ABSTRACT
The chapter focuses on how Central European presidents have used their powers in practice. All in all, Central European presidents have behaved relatively moderately in terms of using legislative powers. The exceptions to this rule have been several Slovak referenda, some legislative vetoes and some occasional submissions to constitutional courts in all three countries and the legislative initiative in Poland. The overall picture of the practice of presidential powers is not significantly different when looking at non-legislative powers. Generally speaking, the presidents respected parliamentary majorities in the government formation process as well as in the issue of cabinet reshuffles. Only occasionally did Czech presidents and President Wałęsa in Poland make an effort to significantly sway the outcome of the government formation process or the change of government ministers.
Yet one can identify a number of constitutional conflicts that were mostly concerned with presidential appointments. The conflicts resulted from a mix of factors ranging from ill-written constitutional provisions to policy disagreements and personal disputes. In all three countries, the Constitutional Courts occasionally (in Slovakia frequently) played an important role in constitutional and political battles (in which the president was involved), and their rulings significantly shaped the outcomes of these battles.
