Independence:
26 September 1907 (from UK)
National holiday:
Waitangi Day (Treaty of Waitangi established British sovereignty
over New Zealand), 6 February (1840)
Constitution:
consists of a series of legal documents, including certain acts of
the UK and New Zealand Parliaments and The Constitution Act 1986
which is the principal formal charter
Legal system:
based on English law, with special land legislation and land courts
for the Maori; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952),
represented by Governor General Dame Silvia CARTWRIGHT (since 4
April 2001)
head of government: Prime Minister Helen CLARK (since 10 December
1999) and Deputy Prime Minister Michael CULLEN (since NA July 2002)
cabinet: Executive Council appointed by the governor general on the
recommendation of the prime minister
elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor general
appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the
leader of the majority party or the leader of a majority coalition
is usually appointed prime minister by the governor general; deputy
prime minister appointed by the governor general
Legislative branch:
unicameral House of Representatives - commonly called Parliament
(120 seats; 69 members elected by popular vote in single-member
constituencies including 7 Maori constituencies, and 51 proportional
seats chosen from party lists, all to serve three-year terms)
elections: last held 27 July 2002 (next to be held NA 2005)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party -
NZLP 52, NP 27, NZFP 13, ACT New Zealand 9, Green Party 9, UF 8,
other 2
Judicial branch:
High Court; Court of Appeal
Political parties and leaders:
ACT New Zealand [Richard PREBBLE]; Alliance (a coalition of the New
Labor Party, Democratic Party, New Zealand Liberal Party, and Mana
Motuhake) [James (Jim) ANDERTON]; Green Party [Jeanette FITZSIMONS
and Rod DONALD]; National Party or NP [Don BRASH]; New Zealand First
Party or NZFP [Winston PETERS]; New Zealand Labor Party or NZLP
[Helen CLARK]; United Future or UF [Peter DUNNE]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
NA