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A Pastis fuelled debate last night has actually got me thinking, and would appreciate feedback from anyone who knows, cares or has anything totally unrelated to add.
Italy used to be a kingdom, the last king was called Umberto (2nd?) and left office in the 1940's I think by natural causes. Since then, to my knowledge there has been no constitutional changes in Italy which means, perhaps, that there is a void. Mr Burlesconi is currently the PM of Italy but who is the head of state?
Germany was also discussed, Mrs Meurkel is the chancellor (PM) but since the Kaiser died in the 1930's after Hitler was elected chancellor, there hasnt been another one. Who is the German head of state?
My argument was that both of the above were de facto heads of state as there was nobody senior to them, but the drunken concensus around a very drunken table was that they werent, there had to be either somebody they answered to, or there was a vacant post.
Any ideas from anyone as I think this will be revisited next week.
Disclaimer: I hate Google so all facts and figures come from my own head and thus are likely to be wrong (except for a brief phone call last night).
Italy used to be a kingdom, the last king was called Umberto (2nd?) and left office in the 1940's I think by natural causes. Since then, to my knowledge there has been no constitutional changes in Italy which means, perhaps, that there is a void. Mr Burlesconi is currently the PM of Italy but who is the head of state?
Germany was also discussed, Mrs Meurkel is the chancellor (PM) but since the Kaiser died in the 1930's after Hitler was elected chancellor, there hasnt been another one. Who is the German head of state?
My argument was that both of the above were de facto heads of state as there was nobody senior to them, but the drunken concensus around a very drunken table was that they werent, there had to be either somebody they answered to, or there was a vacant post.
Any ideas from anyone as I think this will be revisited next week.
Disclaimer: I hate Google so all facts and figures come from my own head and thus are likely to be wrong (except for a brief phone call last night).
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