CHAPTER III. The Federal Executive Branch
Article 80
The power of the Executive Branch is vested in one single person, the President of the United Mexican States.
Article 81
The President of the United Mexican States is directly elected by the people according to the electoral law.
Article 82
Qualifications for the Presidency:
- The candidate for the Presidency must be a natural born citizen, with legal capacity to exercise his rights, born of Mexican father or mother and must have live in the country for at least 20 years.
- The candidate for the Presidency must be 35 years of age on the election date.
- The candidate for the Presidency must have live in the country for a full year prior to the day of the election. Absences for up to 30 days do not interrupt residence.
- The candidate for the Presidency cannot be priest or minister of any religion.
- The candidate should not be in active duty in the Army at least six months before the day of the election.
- The candidate should not be Secretary of State or Under-Secretary, Federal Attorney General, Governor or Head of the Federal District Government, unless he resigns his position six months before the election date.
- To be unaffected by the inabilities established under the Article 83.
Article 83
The President will begin his tenure on October 1st and will last six years in office. The citizen who had performed as President of the Republic, popularly elected or under the interim or alternate character, or provisionally takes the office of the Federal Executive, in no case and under any circumstances may perform again this position.
Article 84
In case of a complete absence of President of the Republic, while the Congress appoints the interim or alternate president in a term no longer than sixty days, the Minister of Interior will provisionally take the office of the Executive Power. In this case, sections II, III and VI of Article 82 of this Constitution will not be applicable.
Whoever provisionally occupies the Presidency will not be able to withdraw or appoint State Secretaries without the previous authorization of the Chamber of Senators. Likewise, he will present to the Congress a work report in no longer than ten days period counted just after his commission ends.
When there is complete absence of President during the two first years of the respective period, if the Congress of the Union were in sessions and at least two thirds of the total number of members of each Chamber were attending, the Congress shall immediately constitute itself in the Electoral College. The Electoral College through secret ballot and by the vote of the absolute majority shall appoint an interim president under the terms set by the Law of the Congress. The same Congress will issue, within ten days following such appointment, the call for the election of President that should end the respective period. Between the date of the call for elections and the Election Day there shall be no less than seven months and no more than nine months. The elected president will begin his/her term in office and swear before the Congress seven days after the electoral process has ended
If the Congress were not in sessions, the Permanent Commission will immediately call for extraordinary sessions to constitute the Electoral College, appoint an interim president and issue the call to presidential elections under the terms of the previous paragraph.
When the complete absence of President happens in the last four years of the respective period, if the Congress of the Union is in session, it will appoint an alternate president, who will complete the period, following in that capacity, the same procedure as in the case of the interim president.
If the Congress were not in sessions, the Permanent Commission will immediate call for extraordinary sessions to constitute the Electoral College and to appoint an alternate president, following in that capacity, the same procedure as in the case of interim president.
Article 85
If before starting a constitutional period the election was not made or declared as valid, the President whose office has ended will cease and the interim president will be appointed by the Congress under the terms of the above Article.
If when starting a constitutional period there is a complete absence of President of the Republic, the position will be provisionally taken by the President of the Chamber of Senators, while the Congress appoints the interim president, in accordance to the above Article.
When the President requests leave to separate from the office up to sixty natural days, once authorized by the Congress, the Minister of Interior will provisionally take the office of the Executive Power.
If a temporary absence of the President becomes into an absolute absence, the Congress shall act as indicated in the previous article.
Article 86
The President of the Republic can resign his position only due to a serious cause, which shall be evaluated by the Congress, to whom the resignation shall be submitted.
Article 87
The President, upon taking office, takes the following oath before the Congress, or before the Permanent Committee during the recess of the Congress: “I swear to observe and uphold the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States and the laws that emanate from it, and to loyally and patriotically perform the position of President of the Republic, which the people have conferred upon me, pursuing the welfare and prosperity of the country; and if I do not fulfill these obligations, may the Nation demand it of me.”
If by any circumstance the President could not take the oath under the terms of the above paragraph, he will do so immediately before the Executive Boards of the Chambers of the Congress of the Union.
In case that the President could not swear in before the Congress of the Union, before the Permanent Commission or before the Executive Boards of the Chambers of the Congress of the Union, he will do so immediately before the President of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation.
Article 88
The President of the Republic can leave the national territory for up to seven days, previously notifying his reasons to the Senate or the Permanent Committee, as applicable, as well as the outcome of his activities. For absences larger than seven days, the President shall request a permit from the Senate or the Permanent Committee.
Article 89
The powers and rights of the President of the Republic are the following:
- To enact and execute the laws issued by the Congress of the Union providing in the administrative field its compliance.
