French Fifth Republic of the election on 9 January 1959. The new president began his office on that date, appointing Michel Debré as Prime Minister. The 1958 constitution also replaced the French Union with the French Community, which allowed fourteen member territories (these did not include Algeria) to assert their independence. 1960 became known as the "Year of Africa" because of this wave of newly independent states. Algeria became independent on 5 July 1962. The president was initially elected by an electoral college, but in 1962 de Gaulle proposed that the president be directly elected by the citizens, and held a referendum on
President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic decided the post were to be held by the Secretary-General of the Polisario. The first President was Mohamed Abdelaziz from August 1982 until his death in 2016. The powers of the presidency are extensive, and they have been subject to modification in various constitutional amendments, the last occurring in 1995. President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic The President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is the head of state of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), a government in exile based in the Sahrawi refugee camps of Tindouf, Algeria. From the declaration of independence on February 27, 1976 to