Acting President During Presidential Travel Abroad: The Special Case of Two Centers of Authority
In Brazil, per constitutional custom dating back to the 19th century, whenever a President travels abroad, although the President remains invested with the powers and duties of the office for the purpose of representing the country abroad, the dispach of the business of the presidency and the discharge of the powers and duties of the office are also vested in the Vice-president as Acting President or, if the Vice-president is also not available, in the next person in the line of succession who is able to serve.
The situation is similar in a way to the appointment of Counsellors of State by the British Sovereign. Just like the British Sovereign remains invested with the royal powers while the Counsellors of State are in place to handle the royal functions, so that there are two centers of authority capable of discharging those functions (the Sovereign himself or the Counsellors), when the President of Brazil travels abroad this automatically triggers the assumption of the office of Acting President by the person next in line who is in Brazil, but in that specific case, dictated by constitutional custom and not by the express text of the Constitution, two subjetive centers of authority remain in place: the President who is abroad and the Acting President.
Read more about this topic: Brazilian Presidential Line Of Succession
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