Cohabitation – Serbia

Posted on 16 September, 2009 by Robert Elgie

This is a series of posts that records the cases of cohabitation in countries with semi-presidential constitutions. Cohabitation is defined as the situation where the president and prime minister are from different parties and where the president’s party is not represented in the cabinet. Presidents classed as non-party cannot generate any periods of cohabitation.

Here is the list of cohabitations in Serbia. The story is a little complicated.

On 3 June 2006 Montenegro declared independence from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. This left Serbia (and its various constituent parts, including Kosovo) alone in the Union. The State Union Constitution was parliamentary. (The text is available here). Within the State Union both Serbia and Montenegro had their own constitutions and both were semi-presidential. (A post will follow on another occasion). Following Montenegro’s departure, on 8 November 2006 Serbia adopted a new constitution, replacing the State Union document. This document is semi-presidential. So, as far as I understand, it Serbia, as a stand-alone country, comes into existence in November 2006.

Meanwhile, in March 2004, following the legislative elections in December 2003, Vojislav Koštunica from the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) had become prime minister heading a minority government, while in June 2004 Boris Tadić from the Democratic Party (DS) had been elected president. Thus, within Serbia under the State Union there was cohabitation from June 2004. When Serbia adopted its new constitution in late 2006 the period of cohabitation continued.

There was then a new legislative election in January 2007 and, in May 2007, Koštunica was returned as prime minister, but this time with a government that included the DS. So, cohabitation ended in May 2007.

The government details are taken from Daniel Bochsler, ‘The parliamentary election in Serbia, 21 January 2007’, Electoral Studies, vol. 27 (2008), 160-165.

So, here is the list of cohabitations in Serbia when the country a.) had a semi-presidential constitution and b.) when the State Union with Montenegro had ended:

Nov 2006 – May 2007
President – Boris Tadić (DS); PM – Vojislav Koštunica (DSS); Government – DSS, G17+, SPO, and NS

Party abbreviations:

DS – Demokratska stranka (Democratic Party)
DSS – Demokratska stranka Srbije (Democratic Party of Serbia)
G17+
NS – Nova Srbija (New Serbia)
SPO – Srpski pokret obnove (Serbian Renewal Movement)

Cohabitation – Slovenia

Posted on 29 July, 2009 by Robert Elgie

Here is my list of cohabitations in Slovenia:

Dec 2004 – Jan 2006
President – Janez Drnovšek (LDS); PM – Janez Janša (SDS); Coalition – SDS, NSi, SLS, DeSUS

Dec 2012 – March 2013
President – Borut Pahor (SD); PM – Janez Janša (SDS); Coalition – SDS, NSi, SLS, DeSUS, LGV

Like Slovakia, the first Slovenian case of cohabitation is a slightly difficult one. President Drnovšek was a member of the LDS party. However, according to Wikipedia, on January 30, 2006, he left the LDS and founded the Movement for Justice and Development. This was a civil society organisation. So, in effect, I assume Wikipedia is correct and I treat Drnovšek as non-partisan from this point. However, he remained in office until December 2007. So, the period of cohabitation could be extended to this point. There is some detail on the president’s involvement with the Movement for Justice and Development group in the EJPR, vol. 46, 2007, p. 1111.

Party abbreviations:

DeSUS – Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia (Demokratična stranka upokojencev Slovenije)
LDS – Liberal Democracy of Slovenia (Liberalna Demokracija Slovenije)
LGV – Gregor Virant’s Civic List
NSi – New Slovenia (Nova Slovenija)
SD – Social Democrats
SDS – Slovenian Democratic Party (Slovenska demokratska stranka)
SLS – Slovenian People’s Party (Slovenska ljudska stranka)

Source of affiliations:
http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Slovenia.html

Cohabitation – São Tomé e Príncipe

Posted on 24 June, 2009 by Robert Elgie

Here is my list of cohabitations in São Tomé e Príncipe:

