The Constitution versus President Pavel

"If the president is in any delegation, he is automatically the leader of that delegation," said President Petr Pavel, saying that he himself will decide what program he will participate in at the NATO summit in Ankara.

The following analogy tells us something important about the relationship between the president and the government:

Act No. 121/1920 Coll., the Constitutional Charter of the Czechoslovak Republic, had in § 82 that the President of the Republic has the right to be present andto presidegovernment meetings.

Constitutional Act No. 100/1960 Coll., the Constitution of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (valid until 1 January 1993), had in Article 62 (1/7) that the president has the right to be present at government meetings andpresideto them, to require reports from the government and from individual members of it, and to discuss with the government or its members questions that need to be addressed.

Constitutional Act No. 1/1993 Coll., the Constitution of the Czech Republic, states in Article 64/2 that the President of the Republic has the right to participate in government meetings, to request reports from the government and its members, and to discuss with the government or its members issues that fall within their competence.

The stated facts clearly show the implemented intention of the legislatureremovepresident privilege automaticallypresidegovernment meeting when he attends it. In other words, with this change in the constitution, the political system in our country clearly and deliberately deviated from the features of a semi-presidential system to a parliamentary system.

Constitutional judge reporter Pavel Šámal commented on the preliminary measure issued by the Constitutional Court as follows: "We respect that the government is the highest representative of the executive power, and also that it has a fundamental and decisive say in foreign policy," and added that this is not a decision that perhaps the government is subordinate to the president in foreign policy, it is just a question for one summit.

Even more accurate was the comment of constitutional lawyer Jan Kysela from Charles University (Law, 25.6.2026) that the verdict of the Constitutional Courtdefinitely doesn't mean, that the president will be at the head of the delegation. He completely agreed with Foreign Minister Petr Macinka's opinion that President Pavel will not be at the head of the delegation, because the Constitutional Court did not order the government to be the leader of the delegation, but to be a member of it.

From the above, it can be concluded that the statements of President Petr Pavel are completely unfounded and testify to his complete misunderstanding of the preliminary measure issued by the Constitutional Court. Given the historical development of our constitutional order, the president's statements are even completely contradictory.

Petr Pavel's performance as president is thus the source of - in the words of Václav Havel - a "stupid" mood in society. Very bad moods.

Other points of interest arising from the comparison of institutes

The Constitution of 1920 established that the President of the Republic is elected by the National Assembly andis not responsiblefrom the performance of his office. From his speeches related to the office of the presidentthe government is responsible. Any act of government or executive power by the president needs the co-signature of the responsible member of the government to be valid.

The Constitution of 1960 stipulated that the head of state is the President of the Republic, elected by the National Assembly as the representative of state power, and that the President of the Republicis responsible(!) from the performance of his duties to the National Assembly.

The current constitution states that the president is elected in direct elections and that he is not responsible for the performance of his office. This refers to the exercise of his powers under Article 62 of the Constitution. However, the validity of the powers exercised by the president according to Article 63 of the Constitution (including representing the state externally) requires the co-signature of the Prime Minister or a member of the government authorized by him, because for these decisions of the Presidentthe government is responsible.

There is still much to learn and improve! Will Petr Pavel manage it, or will someone else take his place?