has demonstrated that the nomination of candidates for the presidency is carried out at party congresses. Under current law, self-nominated people also have the right to register, but such steps are not welcome.
Competence. President of the Russian Federation
The constitutional legal status of the head of state implies such powers as:
- Presentation - the personification of national sovereignty, it represents the interests of the country in the international arena, and within the country acts as an arbiter between different groups of elites;
- the guarantor of the implementation of constitutional norms and the basic principles of constitutionalism on the part of all political and state persons;
- the formulation and implementation of the basic principles of domestic policy, the definition of foreign policy development strategies. As the President of the Russian Federation, whose constitutional legal status quite clearly indicates the priority of the moderator functions and powers in public administration, he has the right to create, transform or liquidate political and state institutions, as well as ensure the smooth functioning of government at all levels.
In modern political science, this form of government is known as the "post-Soviet presidency." The head of state is informally located both over political institutions and over law. At the same time, the work of all elements of the state system depends precisely on his will. The reproduction of power is confined to the individual will of one person, which, however, does not deny the autonomous administrative existence of individual cogs of the state bureaucratic mechanism.