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In Parliament, the majority identifies with the leader of its group. He personifies the group, he represents it as well as leads it. That is why the 23 July 2008 constitutional revision could have brought about a new conception for the role of the majority leader, the renovation of the role of the majority being embodied in its president. But this reform transformed neither the role of the majority leader nor the function of the parliamentary majority itself. As the guarantor of the unity and discipline of his group, the majority leader is above all else a figure of authority and command. Adapted from the source document.

Following the war between Georgia and Russia in the summer of 2008, Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili seemed to be in a very delicate situation. Moscow officially proclaimed the Georgian head of state a "political corpse" and refused to hold any discussions with him. His Western allies kept their distance. The two separatist regions of Georgia, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, had officially declared their independence. And to top it off, domestic protests were on the rise. Despite all that, two years later Mr. Saakashvili is still the President of Georgia. What's his secret? In this exclusive interview with Politique Internationale, he explains his strategy and defends his past and future policies with his usual fire. According to Saakashvili, his country was the victim of outrageous aggression by its neighbor Russia, and has right on its side. Despite the bellicose attitude of Moscow, Tbilisi is still in favor of discussions to settle their many bilateral issues. And the country is more than ever committed to its heavily Euro-Atlantic flavored policy. Adapted from the source document.

Joseph Kabila became president of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 2001, following the assassination of his father Laurent-Desire Kabila, who had been in power since 1997. Only 30 years old at the time, this level-headed and unassuming young man seemed a bit "wet behind the ears" for the enormous responsibilities that awaited him as leader of this vast country, rich in natural resources but torn apart by war and corruption. But he has managed to complete a delicate peace process, resulting in a democratic presidential election in 2006 which he won easily. With another election due shortly, Joseph Kabila agreed to talk to Politique Internationale about his ten years at the helm of his country. Not all of DRC's problems have been resolved, he readily admits. But significant progress has been made, particularly in social affairs. In fifteen years' time, the president promises, his country will be one of the leading lights of sub-Saharan Africa. Adapted from the source document.

Since 1994 Alexander Lukashenko has been the uncontested ruler of Belarus. His long reign is far from over, since he was "reelected" in March 2006 (after an election under his absolute control, of course) for another five-year term -- and he also carefully removed the article in the Constitution that limits the number of consecutive presidential terms. This was far from the first time he had taken liberties with democratic standards. According to all international observers, his administration gags the press & crushes all opposition, earning him the sobriquet of "the last dictator in Europe." In this interview the "strong man of Minsk" casually defends himself against all of these accusations. According to Lukashenko, his country is a model of virtue -- and any Western leaders that have doubts are cordially invited to visit & see for themselves! This is an indirect appeal to the international community, undoubtedly arising from Belarus' recent conflicts with its Russian protector. Adapted from the source document.

The winner of the presidential election on July 1st in Mexico will have a very full plate indeed! The past decade has been nothing but a series of disappointments for this huge country. And yet, back in July 2000 jubilation reigned when Vicente Fox, candidate of the right-wing National Action Party (PAN) was elected, putting an end to 71 uninterrupted years in power by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). Another PAN candidate, Felipe Calderon, took over for Mr. Fox in 2006. But after 12 years under the PAN, it's obvious that Mexico is in serious difficulty. The drug cartels are waging an endless and extremely barbarous battle, and the 50,000 soldiers deployed by President Calderon have been unable to resolve the problem; the economy is stagnating; poverty is spreading; and millions of young people have neither jobs, nor education. It looks like radical reforms will be necessary. Adapted from the source document.

He has supposedly been discredited by Georgia's military defeat against Russia in the summer of 2008, weakened by the loss of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, shaken by the opposition's fierce criticism, ready to resign -- Russian president Dmitri Medvedev even called him a "political corpse." and yet, Mikheil Saakashvili is still alive and kicking, and has no intention of backing down. In this exclusive interview, the Georgian president insists with his usual fighting spirit that his country will eventually recover the territories lost in last summer's war. He denounces the maneuvering of an opposition he describes as an ill-assorted group of people nostalgic for the former regime, and proudly asserts that under his rule his small country has in just a few years evolved into a modern society with a promising economy in which the international business community would do well to invest. What is clear is that Mikheil Saakashvili has lost none of his energy and determination. Adapted from the source document.

Following several months of violence, which claimed at least 3,000 lives, can Cote d'Ivoire finally look forward to a return to normality? This is anything but certain, since the new president Alassane Dramane Ouattara, known as "ADO", faces a wide range of complex tasks. Exacerbating the situation is the post-election struggle that dragged on for months. Declared winner of the presidential election in November 2010, Ouattara did not actually take office until May 21, 2011. The ensuing period saw a full-fledged civil war break out, with the country split between ADO's supporters and those loyal to the incumbent president, Laurent Gbagbo, who refused to admit defeat. Ouattara was only able to oust his rival with the military support of France and the UN. Despite the international community's pledge to support Cote d'Ivoire on the path to recovery, the road ahead will be rocky: will Gbagbo's partisans finally side with the victor? What fate lies in store for Ouattara's men who committed crimes during the post-election period? And how will the country rebuild its torn army? Adapted from the source document.

For decades the President of the French Republic has used the title of Commander-in-Chief given to him by Article 15 of the Constitution to embark on overseas adventures without prior approval by Parliament. This interpretation is wrong. It is the law that must define how power is to be shared between the executive & legislative branches of government. Adapted from the source document.

The analysis of the strategic identity of President Nicolas Sarkozy unveils how sexual identity works for the presidential role, and how it can be defined as a "corporeal identity capital" that functions in and for the political body. The heightened investment, explicit and unedited, of the president in a "virility resource" can be jointly understood in the French context of in his duel with Segolene Royal, and in the compensatory logic tied to the structure of his political capital and its trajectory. Nicolas Sarkozy turns apparent stigmas into resources, by claiming to have brought an "abrupt change" to the presidential style, notably by projecting a popular and uninhibited masculinity. For the first time in the universal Republic masculinity is no longer an implicit privilege, but an asset like any other. Adapted from the source document.