Parliamentary republics around the world, shown in Orange (Parliamentary republics with a non-executive President) and Light Blue (Parliamentary republics with an executive President linked to Parliament). Constitutional monarchies are shown in red.

A parliamentary republic or parliamentary constitutional republic is a type of republic which operates under a parliamentary system of government - meaning a system with no clear-cut separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches.^[1] There are a number of variations of parliamentary republics. Most have a clear differentiation between the head of government and the head of state; with the head of government holding real power, much like constitutional monarchies. Some have fused the roles of head of state and head of government, much like Presidential systems.

For the first case mentioned above, in particular, the form of executive-branch arrangement is distinct from most other parliamentary and semi-presidential republics which separate the head of state (usually designated as the "president") from the head of government (usually designated as "prime minister", "premier" or "chancellor") and subject the latter to the confidence of parliament and a flexible tenure in office while the head of state lacks either dependency, and investing either office with the majority of executive power.

Powers[link]

Former President of Ireland Mary McAleese and former President of Poland Aleksander Kwaśniewski. Both were heads of state of Parliamentary republics.

In contrast to republics operating under either the presidential system or the semi-presidential system, the head of state usually does not have broad executive powers as an executive president would, because many of those powers have been granted to a head of government (usually called a prime minister).

However, in a parliamentary republic with a head of state whose tenure is dependent on parliament, the head of government and head of state may form one office (as in Botswana, Guyana, the Marshall Islands, Nauru and South Africa; as well as Switzerland, in which the Swiss Federal Council is the head of state and head of government collectively), but the president is still selected in much the same way as the prime minister is in most Westminster systems. This usually means that they are the leader of the largest party or coalition of parties in parliament.

In some instances, the president may legally have executive powers granted to them to undertake the day-to-day running of government (as in Finland) but by convention they either do not use these powers or they use them only to give effect to the advice of the parliament and/or head of government. Some parliamentary republics could therefore be seen as following the semi-presidential system but operating under a parliamentary system.

Historical development[link]

Typically, parliamentary republics are states that were previously constitutional monarchies with a parliamentary system, with the position of head of state hitherto a monarch.^[1] However, the first parliamentary republic, the new Swiss Confederation formed in 1803, was created from a loose confederation of independent Cantons.^[2][3]

Following the defeat of Napoleon III in the Franco-Prussian War, France once again became a republic - the French Third Republic - in 1870. The President of the Third republic had significantly less executive powers than the previous two republics had. The third republic lasted until the invasion of France by Nazi Germany in 1940. Following the end of the war, the French Fourth Republic was constituted along similar lines in 1946. The Fourth Republic saw an era of great economic growth in France and the rebuilding of the nation's social institutions and industry after the war, and played an important part in the development of the process of European integration which changed the continent permanently. Some attempts were made to strengthen the executive branch of government to prevent the unstable situation that had existed before the war, but the instability remained and the Fourth Republic saw frequent changes in government - there were 20 governments in ten years. Additionally, the government proved unable to make effective decisions regarding decolonization. As a result, the Fourth Republic collapsed and what some critics considered to be a de facto coup d'état, subsequently legitimized by a referendum on 5 October 1958, led to the establishment of the French Fifth Republic in 1959.

Chile became the first Parliamentary republic in South America following a civil war in 1891. However, following a coup in 1925 this system was replaced by a Presidential one.

Commonwealth of Nations[link]

Since the London Declaration of 29 April 1949 (just weeks after the Ireland declared itself a republic and excluded itself from the Commonwealth) republics have been admitted as members of the Commonwealth of Nations. A number of these republics kept the Westminster Parliamentary system inherited during their British colonial rule.

In the case of many republics in the Commonwealth of Nations, it was common for the Sovereign, formerly represented by a Governor-General, to be replaced by an elected non-executive head of state. This was the case in with South Africa (which left the Commonwealth soon after becoming a republic), Malta, Trinidad and Tobago, India and Vanuatu. In many of these examples, the last Governor-General became the first president. Such was the case with Sri Lanka.

Others, such as Samoa became parliamentary republics upon gaining independence.

