Editing Prime minister (section)

===Entry into office===
In parliamentary systems a prime minister may enter into office by several means.

* The head of state appoints a prime minister, of their personal choice: Example: [[France]], where the president has the power to appoint the prime minister of their choice, though the [[National Assembly (France)|National Assembly]] can force a government to resign, they cannot nominate or appoint a new candidate.
:While in practice most prime ministers under the [[Westminster system]] (including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, [[Malaysia]], India and the United Kingdom) are the leaders of the largest party or [[Political alliance|coalition]] in parliament, technically the appointment of the prime minister is ''de jure'' exercised by the head of state. 
* The head of state appoints a prime minister who has a set timescale within which they must gain a vote of confidence: Example: [[Italy]], [[Romania]], [[Thailand]]
* The head of state appoints a [[formateur]] from among the members of Parliament, who then has a set timescale within which they must form a cabinet, and receive the confidence of Parliament after presenting the Cabinet Composition and Legislative Program to Parliament, and the formateur becomes prime minister once approved by parliament: Example: Israel
* The head of state appoints the leader of the political party with the majority of the seats in the parliament as prime minister.  If no party has a majority, then the leader of the party with a plurality of seats is given an ''exploratory mandate'' to receive the confidence of the parliament within three days.  If this is not possible, then the leader of the party with the second highest seat number is given the exploratory mandate.  If this fails, then the leader of the third largest party is given it and so on: Example: Greece, see [[Prime Minister of Greece]]
* The head of state ''nominates'' a candidate for prime minister who is then submitted to parliament for approval before appointment as prime minister: Example: Spain, where the King sends a nomination to parliament for approval. Also Germany where under the [[Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany|German Basic Law]] (constitution) the [[Bundestag]] votes on a candidate nominated by the federal president. In the Philippines under the 1973 Constitution as amended after martial law, the prime minister was elected by the [[Batasang Pambansâ]] (Legislature) upon nomination by the president. In these cases, parliament can choose another candidate who then would be appointed by the head of state (or, in the case of the Philippines, outright elect that candidate).
* Parliament ''nominates'' a candidate who the head of state is then constitutionally obliged to appoint as prime minister: Example: [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]], where the [[President of Ireland|president]] appoints the [[Taoiseach]] on the nomination of [[Dáil Éireann]]. Also [[Japan]].
* Election by the legislature: Example: [[Solomon Islands]] and [[Vanuatu]]. Also the [[Philippines]] under the unamended 1973 Constitution, where the prime minister was supposed to be elected by the Batasang Pambansâ; these provisions were never used because the Philippines was under martial law at the time.
* Direct election by popular vote: Example: [[Israel]], 1996–2001, where the prime minister was elected in a general election, with no regard to political affiliation.
* Nomination by a state office holder other than the head of state or his or her representative: Example: Under the modern Swedish [[Constitution of Sweden|Instrument of Government]], the power to appoint someone to form a government has been moved from the [[Monarch of Sweden|monarch]] to the speaker of the parliament and the parliament itself. The speaker nominates a candidate, who is then elected to prime minister (''statsminister'') by the parliament if an absolute majority of the members of parliament does not vote no (i.e. the candidate can be elected to the post even if more MP:s vote ''no'' than ''yes'').