Oct 1994 – Dec 1995
President – Miguel Trovoada (ADI); PM – Carlos da Graça (MLSTP-PSD); Coalition – MLSTP-PSD, PCD

Dec 1995 – Nov 1996
President – Miguel Trovoada (ADI); PM – Armindo Vaz d’Almeida (MLSTP-PSD); Coalition – MLSTP-PSD, PCD

Nov 1996 – Jan 1999
President – Miguel Trovoada (ADI); PM – Raul Bragança Neto (MLSTP-PSD); Coalition – MLSTP-PSD, PCD

Jan 1999 – Sep 2001
President – Miguel Trovoada (ADI); PM – Guilherme Posser de Costa (MLSTP-PSD); Coalition – MLSTP-PSD

March 2004 – Sep 2004
President – Fradique de Menezes (MDFM-PL); PM – Maria das Neves Ceita Baptista de Sousa (MLSTP-PSD); MLSTP-PSD, Ue-K (inc ADI)

Sep 2004 – Jun 2005
President – Fradique de Menezes (MDFM-PL); PM – Damião Vaz d’Almeida (MLSTP-PSD); Coalition – MLSTP-PSD, ADI

January 2010 – August 2010
President – Fradique de Menezes (MDFM-PL); PM – Joaquim Rafael Branco (MLSTP-PSD); Coalition – MLSTP-PSD, PCD

August 2010 – September 2011
President – Fradique de Menezes (MDFM-PL); PM – Patrice Trovoada (ADI); Government – ADI

São Tomé is a really interesting case because, along with Weimar and Sri Lanka, it is the only case of a country with president-parliamentary form of semi-presidentialism to experience cohabitation. Also, with Romania, it is the only country where cohabitation has begun mid-term. This happened in 2004 and on 31 December 2009 when the president’s MDFM party left the coalition. Finally, it has experienced a lot of cohabitation. In fact, it is the most cohabitation-prone country. (See previous post).

Source of party affiliations: http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Sao_Tome.html

Party abbreviations:

ADI – Acção Democrática Independente (Independent Democratic Action)
MDFM-PL – Movimento Democrático Força da Mudança-Partido Liberal (Force for Change Democratic Movement-Liberal Party)
MLSTP-PSD – Movimento de Libertação de São Tomé e Príncipe-Partido Social Democrata (Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé e Príncipe-Democratic Socialist Party)
PCD – Partido de Convergência Democrática (Democratic Convergence Party)
Ue-K – Uê Kédadji (a coalition)

Cohabitation – Portugal

Posted on 28 May, 2009 by Robert Elgie

There is a slight complication in the case of Portugal. I prefer to use a standardised list of party affiliations. Therefore, I use worldstatesmen.org, which is usually reliable. This site classes as Ramalho Eanes as a representative of the Partido Renovador Democrático (PRD) for the full term of his office. However, according to my information, the PRD was only created in 1985. Prior to to that time, I understand Eanes to be non-party. If he was partisan before this time, then there are more cohabitations than those recorded here. On the assumption that he was non-partisan, then here is my list of cohabitations in Portugal:

Mar 1986 – Oct 1995
President – Mário Soares (PS); PM – Aníbal Cavaco Silva (PSD); Government – PSD

Apr 2002 – Jul 2004
President – Jorge Sampaio (PS); PM – José Manuel Barroso (PSD); Government – PSD, CDS-PP

Jul 2004 – Mar 2005
President – Jorge Sampaio (PS); PM – Pedro Miguel Lopes (PSD); Government – PSD, CDS-PP

Mar 2006 – June 2011
President – Aníbal Cavaco Silva (PSD); José Sócrates (PS); Government – PS

Source of party affiliations: www.worldstatesmen.org/Portugal.htm

Party abbreviations:
CDS-PP – Centro Democrático e Social – Partido Popular (Democratic and Social Centre – People’s Party)
PS – Partido Socialista (Socialist Party)
PSD – Partido Social Democrata (Social Democrat Party)