constituteproject.org PDF generated: 28 Mar 2017, 17:22 TITLE III: INSTITUTIONS OF THE UNION Chapter I: Executive Power Article 12 • Name/structure of executive(s) • Foreign affairs representative The President of the Union shall be the symbol of national unity. He shall be the guarantor of the inviolability of the borders as internationally recognized and of the sovereignty of the Union. He shall be the arbiter and the moderator of the proper functioning of the institutions. He shall be the highest representative of the Union in international relations. • Foreign affairs representative • Treaty ratification The President of the Union shall determine and conduct the foreign policy. He shall accredit ambassadors and envoys extraordinary to foreign powers; foreign ambassadors and envoys extraordinary shall be accredited to him. He shall negotiate and ratify treaties. • Selection of active-duty commanders The President of the Union shall be the Head of Government. In this capacity, he shall determine and conduct the policy of the Union. He shall have at his disposal the administration of the Union and shall have the power to make regulations. He shall make appointments to civil and military posts of the Union. • Designation of commander in chief The President of the Union shall be the Commander-in-Chief of the Armies. He shall be responsible for external defense. • Power to pardon The President of the Union shall be vested with the power to grant pardons. Article 12.1 • Dismissal of the legislature The President of the Union may, after consulting the President of the Assembly of the Union, declare the Union Assembly dissolved. The general election of the representatives of the Union shall take place no fewer than twenty days and no more than forty days after the dissolution. In this case each island shall appoint new representatives to the Assembly of the Union from the ranks of its Council. The former representatives of the islands appointed to the Assembly of the Union shall not be reappointed in the year which follows the election of the Assembly, unless a renewal of the Council of the island concerned has taken place. The Assembly of the Union shall sit as of right on the second Thursday following its election. Should this sitting fall in a period between two sessions, a session shall be convened as of rights for a fifteen-day period. No further dissolution shall take place within a year following said election. • Deputy executive Article 12.2 The President of the Union may delegate certain of his powers to the Vice Presidents. Comoros 2001 (rev. 2009) Page 9