President of The Democratic Industrial Island of Shops

President of The Democratic Industrial Island of Shops
Incumbent Lavender since February 2, 2013
Residence	Shops City Square, Shops City, Shops Island
Appointer	Shops Island Council
Term length	Until challenged and/or voted out
Formation	August 15, 2010 (Technically September 12, 2011)
Deputy	Vice President
Salary	300,000 WB$ annually
Style	Mr. President Sir The Honorable (foreign)

The President of the Democratic Industrial Island of Shops is the formal title of Shops Island's head of state, head of government, and supreme commander of the Shopper armed forces. The current officeholder is Lavender, since February 2nd, 2013. So far, five penguins have held this position, four of which have held it democratically.

The president also has a personal anthem, which is played in formal events where he is the center of attention. The Shopper president doesn't enjoy as many luxuries as those of other countries, and Shopper presidents have to pay their own way, and need alternative methods of making money. Though, they are still driven around in fancy cars and airplanes with many bodyguards for safety and prestige purposes.

History

The position of president started loosely on the day of Shops Island's founding. Back then, the term was just "leader", or "founder", in the name of Ben. This title transitioned to "Our great leader" or "Glorious founder" in late 2011. This continued into early 2012, and the term "President" was used only by the few foreign diplomats that visited the island.

After Ben was thrown out of office and exiled during the events of the revolution against him in February 2012, his (powerless) "Vice-President" was elected into office as the first democratically elected president of Shops. He held this title for a few months. During Chill's term, he established the distinguished Shopper identity, and stabled out the economy in a fair and democratic manner.

In September 2012, Chill resigned under threats from Brook and a brainwashed Bro, with the threat of impeachment. A rigged election was held, and Bro won the presidency in a landslide. As president, Bro upgraded Shops' government services such as transportation, and opened up foreign relations with many other countries. Bro also made a back-room deal with the USA which secured Shops the ability to make nuclear weapons.

Bro was impeached in November 2012 on accounts of corruption and abuse of power. He was replaced by Mario Rk, who was elected in an emergency Shops Island Council vote directly after the impeachment. During Mario's presidency, Shops saw the rise of the power of the SIA as Shops became a space power. Mario's accomplishments would always be tarnished, though, by his infamous laziness.

Mario lost in a late January 2013 election to the government outsider, Lavender. He won in a landslide, and became president on February 2, 2013, in the largest inauguration so far.

During Lavender's presidency, Shops became a major Antarctic power, and his presidency quickly overshadowed all the others before him. His leadership during Shops' military expansion, and through various wars earned him the mutual respect of many Antarctic leaders. Lavender's presidency was briefly challenged in May 2013, but he couped the rigged election, and remained president, as still is today.

Since February 2013, the president of Shops Island is, ex officio, the nominal Governor of Moon Island.

As of June 2015, the Shopper President also serves as the head of state of the Dominion of Notron.

Powers

The president is the Shopper head of state, and as such, is the most powerful figure in the country. The president makes the final decision on important matters of state, in things such as economic, foreign relations, domestic issues, military issues, and others. The Shopper president also has a veto power which he can exercise over the Common Legislature, although this veto can in turn be overturned with a 70% Common Legislature vote.

List of Presidents

№	President		Term of office			Political Affiliation
	Portrait	Name	Took Office	Left Office	Days
1	-	Ben 100022 (January 2, 1982 - living)	15 August 2010	24 February 2012	70091107108000-88992♠35 years, 30 days	Authoritarian
			Founder of Shops Island Established Shops as a dictatorial Regime Couped and exiled in late February 2012 Still a reviled figure by most Shoppers Oldest president in Shopper history
2		Chill57181 (December 7, 1999 - living)	25 Feburary 2012	7 September 2012	7008541310870448640♠17 years, 56 days	Left
			Ceremonial vice-president for Ben Lead figure in Ben's coup Led the transition of Shops Island into a democratic state Only person to be appointed president instead of elected Paved the way for Shopper culture as is today Youngest president in Shopper history Currently serves as vice-president under Lavender
3		Bro (February 25, 1999 - living)	8 September 2012	30 November 2012	70085660212704-72544♠17 years, 342 days	Right
			Main figure in the Shops Island Gold Rush Head of the Shopper treasury under Chill's government Won in a partially rigged election Improved infrastructure and transportation Acquired nuclear weapons for Shops Island Saw rapid deflation in the WB$ Impeached due to corruption charges
4		Mario Rk (August 19, 1999 - living)	1 December 2012	1 February 2013	7008550824870422592♠17 years, 166 days	Centre-Left
			Right-hand man to Chill in his presidency Vice-president for Bro Greatly funded the SIA space program Focused on cleaning up corruption in government Saw inflation in the WB$ Began a brief period of Shopper isolationism Generally seen as lazy and a policy laggard
5		Lavender (October 18, 1991 - living)	2 February 2013	Incumbent	700879809-50592-77312♠25 years, 106 days	Centre-Right
			Saw exponential growth in Shopper economy Grew the military from Antarctica's 25th to 3rd most powerful Fostered international relations with most Antarctic countries Began a Shopper culture of war and interventionism Established Shops Island as a colonial power Inducted Northern Shops, New Delphis and the Frosian Islands as states in the union Longest-serving president