- To freely appoint and remove the State Secretaries, to remove the ambassadors, general consuls and directive employees of the Treasury, and to freely appoint and remove the rest of the employees of the Union, whose appointment or removal is not otherwise set in the Constitution or laws;The Secretaries of State and high-ranking employees of the Treasury and Foreign Affairs shall begin their functions on the date of their appointment, When they were not ratified in the terms established by this Constitution they will cease their functions.
According to the postulates about the ratification of the Foreign Affairs Minister and the Treasury Minister, when there is not a coalition government in functions, if the respective Chamber does not ratify in two occasions the appointment of the nominated Minister then the person selected by the Federal Executive shall occupy the office.
- To appoint, with approval from the Senate, the ambassadors, general consuls, executive employees of the Treasury, and the members of the collegiate bodies in charge of regulation in the matters of telecommunications, power and economic competence;
- To appoint, with approval from the Senate, Colonels and other chiefs of the National Army, Navy and Air Forces, according to the laws.
- To appoint, according to the law, the rest of the officers of the Army, Navy and Air Force.
- To protect national security, in accordance to the applicable law. For this purpose, the President of the Republic can make use of the permanent armed forces: the Army, the Navy and the Air Force for homeland security and defense of the federation against foreign threats.
- To make use of the National Guard to assure domestic security and to protect the nation from other nations, observing the provisions established in the Article 76, section IV.
- To declare war in the name of the United Mexican States, having the previous authorization of the Congress.
- To mediate in the appointment and removal of the Federal Attorney General, in the terms provided by the part A of the Article 102 of this Constitution.
- To lead the foreign policy; to make and execute international treaties; as well as to end, condemn, suspend, modify, amend, withdraw reservations and make interpretative declarations relating such treaties and conventions, requiring the authorization of the Senate. For these purposes, the President of the Republic shall observe the following principles: the right to self-determination; non-intervention; peaceful solution of controversies; outlawing the use of force or threat in international relations; equal rights of States; international cooperation for development; the respect, protection and promotion of human rights; and the struggle for international peace and security.
- To call the Congress to an extraordinary period of sessions at Permanent Committee’s agreement.
- To provide the Judicial Branch with all the assistance necessary for the prompt performance of its duties.
- To equip all kind of ports; to set up maritime and border customs, indicating the place to install them.
- To grant, according to the law, a pardon to the convicts sentenced because of federal crimes and to the convicts sentenced for common crimes committed in the Federal District.
- To grant exclusive privileges, for a limited period of time, to discoverers, inventors or improvers in any branch of industry, according to the applicable law.
- During the recess of the Senate, the President of the Republic can make the appointments mentioned in the paragraphs III, IV and IX, having the approval of the Permanent Committee.
- At any moment, to opt for a coalition government with one or several political parties represented at the Congress.A covenant and a program shall regulate the government coalition; the majority of the present members of the Senate shall approve these programs and covenants. The covenant shall state the causes for the dissolution of the coalition.
- To submit to the Senate a list of candidates to become Justices of the Supreme Court of Justice; and to require authorization for their leaves and resignations to the Senate.
- Reject, under the terms described by the Constitution and the law, the appointments of the Commissioners of the National Transparency Agency [Organo Garante] issued by the Senate according to the 6th article of this Constitution.
- Other powers expressly conferred by this Constitution.
Article 90
Federal Public Administration shall be centralized and semipublic, according to the organic law issued by the Congress, which shall allocate the federal administrative affairs among the Secretariats and shall set the general basis to create semipublic entities and the participation of the Federal Executive in their operation.
The laws shall regulate the relations between semipublic entities and the President of the Republic or between them and the Secretariats.
The functions of the Legal Counselor of the Government shall depend upon the office within the Federal Executive that the law establishes for that purpose.
The Federal Executive will represent the Federation in any matters that it is a party through the office that holds the responsibility of Legal Counselor of the Government or through the Secretariats in the terms established by law.
Article 91
In order to become a Secretary of State, it is required to be a Mexican citizen by birth, with legal capacity to exercise his rights, and to be 30 years old.
Article 92
All regulations, decrees, covenants and orders issued by the President of the Republic shall also be signed by the Secretary of State in charge of the matter, otherwise they won’t be compulsory.
Article 93
The Secretaries of State as soon as the ordinary period of sessions is open, shall answer to the Congress for the state of their respective affairs.
Any of the Houses can call the Secretaries of State, the directors and managers of semipublic entities and the heads of autonomous agencies in order to provide more information, under oath, whenever the Congress is studying or discussing a law or affair related to their activities or areas of responsibility, or to answer any inquiry that the Congress have in regard to the matter.
The House of Representatives, by request of a quarter of its members, and the Senate, by request of a half of its members, have the power to create committees to investigate the functioning of decentralized and semipublic entities. The results of the investigations shall be submitted to the President of the Republic.
Any of the Houses can require, by a written inquiry, information or documents to the heads of the federal agencies, who shall answer the inquiry within the next 15 days after request was received.
These attributions shall be exercised according to the Law and regulations of the Congress.