List of current parliamentary republics[link]

Country	Formerly	Parliamentary republic adopted	Head of state elected by
Albania	One-party state	1991	Parliament, by majority
Austria	One-party state	1955	Directly, by second-round system
Bangladesh	Presidential republic (Commonwealth realm)	1991[note 1]	Parliament
Botswana	British protectorate (Bechuanaland Protectorate)	1966	Parliament
Bosnia and Herzegovina	One-party state (Part of Yugoslavia)	1991	Directly, by second-round system
Bulgaria	One-party state	1989	Directly, by second-round system
Cape Verde	Portuguese colony	1975	Directly
Croatia	Semi-presidential republic	2000	Directly, by second-round system
Czech Republic	One-party state (Part of Czechoslovakia)	1993	Parliament, by majority
Dominica	British overseas territory	1978	Parliament, by majority
East Timor	Military junta (Occupied by Indonesia)	1999	Directly, by second-round system
Estonia	One-party state (Part of Soviet Union)	1991[note 2]	Parliament, by two-thirds majority
Ethiopia	One-party state	1991	Parliament, by two-thirds majority
Finland	Constitutional monarchy (Part of Russian Empire)	1919	Directly, by second-round system
Germany	One-party state	1949[note 3]	Federal assembly (Parliament and state delegates), by absolute majority
Greece	Military junta; Constitutional monarchy	1975	Parliament, by majority
Hungary	One-party state	1990	Parliament, by absolute majority
Iceland	Formerly part of Denmark - constitutional monarchy	1944	Directly, by transferable vote
India	Constitutional monarchy (Commonwealth realm)	1950	Parliament and state legislators, by single transferable vote
Iraq	One-party state	2005	Parliament, by two-thirds majority
Ireland	Constitutional monarchy (Commonwealth realm)	1949[note 4]	Directly, by single transferable vote
Israel	Protectorate (Part of British Mandate of Palestine)	1948	Parliament, by majority
Italy	Constitutional monarchy	1946	Parliament, by majority
Kiribati	Protectorate	1979	Citizens
Kyrgyzstan	Presidential republic	2010	Parliament
Latvia	One-party state (Part of Soviet Union)	1991[note 5]	Parliament
Lebanon	Protectorate (French mandate of Lebanon)	1941	Parliament
Lithuania	One-party state (Part of Soviet Union)	1991[note 6]	Directly, by second-round system
Macedonia	One-party state (Part of the Yugoslavia)	1991	Directly, by second-round system
Malta	Constitutional monarchy (Commonwealth realm)	1974	Parliament, by majority
Marshall Islands	UN Trust Territory (Part of Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands)	1979	Parliament
Mauritius	Constitutional monarchy (Commonwealth realm)	1992	Parliament, by majority
Federated States of Micronesia	UN Trust Territory (Part of Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands)	1986	Parliament, by majority
Moldova	Parliamentary republic	1994	Parliament, by majority
Mongolia	One-party state	1949	Directly
Montenegro	One-party state (Part of Yugoslavia)	1992	Directly, by second-round system
Nauru	Australian Trust Territory	1968	Parliament
Pakistan	Presidential and Semi-presidential system, and Constitutional monarchy (Commonwealth realm)	1956–1958, 1973–1978, 1988–1999, 2010–present[4][5]	Parliament and state legislators, by single transferable vote
Poland	One-party state	1990	Directly, by second-round system
Portugal	One-party state (Military junta transition)	1976	Directly, by second-round system
Samoa	Territory of New Zealand	2007	Parliament
Serbia	One-party state (Part of Yugoslavia)	1991	Directly, by second-round system
Singapore	Constitutional monarchy (Part of Malaysia)	1965	Directly, by second-round system
Slovakia	One-party state (Part of Czechoslovakia)	1993	Parliament (before 1999) Directly, by second-round system (since 1999)
Slovenia	One-party state (Part of Yugoslavia)	1991	Directly, by second-round system
South Africa	Constitutional monarchy (Commonwealth realm)	1961	Parliament, majority
Suriname	One party Military Dictatorship	1987	Parliament, by two-thirds majority. [G]
Switzerland	Military junta (Occupied by France)	1802	Parliament[note 7]
Trinidad and Tobago	Constitutional monarchy (Commonwealth realm)	1976	Parliament
Turkey	Constitutional monarchy (Ottoman Empire)	1923	Directly (since 2007, previously by parliament)
Vanuatu	British-French condominium (New Hebrides)	1980	Parliament and regional council presidents, by majority

