Politics
Article 23 of the constitution personally named Sanford B. Dole as the first president and gave him a term of office stretching through 1900. If the republic had continued, his successor would have been elected by joint session of the Legislature for a six year term. The constitution did not allow individuals to be elected to consecutive terms to the presidency. The president could veto bills, which may be overridden by two-thirds majority in both houses of the legislature, and he was also commander-in-chief of the military. The cabinet, appointed by the president and confirmed by the senate, were considered ex officio members of both houses of the legislature and had every right except that of voting unless they were elected to the legislature. The minister of foreign affairs could serve as acting president until the legislature votes on a replacement.
The legislature consisted of a senate and house of representatives. Each had fifteen members with the former having six year terms and the latter only two with the exception of the first legislature which was constitutionally granted a three year term. Unlike previous governments or other common law jurisdictions where appropriation bills originate in the lower house, these bills originated from the minister of finance and were delivered to the senate. The senate also held the right to confirm presidential appointments and ratify treaties which made it more powerful in every aspect over the lower house. It was possible for legislators to concurrently serve as president, cabinet minister, or supreme court justice.
As royalists had boycotted the republic and refused to take the oath of allegiance to run for office, the American Union Party won every seat in the 1894 and 1897 elections. There was also a property requirement, kept from the 1887 constitution, which ran counter to the prevailing trends of that period. The 1897 election had the lowest turnout in Hawaii's history with less than one percent of the population going to the polls.
Read more about this topic: Republic Of Hawaii
Famous quotes containing the word politics:
“Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed.”
—Mao Zedong (1893–1976)
“While you’re playing cards with a regular guy or having a bite to eat with him, he seems a peaceable, good-humoured and not entirely dense person. But just begin a conversation with him about something inedible, politics or science, for instance, and he ends up in a deadend or starts in on such an obtuse and base philosophy that you can only wave your hand and leave.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)
“The politics of the family are the politics of a nation. Just as the authoritarian family is the authoritarian state in microcosm, the democratic family is the best training ground for life in a democracy.”
—Letty Cottin Pogrebin (20th century)