President of Margate

The President of the Republic of Margate is the head of state of Margate (before and after the New Margate Order era) and the Commander-in-Chief of the Margate Armed Forces. The incumbent president is Frederick Mueller, who took office in March 3rd, 2013. So far, eight penguins have held this position.

History
The Presidency was first established in August 9th, 1965 when Margate declared independence and became a sovereign nation. The Yang di Pertuan Negara (Malay for Head of State) of Margate at that time was Yusuf Ismail. Because of that, he was voted in as the first President by Parliament. Till this day, Yusuf's portrait was shown on almost all Margatian banknotes, with the exception of the limited edition $500 banknote, which was briefly issued during the summer of 2015 and featured Lee Kwan You's portrait exclusively to commemorate his death earlier that year.

At first, the President was indirectly elected by the Parliament, and played a ceremonial figurehead role in the government. However, changes were slowly made to the Presidency. In January 1991, the Constitution was amended so that Margatian citizens who received citizenship at birth or as a result of the annexation of foreign territory could vote for the President. However, the biggest changes were made in March 2015 when Frederick Mueller took office. Compared to the pre-Mueller era when the President could serve limitless six year terms, the President can now stay in office as long as he retains the confidence of Parliament and the public (making Margate in effect a meritocracy). The President was also granted several executive powers, including the rights to veto bills passed by the Parliament (which could be overturned if an absolute majority of the Parliament voted again for the bill), issue Presidential Orders (which have the same power as parliamentary bills and subjected to a vote by the Parliament as a counterweight) and also to proclaim a state of emergency or martial law (both regionally or nationally) if it was deemed necessary.

Pre-New Margate Order era ('Old' Margate Order)
Prior to the New Order era, Margate was a parliamentary republic. Therefore, back then the President only possessed ceremonial and reserve powers. He was responsible for making fiscal decisions affecting the country. The President also served as the Commander-in-Chief of the Margate Armed Forces. He was also responsible for appointing a Member of Parliament as the Prime Minister, as well as several other key government positions. The President was also responsible for appointing a Council of Presidential Advisors, which consisted of 7 members. The Council was tasked with advising the President on certain issues.

New Margate Order era (prior to Prior to the event of 2018)
The President was the Margatian head of state, and as such, was one of the most powerful position in the country alongside the Prime Minister. The president made the final decision on numerous executive matters such as economic, foreign relations, domestic issues, military issues, and others. The President also had a veto power which he can use to overturn any parliamentary bills, unless the veto is overturned by an absolute majority of 75% (which in this case means that abstaining counts as a 'no' vote). He may also dissolve Parliament upon consulting the PM. The President was also responsible for appointing several high-ranking officials, such as the PM, joint Chiefs of Staff, the Directors of each government agencies, etc.

In addition, he could also issue national referendums and has the power to authorize any referendums passed by the parliament. The Margatian president also controlled the nation's arsenal of Triple X missiles.

Privileges
Annually, the President is paid 2.2 million Margatian Dollars and provided another 1.6 million as personal expenses, which resulted in heavy criticism. In addition, the President is also provided with three official cars (all of them being armoured stretch limousines), as well as 2 Snowing 747s (both of them specifically commissioned by the governmen, equipped to prevent attacks and as luxurious as palaces, each ending up costing 750 million Margatian Dollars, perhaps the most expensive passenger jets ever sold in the 21st Century), 3 well-equipped and luxurious helicopters, a security detail of dozens of bodyguards with special force training and 3 portable Iron Man Armors (MK V) which could be carried anytime to protect the president in an emergency.

The President's residence was the Istana Darussalam, a Malé-Abodeian style palace that costs over 4 billion Margatian Dollars (or 8 billion CPC) to build (paid for by President Frederick Mueller), easily making it the most expensive palace in Antarctica. The construction of the building isn't heavily criticized because it isn't paid for with public funds. The palace, which contains 17 floors (including underground floors), takes up 2,152,782 square feet (200,000 m2) of floorspace, which also makes it one of the largest in Antarctica, if not the largest. The palace's garden is planted with many tropical flowers (such as orchids and hibiscuses) and tropical fruit trees (such as the durian). The palace contains 1,788 rooms, which includes 257 bathrooms, a banquet hall that can be expanded to accommodate up to 5,000 guests, a Governance Catherdal (which, again, is the largest in Margate and the second largest in the Antarctica) accommodating 5,000 penguins (which is ironic considering that Frederick broke the Governance's monopoly of utilities in Margate). The palace also includes a 110-car garage, an air conditioned stable for the President's 200 polo ponies, and 5 swimming pools. Because of its massive size, Istana Darussalam makes use of 564 chandeliers, 51,000 light bulbs, 44 stairwells, and 18 elevators.

However, the current President prefers to live in his private residence in Mount Claymore.