List of former Parliamentary republics[link]

Country	Year became a Parliamentary republic	Year status changed	Changed to	Status changed due to
Brazil	1961	1963	Presidential system	Referendum
Chile	1891	1925	Presidential system	Referendum
French Third Republic	1870	1940	Presidential system	World War II German Occupation
French Fourth Republic	1946	1958	Semi-presidential system	Political instability
Fiji	1987	2006	Military Junta	Military coup (2006)
Guyana	1970	1980	Semi-presidential system	Constitutional amendment
Indonesia	1945	1959	Presidential system	Constitutional amendment
Nigeria	1963	1979	Presidential system	Constitutional amendment
Philippines	1978	1987	Presidential system	Ratification of the 1987 Constitution
Russia	1991[note 8]	1993	Semi-presidential system	Referendum[note 9]
Rhodesia	1970	1979	Parliamentary system	Creation of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia
Sri Lanka	1972	1978	Presidential system	Constitutional amendment
Uganda	1963	1966	Presidential system	Suspension of the constitution
Zimbabwe Rhodesia	1979	1979	Parliamentary system	Creation of Southern Rhodesia
Zimbabwe	1980	1987	Presidential System	Constitutional amendment

See also[link]

• Constitutional republic
• Republicanism

Notes[link]

References[link]

Lucky Dube
Background information
Birth name	Lucky Philip Dube
Born	(1964-08-03)August 3, 1964 Ermelo, Transvaal (now Mpumalanga), South Africa
Died	October 18, 2007(2007-10-18) (aged 43) Rosettenville, Johannesburg Gauteng, South Africa
Genres	reggae, mbaqanga
Occupations	Musician
Instruments	Vocals, Keyboards
Years active	1981–2007
Labels	Rykodisc, Gallo Record Company
Associated acts	The Love Brothers, Remlius

Lucky Philip Dube (pronounced doo-beh)^[1] (August 3, 1964 – October 18, 2007) was a South African reggae musician. He recorded 22 albums in Zulu, English and Afrikaans in a 25-year period and was South Africa's biggest selling reggae artist.^[2][3] Dube was murdered in the Johannesburg suburb of Rosettenville on the evening of 18 October 2007.^[3][4][5]

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Lucky Dube was born in Ermelo, formerly of the Eastern Transvaal, now of Mpumalanga, on August 3, 1964. His parents separated before his birth and he was raised by his mother, Sarah, who named him because she considered his birth fortunate after a number of failed pregnancies.^[6] Along with his two siblings, Thandi and Patrick, Dube spent much of his childhood with his grandmother, while his mother relocated to work. It was from there that he was introduced to the Mormon religion. In a 1999 interview he described his grandmother as "his greatest love" who "multiplied many things to bring up this responsible individual that I am today." ^[7][8]

Beginning of his musical career[link]

As a child Dube worked as a gardener but, as he matured, realizing that he wasn't earning enough to feed his family, he began to attend school. There he joined a choir and, with some friends, formed his first musical ensemble, called The Skyway Band.^[8] While at school he discovered the Rastafari movement. At the age of 18 Dube joined his cousin's band, The Love Brothers, playing Zulu pop music known as mbaqanga whilst funding his lifestyle by working for Hole and Cooke as a security guard at the car auctions in Midrand. The band signed with Teal Record Company, under Richard Siluma (Teal was later incorporated into Gallo Record Company). Though Dube was still at school, the band recorded material in Johannesburg during his school holidays. The resultant album was released under the name Lucky Dube and the Supersoul. The second album was released soon afterwards, and this time Dube wrote some of the lyrics in addition to singing. It was around this same time when he began to learn English.^[8]

Moving into reggae[link]

