National holiday: Day of Portugal, 10 June (1580)
Constitution: 17 February 1976, Organic Law of Macau; basic law drafted primarily by Beijing promulgated 31 March 1993
Legal system: Portuguese civil law system
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: President (of Portugal) Mario Alberto SOARES (since
9 March 1986)
head of government: Governor Gen. Vasco Joachim Rocha VIEIRA (since
20 March 1991) was appointed by the President of Portugal after
consultation with the Legislative Assembly
cabinet: Consultative Council consists of a total of 15 members -
five appointed by the governor, two nominated by the governor, five
elected for a four-year term (two represent administrative bodies,
one represents moral, cultural, and welfare interests, and two
represent economic interests), and three statutory members
Legislative branch: unicameral Legislative Assembly: elections last held 10 March 1991 (next to be held NA); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (23 total, 8 elected by direct vote, 8 by indirect vote, and 7 appointed by the governor) number of seats by party NA
Judicial branch: Supreme Court, consisting of five magistrates
including the president; lower court judges appointed for three
years by governor
Political parties and leaders: Association to Defend the Interests
of Macau; Macau Democratic Center; Group to Study the Development of
Macau; Macau Independent Group
Other political or pressure groups: wealthy Macanese and Chinese representing local interests, wealthy procommunist merchants representing China's interests; in January 1967 the Macau Government acceded to Chinese demands that gave China veto power over administration
International organization participation: CCC, ESCAP (associate),
IMO (associate), Interpol (subbureau), UNESCO (associate), WToO
(associate), WTrO