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 Republic of China President of the Republic of China The President of the Republic of China, is the head of state of the Republic of China, commonly known as Taiwan. Since 1996, the President is directly elected by plurality voting to a four-year term, with at most one re-election. The incumbent, Tsai Ing-Wen, succeeded Ma Ying-jeou on 20 May 2016 as the first female president in the nation's history. Originally established in Nanking in 1912, the Republic of China and its president relocated to Taiwan in 1949 after losing the Chinese civil war. The president is currently elected by a plurality voting direct