[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

Interesting points I hadn't thought of. Here in Canada, there's no separate election for the Prime Minister -- the PM is simply the leader of the party with the most seats in Parliament. When that's combined with the fact that we have 4 major parties in Parliament, the governing party seldom actually has a popular majority. We also have regional parties -- like the Bloc Quebecois -- which can have a lot of power in a minority government situation, like we now have.

Politicians will always try to game the system, regardless of what that system is.

[RonF]

Does the PM have to be a member of Parliament?

Who gets to vote on who's PM? The members or his or her party, or the entire Parliament?