Constitution: 28 September 1958 (French Constitution)
Legal system: French law
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state: President of France Jacques CHIRAC (since 17 May 1995), represented by Prefect Philippe BOISADAM (since NA) head of government: President of the General Council Younoussa BAMANA (since NA 1977) cabinet: NA elections: prefect appointed by the president of France on the advice of the French Ministry of the Interior; president of the General Council elected by the members of the General Council for a six-year term
Legislative branch: unicameral General Council or Conseil General (19 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve three-year terms) elections: last held NA March 1997 (next to be held NA March 2000) election results: percent of vote by party-NA; note-only nine of the 19 seats were subjected to voting in March 1997; after the election, seats by party were as follows: MPM 8, RPR 5, independent candidates 5, local PS 1 note: Mayotte elects 1 member of the French Senate; elections last held 24 September 1995 (next to be held 24 September 2001); results-percent of vote by party-NA; seats by party-MPM 1; Mayotte also elects 1 member to the French National Assembly; elections last held 25 May and 1 June 1997 (next to be held as a special election on NA May 2002); results-percent of vote by party-UDF/FD 51.7%, RPR 48.3%; seats by party-UDF/FD 1
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Tribunal Superieur d'Appel)
Political parties and leaders: Mahoran Popular Movement or MPM
[Younoussa BAMANA]; Mahoran Rally for the Republic or RPR [Mansour
KAMARDINE]; Democratic Front or FD [Youssouf MOUSSA]; Association for
French Mayotte or Association Pour Mayotte Francaise [Didier BEOUTIS];
Socialist Party or PS (local branch of French Parti Socialiste); Union
for French Democracy or UDF [Henri JEAN-BAPTISTE]
International organization participation: FZ
Diplomatic representation in the US: none (territorial collectivity of
France)
Diplomatic representation from the US: none (territorial collectivity of France)