elections: the monarch is hereditary; prime minister elected by the Parliament; election last held NA September 1998 (next to be held NA 2002)
election results: Goran PERSSON reelected prime minister with 131 out of 349 votes
Switzerland:
chief of state: President Moritz LEUENBERGER (since 1
January 2001); Vice President Kaspar VILLIGER (since 1 January
2001); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of
government
head of government: President Moritz LEUENBERGER (since 1 January
2001); Vice President Kaspar VILLIGER (since 1 January 2001); note -
the president is both the chief of state and head of government
cabinet: Federal Council or Bundesrat (in German), Conseil Federal (in French), Consiglio Federale (in Italian) elected by the Federal Assembly from among its own members for a four-year term
elections: president and vice president elected by the Federal Assembly from among the members of the Federal Council for one-year terms that run concurrently; election last held 6 December 2000 (next to be held NA December 2001)
election results: Moritz LEUENBERGER elected president; percent of Federal Assembly vote - 76%; Kaspar VILLIGER elected vice president; percent of legislative vote - 72%
Syria:
chief of state: President Bashar al-ASAD (since 17 July
2000); Vice Presidents Abd al-Halim ibn Said KHADDAM (since 11 March
1984) and Muhammad Zuhayr MASHARIQA (since 11 March 1984)
head of government: Prime Minister Muhammad Mustafa MIRU (since 13
March 2000), Deputy Prime Ministers Lt. Gen. Mustafa TALAS (since 11
March 1984), Khalid RA'D (since 13 March 2000), Muhammad NAJI 'UTRI
(since 13 March 2000)
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president