Independence: 3 October 1932 (from League of Nations mandate under
British administration)
National holiday: Anniversary of the Revolution, 17 July (1968)
Constitution: 22 September 1968, effective 16 July 1970
(provisional Constitution); new constitution drafted in 1990 but not
adopted
Legal system: based on Islamic law in special religious courts,
civil law system elsewhere; has not accepted compulsory ICJ
jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: President SADDAM Husayn (since 16 July 1979); Vice
President Taha Muhyi al-Din MARUF (since 21 April 1974); Vice
President Taha Yasin RAMADAN (since 23 March 1991) were elected by a
two-thirds majority of the Revolutionary Command Council
head of government: Prime Minister SADDAM Husayn (since NA May
1994); Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Mikhail AZIZ (since NA 1979)
Revolutionary Command Council: Chairman SADDAM Husayn, Vice Chairman
Izzat IBRAHIM al-Duri
cabinet: Council of Ministers
Legislative branch: unicameral
National Assembly (Majlis al-Watani): elections last held 24 March
1996 (next to be held NA); results - percent of vote NA; seats -
(250 total, 30 appointed by SADDAM Husayn to represent three
northern provonces of Dahuk, Arbil, and As Sulaymaniyah)
note: in northern Iraq, a "Kurdish Assembly" was elected in May 1992
and calls for Kurdish self-determination within a federated Iraq;
the assembly is not recognized by the Baghdad government
Judicial branch: Court of Cassation
Political parties and leaders: Ba'th Party, SADDAM Husayn, central party leader
Other political or pressure groups: political parties and activity severely restricted; opposition to regime from disaffected members of the Ba'th Party, Army officers, tribes, and Shi'a religious and ethnic Kurdish dissidents; the Green Party (government-controlled)