Cabinet

Logo	Bureau	Name	Since	Notes
N/A	Vice President of the Democratic Industrial Island of Shops	Chill57181 Vice President	February 16, 2013	The Vice President holds no real purpose other than a tiebreaker in the Common Legislature, and as the president's successor in the event of an emergency.
	Bureau of Defense	Lm34gt45 Secretary of Defense Head of the SIA	March 14, 2012	Also in charge of the SIA's scientific and other components.
N/A	Bureau of the Treasury	John Yellow Secretary of the Treasury	March 27, 2015
N/A	Bureau of Foreign Affairs	None (de-jure) Lavender (de-facto)	February 2, 2013	Lavender has purposely not chosen a Secretary of Foreign Affairs, as he prefers to deal with matters of state personally.
N/A	Bureau of Transportation	Micheal Smart Secretary of Transportation	February 2, 2013
N/A	Bureau of the House	Lloyd Danielson Secretary of the House	October 2, 2013	Also adviser to the speaker of the Common Legislature.
N/A	Bureau of Justice	Andrew Fife Secretary of Justice	October 2, 2013	Also adviser to the chief justice of the Shops Island Council.
N/A	Bureau of Markets	Paul Foxiz Secretary of the Markets	February 21, 2015
N/A	Bureau of Housing	Don Parks Secretary of Housing	February 2, 2013
N/A	Bureau of Infrastructure	Justin Hairdo Secretary of Infrastructure	October 19, 2015
N/A	Bureau of Agriculture	Farmer Tim Secretary of Agriculture	May 17, 2013	Rarely sits with the rest of the cabinet, as he owns and actively operates a large farm in Southern Shops.
N/A	Bureau of Education	Julius Lehrer Secretary of Education	February 2, 2013
N/A	Bureau of Social Services	Alexander Vladislav Secretary of Social Services	December 1, 2012	Lavender did not appoint a Secretary of Social Service, but did not assume or dismiss the role either; Vladislav stayed in cabinet through both the presidencies of Mario Rk and Lavender.
N/A	Bureau of Immigration and Customs	Taleah A. Xana Secretary of Immigration and Customs	February 2, 2013	Inaugural holder of this role; only female on the cabinet.
N/A	Bureau of the Environment	Ted Clair Secretary of the Environment	December 28, 2014	From February 2, 2013 to December 28, 2014 this role was vacant as Lavender refused to name a Secretary of the Environment; one was named after the Second De Groot Conference.
N/A	Bureau of Natural Resources	Jason Buck Secretary of Natural Resources	February 2, 2013
N/A	Bureau of Labor	Stan Clement Secretary of Labor	February 2, 2013
N/A	Bureau of Health	Donald Thompson Secretary of Health	February 2, 2013
N/A	Bureau of Energy	William Watt Secretary of Energy	February 2, 2013
N/A	Bureau of Trade	Victor Märsk Secretary of Trade	February 2, 2013
N/A	None	James Sanchez Secretary of Creative Solutions	February 2, 2013	Serves as a personal adviser to the president in cabinet.

Controversy

The Shopper presidency is often frowned upon as aristocratic, due to the fact that all of the presidents so far (with the exception of Lavender), had close connections with at least one other president of Shops. The fact that two very young presidents were elected into office doesn't exactly help Shops' case.

See Also

• Shops Island
• Lavender
• Shops Island Council
• Common Legislature