On the release of his fifth Mbaqanga album, Dave Segal (who became Dube's sound engineer) encouraged him to drop the "Supersoul" element of the name. All subsequent albums were recorded as Lucky Dube. At this time Dube began to note fans were responding positively to some reggae songs he played during live concerts. Drawing inspiration from Jimmy Cliff ^[9] and Peter Tosh,^[7] he felt the socio-political messages associated with Jamaican reggae were relevant to a South African audience in an institutionally racist society.^[9]

He decided to try the new musical genre and in 1984, released the mini album Rastas Never Die. The record sold poorly - around 4000 units - in comparison to the 30,000 units his mbaqanga records would sell. Keen to suppress anti-apartheid activism, the apartheid regime banned the album in 1985.^[10] However, he was not discouraged and continued to perform the reggae tracks live and wrote and produced a second reggae album. Think About The Children (1985). It achieved platinum sales status and established Dube as a popular reggae artist in South Africa, in addition to attracting attention outside his homeland.^[8]

Commercial and critical success[link]

Dube continued to release commercially successful albums. In 1989 he won four OKTV Awards for Prisoner, won another for Captured Live the following year and yet another two for House Of Exile the year after.^[11] His 1993 album, Victims sold over one million copies worldwide.^[2] In 1995 he earned a worldwide recording contract with Motown. His album Trinity was the first release on Tabu Records after Motown's acquisition of the label.^[11]

In 1996 he released a compilation album, Serious Reggae Business, which led to him being named the "Best Selling African Recording Artist" at the World Music Awards and the "International Artist Of The Year" at the Ghana Music Awards. His next three albums each won South African Music Awards.^[11] His most recent album, Respect, earned a European release through a deal with Warner Music.^[2] Dube toured internationally, sharing stages with artists such as Sinéad O'Connor, Peter Gabriel and Sting.^[9] He appeared at the 1991 Reggae Sunsplash (uniquely that year, was invited back on stage for a 25 minute long encore) and the 2005 Live 8 event in Johannesburg.^[9]

In addition to performing music Dube was a sometime actor, appearing in the feature films Voice In The Dark, Getting Lucky and Lucky Strikes Back.^[12]

Death[link]

On October 18, 2007, Lucky Dube was killed in the Johannesburg suburb of Rosettenville shortly after dropping two of his seven children off at their uncle's house.^[13] Dube was driving his Chrysler 300C which the assailants were apparently after. Police reports suggest he was shot dead by carjackers. Five men have been arrested in connection with the murder.^[14] Three men were tried and found guilty on March 31, 2009; two of the men attempted to escape and were caught.^[15] The men were sentenced to life in prison.^[16]

Legacy[link]

On October 21, 2008, Rykodisc released a compilation album entitled Retrospective, which featured many of Dube's most influential songs as well as previously unreleased tracks in the United States. The album celebrated Dube's music and honored the contributions he made to South Africa.^[17]

Discography[link]

Mbaqanga[link]

• Lengane Ngeyethu (1981)
• Kudala Ngikuncenga (1982)
• Kukuwe (1983)
• Abathakathi (1984)
• Ngikwethembe Na? (1985)
• Umadakeni (1987)

Afrikaans[link]

• Help My Krap (1986)

Reggae[link]

• Rastas Never Die (1984)
• Think About The Children (1985)
• Slave (1987)
• Together As One (1988)
• Prisoner (1989)
• Captured Live (1990)
• House of Exile (1991)
• Victims (1993)
• Trinity (1995)
• Serious Reggae Business (1996)
• Tax man (1997)
• The Way It Is (1999)
• The Rough Guide To Lucky Dube (compilation) (2001)
• Soul Taker (2001)
• The Other Side (2003)
• Respect (2006)
• The Ultimate Lucky Dube (compilation) (2011)

Compilation[link]

• Live in Jamaica (2000)
• Lucky Dube Live In Uganda (2008)
• Retrospective (2008)

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Afropop! An Illustrated Guide to Contemporary African Music by Sean Barlow & Banning Eyre. (Book Sales August 1995) ISBN 0-7858-0443-9, ISBN 978-0-7858-0443-7

External links[link]

• Photo-interview with sounds produced by Classical Reggae Interviews. This interview was used by the BBC London to produce a radio report about the death of Lucky Dube!
• Lucky Dube at discogs.com

Andrew Francis Bennett (born 9 March 1939) is a British Labour Party politician, who was a member of Parliament from 1974 to 2005.

