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A 'parliamentary republic' or 'parliamentary constitutional republic' is a form of a republic which operates under a parliamentary system of government.
In contrast to a presidential republic and the semi-presidential system, the head of state usually does not have broad executive powers as an executive president would, because much of those powers have been granted to a "head of government" (usually called a prime minister). However, the head of government and head of state may form one office in a parliamentary republic (such as South Africa and Botswana), but the president is still elected in much the same way as the prime minister is in most Westminster systems. This usually means that they are the leader of the largest party or coalition of parties in parliament.
In some instances, the President may legally have executive powers granted to them to undertake the day-to-day running of government (as in Finland or Ireland) but by convention they do not use these powers. Some parliamentary republics could therefore be seen as following the semi-presidential system but operating under a parliamentary system.

Contents

Historical development

List of current Parliamentary republics

List of former Parliamentary republics

Notes

See also

Historical development

Typically, parliamentary republics are states that were previously constitutional monarchies, with the position of head of state hitherto a monarch (and, in the case of some Commonwealth republics, formerly represented by a Governor General) being replaced by an elected non-executive president. There is also a large number of parliamentary republics that were once one-party states, being part of the Eastern bloc or the Soviet Union.

List of current Parliamentary republics

Country	Formerly	Parliamentary republic adopted	Head of state elected by
Albania	One-party state	1991	Parliament, by three-fifths majority
Austria	One-party state	1955	Direct, by second-round system
Bangladesh [1]	Presidential republic (Part of Pakistan)	1971	Parliament
Botswana	Constitutional monarchy (Commonwealth Realm)	1967	Parliament
Bulgaria	One-party state	1947	Parliament
Croatia	One-party state (Part of Yugoslavia)	1991	Directly, by second-round system
Czech Republic	One-party state (Part of Czechoslovakia)	1993	Parliament, by majority
Dominica	British overseas territory	1978	Parliament, by majority
East Timor	Military junta (Occupied by Indonesia)	1999	Directly, by second-round system
Estonia	One-party state (Part of Soviet Union)	1992	Parliament, by two-thirds majority
Ethiopia	One-party state	1991	Parliament, by two-thirds majority
Finland	Constitutional monarchy (Part of Russian Empire)	1919	Directly, by second-round system
Germany	One-party state	1949	Federal assembly (Parliament and state delegates), by absolute majority
Greece	Military junta	1974	Parliament, by majority
Hungary	One-party state	1990	Parliament, by absolute majority
Iceland	Constitutional monarchy (Part of Denmark)	1944	Direct, by transferable vote
	Constitutional monarchy	1950	Parliament and state legislators, by single transferable vote
Iraq	One-party state	2005	Parliament, by two-thirds majority
Ireland	Constitutional monarchy (Commonwealth Realm)	1949	Direct, by single transferable vote
Israel	Protectorate (Part of British Mandate of Palestine)	1949	Parliament, by two-thirds majority
Italy	Constitutional monarchy	1948	Parliament, by majority
Latvia	One-party state (Part of Soviet Union)	1991	Parliament
Lithuania	One-party state (Part of Soviet Union)	1990	Direct, by second-round system
Macedonia	One-party state (Part of the Yugoslavia)	1991	Directly, by second-round system
Malta	Constitutional monarchy (Commonwealth Realm)	1974	Direct, by second-round system
	Constitutional monarchy (Commonwealth Realm)	1992	Parliament, by majority
Montenegro	One-party state (Part of Yugoslavia)	1992	Directly, by second-round system
Poland	One-party state	1990	Directly, by second-round system
Portugal	Military junta	1976	Directly, by second-round system
Samoa	Territory of New Zealand	2007	Parliament
Singapore	Constitutional monarchy (Part of Malaysia)	1965	Directly, by second-round system
Slovakia	One-party state (Part of Czechoslovakia)	1993	Parliament (before 1999)Directly, by second-round system (since 1999)
Slovenia	One-party state (Part of Yugoslavia)	1991	Directly, by second-round system
South Africa	Constitutional monarchy (Commonwealth Realm)	1961	Parliament, majority
Switzerland	Military junta (Occupied by France)	1802	Parliament [2]
	Constitutional monarchy (Commonwealth Realm)	1976	Parliament
Turkey	Absolute monarchy (Part of Ottoman Empire)	1923	Parliament, by two-thirds majority
Vanuatu	Constitutional monarchy (Commonwealth Realm)	1980	Parliament and regional council presidents, by majority

List of former Parliamentary republics

Country	Year became a Parliamentary republic	Year status changed	Changed to	Status changed due to
	1961	1963	Presidential system	Referendum
	1891	1925	Presidential system	Referendum
French Fourth Republic	1946	1958	Semi Presidential republic (French Fifth Republic)	Political instability
	1987	2006	Military junta	Military coup (2006)
	1956		Presidential system	Constitutional amendment
	1963		Presidential system	Constitutional amendment
	1963		Presidential system	Constitutional amendment
	1970
	1972

Notes

1. In Bangladesh, a Caretaker government takes over for three months during parliamentary elections. The Caretaker government is headed by a Chief adviser (the last Chief Justice to retire), and a group of neutral, non-partisan advisers chosen from the civil society. During this time, the president has jurisdiction over the Ministry of defense and the Ministry of foreign affairs.
2. There is neither a prime minister nor a president of Switzerland. The President of the Swiss Confederation is merely primus inter pares in the Swiss Federal Council, the seven-member executive council which constitutes the government as well as the head of state of Switzerland.

See also

★ Constitutional republic

★ Republicanism