Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state: President Rudolf SCHUSTER (since 15 June 1999) head of government: Prime Minister Mikulas DZURINDA (since 30 October 1998) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister elections: president elected by direct popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 30 May 1999 (next to be held NA 2004); note - following the National Council elections in September 1998, the Constitution was changed to allow direct election of the president; following National Council elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the president election results: Rudolf SCHUSTER won the first direct popular election with 57% of the vote note: government coalition - SDK, SDL, SMK, SOP
Legislative branch: unicameral National Council of the Slovak Republic or Narodna Rada Slovenskej Republiky (150 seats; members are elected on the basis of proportional representation to serve four-year terms) elections: last held 25-26 September 1998 (next to be held NA September 2002) election results: percent of vote by party - HZDS 27%, SDK 26.3%, SDL 14.7%, SMK 9.1%, SNS 9.1%, SOP 8%; seats by party - governing coalition 93 (SDK 42, SDL 23, SMK 15, SOP 13), opposition 57 (HZDS 43, SNS 14)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court, judges are elected by the National Council; Constitutional Court, judges appointed by president from group of nominees approved by the parliament
Political parties and leaders: Christian Democratic Movement or KDH
; Coexistence ; Democratic Party or DS
; Democratic Union or DU ; Hungarian
Christian Democratic Movement or MKDH ; Hungarian Civic
Party or MOS ; Movement for a Democratic Slovakia or
HZDS ; Party of Civic Understanding or SOP [Pavol
HAMZIK]; Party of Greens in Slovakia or SZS ; Party
of the Democratic Center or SDS ; Party of the
Democratic Left or SDL ; Party of the Hungarian Coalition
or SMK (includes MKDH, MOS, and Coexistence) ; Slovak
Democratic Coalition or SDK (includes KDH, DS, DU, SSDS, SZS) [Mikulas
DZURINDA]; Slovak National Party or SNS ; Social
Democratic Party of Slovakia or SSDS ; SMER [Robert
FICO]
Political pressure groups and leaders: Association of Employers of
Slovakia; Association of Towns and Villages or ZMOS; Christian Social
Union; Confederation of Trade Unions or KOZ; Metal Workers Unions or
KOVO and METALURG; Party of Entrepreneurs and Businessmen of Slovakia
International organization participation: Australia Group, BIS, BSEC
(observer), CCC, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EU (applicant), FAO,
IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO,
Inmarsat, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU,
NAM (guest), NSG, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO,
UNIDO, UNTSO, UPU, WEU (associate partner), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO,
WToO, WTrO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Martin BUTORA chancery: (temporary) Suite 250, 2201 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: (202) 965-5161 FAX: (202) 965-5166
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Douglas HENGEL embassy: Hviezdoslavovo Namestie 4, 81102 Bratislava mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: (7) 5443-0861, 5443-3338 FAX: (7) 5441-5148
Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of white (top), blue, and red superimposed with the Slovak cross in a shield centered on the hoist side; the cross is white centered on a background of red and blue