Deputy President of the Council of Ministers of Mexico

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The **Deputy President of the Council of Ministers of Mexico** (Spanish: **Vicepresidente del Consejo de Ministros de México**), more commonly known as the **Deputy Prime Minister of Mexico** (Spanish: **Viceprimer Ministro de México**), is a senior government position within the Mexican Empire designated as the official deputy to the prime minister and is usually awarded to a senior member of either the governing party or a political party within the governing coalition; in the latter instance, the office is awarded to the party leader of all parties who do not have a member as prime minister. Whilst in use, the position is typically seen as one of most influential roles in government.

There have been multiple different iterations of the office of deputy president of the Council of Ministers over the course of Mexican history. The office was first established under the 1854 constitution of the Republic of Mexico as the Vice President of Mexico, deputy to the President of Mexico and first in line to the presidency. After twenty seven years of the office's existence, the role was abolished following the proclamation of the Second Mexican Empire, but was later restored in a reduced *de-facto* capacity in 1893 as the role of Senior Government Partner for the leaders of coalition parties as part of Ignacio Mariscal's 1893-98 coalition government, before falling out of use after the end of the government. Unlike the office of prime minister, the modern role of deputy prime minister or alternate prime minister does not exist in the constitution, and was instead established through imperial degree on March 3, 1901 as part of the coalition negotiations for the first Bernardo Reyes administration.

Within government, the position of deputy prime minister has no official power but wields significant *de-facto* influence in cabinet and officeholders are frequently consulted on major issues and government policies to ensure that legislation has the full support of important factions in the government. Deputy prime ministers also act as representatives of the prime minister and can act on behalf of the prime minister in the Congress of Mexico or when the prime minister is abroad.

Similarly to all government ministers, the deputy president of the Council of Ministers is appointed by the emperor at the recommendation of the prime minister, though the emperor retains the power to reject a recommendation. The incumbent officeholder must either be a sitting member of the Congress of Mexico, a member of the civil service, or a serving member of the armed forces in order to hold office, but is not subject to any term limits for their position. Instead, they serve at the pleasure of the emperor, who has the power to dismiss the deputy prime minister at any given point. Similarly, the Congress of Mexico also has the power to remove the deputy prime minister from office with a simple majority vote, but the emperor can veto any such resolution. Deputy prime ministers can also become prime ministers under certain circumstances; in the instance that the prime minister resigns, dies in office, or is elsewise removed from office but the cabinet wishes to and is able to continue in office, then a deputy prime minister may be designated as the new prime minister or as acting prime minister until a permanent replacement is appointed.

## Name

The office of **Deputy President of the Council of Ministers of Mexico** has been referred to by several semi-official names throughout its existence. Under the 1854 constitution of Mexico which established the position, it was simply known as the **Deputy President of Mexico** or more commonly as the **Vice President of Mexico**. Following the formation of the Second Mexican Empire, the position was initially abolished by the 1881 constitution, but was restored in a reduced *de-facto* capacity in 1893 as the role of **Senior Government Partner** for the leaders of coalition parties as part of Ignacio Mariscal's 1893-98 coalition government, before falling out of use after the end of the government. In 1901, the position was formally re-established through imperial decree as **Deputy Prime Minister of Mexico**.