The President of the Realm may be deposed from office before the expiry of his term by popular plebiscite on initiative of the Reichstag. The resolution of the Reichstag must have a two-thirds majority. It precludes the President from any further exercise of office. Should the plebiscite reject deposition, such vote counts as a new election and entails the dissolution of the Reichstag. The President of the Realm may not be criminally prosecuted without consent of the Reichstag. ARTICLE 44. The President of the Realm cannot be concurrently a member of the Reichstag. ARTICLE 45. The President of the Realm represents the Realm in international intercourse. He contracts alliances and other treaties with foreign Powers in the name of the Realm. He accredits and receives ambassadors. Declaration of war and conclusion of peace shall be by act of the Realm. Alliances and treaties with foreign States concerning subjects of national legislation require the consent of the Reichstag. ARTICLE 46. The President of the Realm appoints and dismisses officials and officers of the Realm, except as may be otherwise provided. He can exercise his rights of appointment and dismissal through other authorities. ARTICLE 47. The supreme command over the whole armed forces of the Realm resides in the President of the Realm. ARTICLE 48.[23] Should any Land fail to fulfil the obligations imposed on it by the constitution or laws of the Realm, the President of the Realm may constrain it thereto by armed force. Should public order and safety be seriously disturbed or threatened in the German Realm, the President of the Realm may take the necessary measures to restore public order and safety; in case of need he may use armed force. For this purpose he may, for the time being, suspend wholly or partly the fundamental civil rights detailed in Articles 114, 115, 117, 118, 123, 124, and 153. The President of the Realm is bound without delay to communicate to the Reichstag all measures taken by him in virtue of Clause 1 or Clause 2 of this Article. The Reichstag may require such measures to be abrogated. A Land Government may take temporary measures of the nature indicated in Clause 2, should delay be dangerous. The President of the Realm or the Reichstag may require such measures to be abrogated. An act of the Realm shall make further provision. ARTICLE 49. The President of the Realm exercises the right of pardon. Amnesties affecting the whole Realm require an act of the Realm. ARTICLE 50. All orders and decrees of the President of the Realm, including those regarding national defence, require for validity the counter-signature of the Chancellor or of the competent Minister of the Realm. Responsibility is assumed with this counter-signature. ARTICLE 51.