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The President of Germany, officially the President of the Federal Republic of Germany (German: ''Bundespräsident der Bundesrepublik Deutschland''),〔The official title within Germany is ''ドイツ語:Bundespräsident'', with ''ドイツ語:der Bundesrepublik Deutschland'' being added in an international context; the official English title is President of the Federal Republic of Germany 〕 is the head of state of Germany. Germany has a parliamentary system of government with the Federal Chancellor running the government and the politics of the day. However, the German President has a role which is more than ceremonial with the office being a genuine political office with extensive discretion regarding the way the President exercises his official duties.〔German constitutional court: BVerfG, – 2 BvE 4/13–10 June 2014, No. 28〕 The Federal President gives direction to general political and societal debates and has some important "reserve powers" in case of political instability (such as those provided for by Article 81 of the Basic Law). Under Article 59 (1) of the Basic Law (German Constitution), the Federal President represents the Federal Republic of Germany in matters of international law, concludes treaties with foreign states on its behalf and accredits diplomats.〔Website of the Federal President of Germany () Retrieved 28 April 2014〕 Furthermore, all federal laws must be signed by the President before they can come into effect; however, he or she can only veto a law that he/she believes to violate the constitution. The Federal President, by his or her actions and public appearances, represents the state itself, its existence, its legitimacy, and unity. The President's office involves an integrative role and the control function of upholding the law and the constitution. It is a matter of political tradition – not legal restrictions – that the Federal President generally does not comment routinely on issues in the news, particularly when there is some controversy among the political parties.〔Official website of the Federal President of Germany: Constitutional basis () Retrieved 29 April 2014〕 This distance from day-to-day politics and daily governmental issues allows the Federal President to be a source of clarification, to influence public debate, to voice criticism, offer suggestions and make proposals. In order to exercise this power, he/she traditionally acts above party politics.〔Official Website of the Federal President of Germany () Retrieved 28 April 2014〕 The current officeholder is Joachim Gauck who was elected on 18 March 2012. == Selection == (詳細はFederal Convention which mirrors the aggregated majority situation of the Bundestag and the parliaments of the 16 German federal states. The convention consists of all Bundestag members as well as an equal number of delegates chosen by the legislatures of the ''Länder'' (states). The delegates of each ''Land'' to the Federal Convention are elected by the members of the state legislature under a form of proportional representation. However it is not required that ''Land'' delegates themselves be members of a legislature; often prominent citizens are chosen. In total, the Federal Convention numbers more than one thousand members. The German constitution, the Basic Law, requires that it be convened no later than thirty days before the expiration of the term of office of the president (which is five years). The body is convened and chaired by the President of the German Bundestag. From 1979 to 2009, all these conventions have been held on 23 May, the date of the foundation of the Federal Republic in 1949. However, the two latest elections were held on different dates after the predecessing presidents stepped down before the end of their terms since they had to be held within 30 days of Horst Köhler's and Christian Wulff's resignations in 2010 and 2012 respectively. In the first two rounds of the election process, the Federal Convention attempts to elect a president by an absolute majority of votes cast. If, after two votes, no single candidate has received this level of support, in the third and final vote the candidate endorsed by a plurality of votes cast is elected. The process of electing the president is usually determined by party politics, the office being in the gift of whichever party, or group of allied parties, can muster a majority in the convention. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「President of Germany」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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