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 Colombian Civil War (1884–1885), a coalitio ...

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 President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

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 The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

: 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 The Political Constitution of Colombia of 1991 (), is the Constitution of the Republic of Colombia. It was promulgated in Constitutional Gazette number 114 on Sunday, July 7, 1991, and is also known as the Constitution of Human Rights. It re ...

, when the office of

Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

reappeared.

References

1886 establishments in Colombia 1991 disestablishments in Colombia {{Colombia-gov-stub