National holiday:
Independence Day, 27 February (1844)
Constitution:
28 November 1966, amended 25 July 2002
Legal system:
based on French civil codes; undergoing modification in 2004
towards an accusatory system
Suffrage:
18 years of age, universal and compulsory; married persons
regardless of age
note: members of the armed forces and national police cannot vote
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Leonel FERNANDEZ Reyna (since 16 August
2004); Vice President Rafael ALBURQUERQUE de Castro (since 16 August
2004); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of
government
head of government: President Leonel FERNANDEZ Reyna (since 16
August 2004); Vice President Rafael ALBURQUERQUE de Castro (since 16
August 2004); note - the president is both the chief of state and
head of government
cabinet: Cabinet nominated by the president
elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket
by popular vote for four-year terms; election last held 16 May 2004
(next to be held in May 2008)
election results: Leonel FERNANDEZ elected president; percent of
vote - Leonel FERNANDEZ (PLD) 57.1%, Rafael Hipolito MEJIA Dominguez
(PRD) 33.7%, Eduardo ESTRELLA (PRSC) 8.7%
Legislative branch:
bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of the
Senate or Senado (32 seats; members are elected by popular vote to
serve four-year terms) and the Chamber of Deputies or Camara de
Diputados (150 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve
four-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held 16 May 2002 (next to be held NA May
2006); Chamber of Deputies - last held 16 May 2002 (next to be held
NA May 2006)
election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by
party - PRD 29, PLD 2, PRSC 1; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote
by party - NA; seats by party - PRD 73, PLD 41, PRSC 36
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (judges are appointed by a the
National Judicial Council comprised of the President, the leaders of
both chambers of congress, the President of the Supreme Court, and
an opposition or non-governing party member)
Political parties and leaders:
Dominican Liberation Party or PLD [Leonel FERNANDEZ Reyna];
Dominican Revolutionary Party or PRD [Vicente Sanchez BARET]; Social
Christian Reformist Party or PRSC [Enrique ATUN]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
Collective of Popular Organizations or COP; Citizen Participation
Group (Participacion Ciudadania); Foundation for
Institution-Building (FINJUS)
International organization participation:
ACP, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU,
ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM,
ISO (subscriber), ITU, LAES, LAIA (observer), MIGA, NAM, OAS,
OPANAL, OPCW (signatory), PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNOCI,
UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO