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 Cooperation leaders' summit, the ROC President is forbidden from attending personally and must send a special envoy to represent him or her at the event. However, on December 2, 2016, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump accepted a congratulatory telephone call from the ROC President, a clear break from prior protocol. The Government of the People's Republic of China uses the terms Leader of the Taiwan Area, Leader of the Taiwan Region () and Leader of the Taiwanese Authorities () to describe the head of state of the Republic of China (ROC) in Taiwan. These terms are used by PRC media to