Government of Czechoslovakia - Executive Branch

Executive Branch

The executive branch of government consisted of the president, the prime minister, a number of deputy prime ministers, and the federal ministers.

According to the 1960 Constitution, the president was elected by the Federal Assembly to a five-year term of office. In practice, the president was first selected by the KSC leadership and then "officially" voted into office by the Federal Assembly. As head of state, the president represented the nation in diplomatic affairs, received and appointed envoys, convened the Federal Assembly, and signed laws into force. He was commander in chief of the armed forces and was empowered to appoint or remove the premier, other members of the executive, and other high civilian and military officials. There was no vice president; rather, the Constitution provided that if the presidential office became vacant, the premier would be entrusted with the president's duties until the Federal Assembly elects a new president.

The prime minister, the deputy prime ministers (numbering ten in 1987), and the federal cabinet ministers were collectively termed "the government," which is constitutionally defined as "the supreme executive organ of state power." All were chosen by the Central Committee of the KSC and formally appointed by the president. If both chambers of the Federal Assembly voted to censure any or all members of the government, the president was obliged to remove those members.

The premier, deputy premiers, and ministers collectively formed the Presidium of the Government of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. This Presidium supervised and controlled the activities of the federal ministries, commissions, and other departments. These Presidium functions appeared to correspond to the purpose of the government as stated in the Constitution, which was to ensure the implementation of laws enacted in the Federal Assembly and to coordinate, direct, and control activities in the federal ministries and other federal offices.

Federal ministers were important administrators, but they lacked the political weight of their counterparts in most non-communist countries. The number of ministries and the division of responsibilities among them have varied over time. In August 1986 there were thirteen federal ministries: agriculture and food; communication; electrotechnical industry; finance; foreign affairs; foreign trade; fuels and power; general engineering; interior; labor and social affairs; metallurgy and heavy engineering; national defense; and transportation. In addition, five individuals held positions that granted them ministerial status. These included the minister-chairmen of the Federal Price Office and the People's Surveillance Commission, the chairman of the State Planning Commission, and the minister-deputy chairmen of the State Planning Commission and the State Commission for Research and Development and Investment Planning. These ministerial and ministerial-level positions within the government paralleled similar organs within the KSC, where policy was actually formed before it was enacted by federal government officials.