The Chief of State of the Republic of Ular is the head of state and head of government of that nation. The Chief of State has extensive personal powers, many of which can be exercised without parliamentary oversight. This has led many, notably former Saydneyan President Marc Emerson to denounce the Ularian government as a virtual dictatorship. The office of Chief of State has existed since the country's independence from Britain in 1974. The office has remained largely unchanged since that time, though a series of reforms in the 1990s curbed some, but by no means all, of the Chief of State's powers.