Lajme nga Bota

What if a president does not leave?

What if a president does not leave?

Despite vehemently opposing the results of the November presidential election won by former Vice President Joe Biden, President Donald Trump plans to leave the White House on the morning of January 20th.

He will follow in the footsteps of each of his ancestors. No president in American history has refused to leave the executive residence.

But what if someone refuses?

"The main goal when our system was designed was not to have a monarch with an indefinite mandate. "The president has a four-year term and if he is re-elected, excellent, but if not, then he leaves," said Brian Kalt, a law professor at Michigan State University Law College.

The constitution, the supreme law of the United States, states that the president "holds office for a term of four years."

"While the 20th amendment states that his term ends at noon on January 20 and the new president takes the oath of office becoming president at noon on January 20," says the professor. "At noon, this person is no longer president ... he is a lawbreaker if he does not leave."

What would happen if a president refused to leave the White House?

"Once the new president was inaugurated, he would call the Secret Service or the military to accompany the old president from the White House," says historian Bruce Kuklick. "And that no doubt."

In addition, the usurpation of the White House, if it happens, does not make someone president.

"What makes you president is your inauguration as president of the United States following a process where it is decided who won the election," said Kate Masur, an associate professor of history at Northwestern University. "There is nothing in the Constitution that says that if you are physically in the White House you are president."

Zyrtarët në të gjithë qeverinë luajnë rol thelbësor për transferimin paqësor të pushtetit. Shumë punonjës federalë, përfshirë ata në ushtri, Shërbimin Sekret dhe FBI, bëjnë betim për të mbrojtur Kushtetutën, që do të thotë njohje e fituesit të votave të Kolegjit Zgjedhor.

"Kushtetuta thotë se ekziston një Kolegj Zgjedhor dhe jep një përshkrim të mënyrës se si zgjidhet një president i ri," thotë profesore Kate Masur. "Dhe nëse dikush refuzon t’u bindet procedurave në atë pjesë të Kushtetutës që përcakton kornizën për mënyrën se si zgjidhet një president, kjo do të ishte shkelje e betimit.”

Historiani Kuklick thotë është se pesha e kulturës politike dhe e opinionit publik, në vend të fjalëve konkrete të Kushtetutës, që i bëjnë presidentët amerikanë të mos qëndrojnë më shumë se sa janë të mirëpritur.

Kuklick says democratic traditions like free and fair elections and the peaceful transfer of power are an integral part of how Americans see themselves. And these highly prized traditions cannot be so easily abandoned by Americans.

"If you are a US citizen, since the time you were in kindergarten, you have heard stories about how the United States works and the kind of constitutional democracy they embody. During your life, you have seen presidents lose and leave power," he says. Kuklick.

"It's part of the greatness of this constitutional system and people have been raised and educated with it since they were little." / VOA