President Higgins has created an unprecedented state of exception for himself, writes Gerard Howlin
President Higgins has created a state of exception for himself. He is not simply above politics under the Constitution, he also enjoys undefined extra-constitutional influence in his position as president-intellectual. It is unprecedented, unaccountable and unconstitutional. It relies on the muscle of political popularity to enforce on an elected but politically enfeebled government.
The President has momentarily become emblematic of the exercise of a mode of authority against which he spent his political life railing Specifically on foreign policy the strictures are specific. The president must receive the permission of the government to leave the State. This is intended to ensure that the elected government alone is the arbiter of foreign policy. Our government decides on Ireland’s place in the world because we the people are ultimate arbiters. In that context, the President’s call onfor an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine was interpreted by many as a demand for surrender in the face of Russian invasion.
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