Independence: 4 April 1960 from France; complete independence was achieved upon dissolution of federation with Mali on 20 August 1960 (The Gambia and Senegal signed an agreement on 12 December 1981 (constituted February 1982) that called for the creation of a loose confederation to be known as Senegambia, but the agreement was dissolved on 30 September 1989)
National holiday: Independence Day, 4 April (1960)
Constitution: 3 March 1963, revised 1991
Legal system: based on French civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts in Constitutional Court; the Council of State audits the government's accounting office; Senegal has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state: President Abdoulaye WADE (since NA 2000) head of government: Prime Minister Niasse MOUSTAPHA (since NA 2000) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister in consultation with the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a seven-year term; election last held 27 February 2000 (next to be held 27 February 2007); prime minister appointed by the president election results: Abdoulaye WADE elected president; percent of vote in the second round of voting - Abdoulaye WADE (PDS) NA%, Abdou DIOUF (PS) NA%
Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (140 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote to serve five-year terms) elections: last held 24 May 1998 (next to be held NA May 2003) election results: percent of vote by party - PS 50%, PDS 19%, UDS-R 13%, And Jef 5%, LD-MPT 4%, CDP 2%, FSD 1%, PDS-R 1%, RND 1%, BGC 1%, PIT 1%, other 2%; seats by party - PS 93, PDS 23, UDS-R 11, And Jef 4, LD-MPT 3, CDP 1, FSD 1, PDS-R 1, RND 1, BGC 1, PIT 1
Judicial branch: under the terms of a reform of the judicial system implemented in 1992, the principal organs of the judiciary are as follows: Constitutional Court; Council of State; Court of Final Appeals or Cour de Cassation; Court of Appeals
Political parties and leaders: African Party for Democracy and
Socialism or And Jef (also known as PADS/AJ) [Landing SAVANE,
secretary general]; African Party of Independence ;
Democratic and Patriotic Convention or CDP (also known as Garab-Gi)
; Democratic League-Labor Party Movement or LD-MPT
; Front for Socialism and Democracy or FSD
; Gainde Centrist Bloc or BGC [Jean-Paul
DIAS]; Independence and Labor Party or PIT ; National
Democratic Rally or RND ; Senegalese Democratic Party or
PDS ; Senegalese Democratic Party-Renewal or PDS-R
; Senegalese Democratic
Union-Renewal or UDS-R ; Socialist Party or PS
; Union for Democratic Renewal or URD [Djibo
Leyti KA]; other small parties
Political pressure groups and leaders: labor; Muslim brotherhoods; students; teachers