Early life[link]

Bennett was born in Barton-upon-Irwell. He attended the William Hulme's Grammar School in Whalley Range. He studied at the University of Birmingham gaining a BSocSc (Bachelor of Social Science). A geography teacher from 1960–74, Bennett was elected to Oldham Borough Council in 1964, and served on it until 1974.

Parliamentary career[link]

He contested the Knutsford parliamentary seat in 1970 and was elected to Parliament in February 1974 for the marginal constituency of Stockport North, defeating the Conservative incumbent Idris Owen by just 203 votes. Following boundary changes, he was elected MP for Denton and Reddish in 1983. From 1983 to 1988 he served on the Labour front bench as a shadow Education and Science minister.

He rebelled against the Labour government on various issues, including the privatisation of National Air Traffic Services.

He retired at the 2005 general election, and the seat was held for Labour by Andrew Gwynne.

Personal life[link]

He married Gillian Lawley in 1961 in Manchester. They have two sons and a daughter.

External links[link]

• BBC Profile
• They Work For You
• Public Whip
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Andrew Bennett

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2011)

Alexander Perls
Alexander Perls
Background information
Birth name	Alexander Perls Rousmaniere
Also known as	009 Sound System Aalborg Soundtracks
Born	May 11, 1976 (age 35)
Genres	Electronic music, trance, Progressive trance, Electro house, house
Occupations	Musician Music producer
Years active	1998–present
Labels	Track One Recordings
Website	Official site

Alexander Perls is a musician and record producer. His notable projects include 009 Sound System and Aalborg Soundtracks, which songs are entirely written, performed, and produced by Perls.

Perls' songs are known for their mix of electronic, trance and controversial religious related lyrics, which listeners have alternately interpreted as the work of a Christian, or a work of an atheist^[1].

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Perls is the grandson of Klaus Perls, the German art dealer, nephew of Nick Perls, the founder of Yazoo Recordings, and nephew of John Rousmaniere, the author, and great-grand-nephew of Albert Hamilton Gordon.

While studying as an exchange student at University College London in 1997, Perls worked with the post-rock collective Piano Magic.^[2] Following Perls' graduation from Oberlin College in 1998,^[3] he worked briefly for the Barbara Gladstone Gallery,^[4] a leading contemporary art dealership in New York, and then settled into a career as songwriter and music producer.^[5]

Between 2000 and 2008, Perls primarily wrote and recorded songs for other dance music producers, including well-known artists such as David Guetta, Paul van Dyk, Ian Carey, ATB, and Robert M.^[6] first in New York City, and after 2006, in Los Angeles. From 2000 to 2003 he was one of the members of the electronic music duo CIRC, which released one album and several singles and remixes.^[7]. His song "Dreamscape" has been dubbed "YouTube's National Anthem" by his own recording company due to its popularity as background music in YouTube videos.^[8]

Between 2002 and 2004, Perls' music publishing catalog was represented by Bug Music. Between 2004 and 2011, Perls' music publishing catalog was represented outside the United States by the Independent Music Group. Since 2011, Perl's catalog has been represented outside the United States by Kobalt Music.

In 2011, Track One Recordings opened a remix competition for Perls' well known productions Dreamscape and Born To Be Wasted.^[9]

Several of Perls' songs under the artist names "009 Sound System" and "Aalborg Soundtracks" have been included as free soundtracks^[10] with Ezvid^[11], a freeware video maker for Windows.

Perls' song "Wings" was created to be the theme song for the Wings Flying Hoodie, a sweatshirt with a built in inflatable travel pillow and eyemask. ^[12]

009 Sound System - Dreamscape is One of his songs

Discography[link]

• Annex Trax, Vol. 1 (2008)
• 009 Sound System (2008)

Singles[link]

• Wings and Time (2009)
• Trinity (2009)
• Within a Single (2009)
• When You're Young (2011)
• Dream We Knew (2011)
• Powerstation (2011)
• Wings (extended edit) (2011)

EP[link]

• Holy Ghost (2010)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website

Movies[link]

"Dreamscape" - Le chevaliers du ciel - France - 2005