Under the
Colombian Constitution of 1886
The Colombian Constitution of 1886 was the constitution that remade the United States of Colombia into the Republic of Colombia, and replaced the federal republic with a unitary state. Following the Civil War of 1884, a coalition of moderate ...
the Designate was a person—a member of the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
or member of the Cabinet—selected to act as
President when the incumbent was dead, ill or otherwise unable to discharge the duties of office.
The Designate was elected by the Senate at the beginning of each Legislature (in Colombian law, a "Legislature" is approximately equivalent to a
session of the
United States Congress: i.e. it is the one-year period that a Congress sits for, rather than the whole Congress itself). The Designate could be indefinitely reelected during only one Presidency.
The concept of the Designate survived until the
Colombian Constitution of 1991, when the office of
Vice President reappeared.
1886 establishments in Colombia
1991 disestablishments in Colombia
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