[edit]

As head of government[edit]
Some countries with parliamentary systems use a term meaning/translating as "president" (in some
languages indistinguishable from chairman) for the head of parliamentary government, often as
President of the Government, President of the Council of Ministers or President of the Executive
Council.
However, such an official is explicitly not the president of the country. Rather, he/she is called a
president in an older sense of the word, to denote the fact that he/she heads the cabinet. A
separate head of state generally exists in their country that instead serves as the president or
monarch of the country.
Thus, such officials are really premiers, and to avoid confusion are often described simply as 'prime
minister' when being mentioned internationally.
There are several examples for this kind of presidency:

 The official title of the Italian Prime Minister is President of the Council of
Ministers (Italian Presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri)
 Under the French Third and the Fourth Republics, the "President of the Council" (of ministers –
or prime minister) was the head of government, with the President of the Republic a largely
symbolic figurehead.
 The Prime minister of the Irish Free State from 1922 to 1937 was titled President of the
Executive Council of the Irish Free State. At the same time, the Irish Free State was a
constitutional monarchy with a reigning monarch, the King of Ireland, as well as a
resident Governor-General carrying out many head of state functions.
 Under the constitutional monarchies of Brazil and Portugal, the President of the Council of
Ministers (Portuguese Presidente do Conselho de Ministros) was the head of government, with
the Monarch being the head of State. Under the Portuguese First and Second Republics, the
head of government was the President of the Ministry (Portuguese Presidente do Ministério) and
then the President of the Council of Ministers, with the President of the Republic as the head of
State.
 The Prime Minister of Spain is officially referred to as the President of the Government of Spain,
and informally known as the "president". Spain is also a kingdom with a reigning king.
 The official title of the Croatian prime minister is President of the Government of the Republic of
Croatia (Croatian: Predsjednik Vlade Republike Hrvatske).
 The official title of the Polish prime minister is President of the Council of
Ministers (Polish Prezes Rady Ministrów).
 In British constitutional practice, the chairman of an Executive Council, acting in such a capacity,
is known as a President of the Executive Council. Usually this person is the Governor and it
always stays like that.
 Between 1918 and 1934, Estonia had no separate head of state. Both Prime Ministers (1918-
1920) and State Elders (1920-1934) often translated as "Presidents") were elected by the
parliament.