National holiday:
Bastille Day, 14 July (1789)
Constitution:
4 October 1958 (French Constitution)
Legal system:
French legal system
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Jacques CHIRAC of France (since 17 May
1995); Prefect Yves DASSONVILLE (since 14 January 2004); note - took
office 8 February 2004
head of government: President of the General Council Claude LISE
(since 22 March 1992); President of the Regional Council Alfred
MARIE-JEANNE (since NA March 1998)
cabinet: NA
elections: French president elected by popular vote for a five-year
term; prefect appointed by the French president on the advice of the
French Ministry of Interior; the presidents of the General and
Regional Councils are elected by the members of those councils for
six-year terms
Legislative branch:
unicameral General Council or Conseil General (45 seats; members
are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms) and a
unicameral Regional Council or Conseil Regional (41 seats; members
are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms)
elections: General Council - last held March 2000 (next to be held
in 2006); Regional Council - last held on 28 March 2004 (next to be
held by March 2010)
election results: General Council - percent of vote by party - NA;
seats by party - left-wing candidates 13, PPM 11, RPR 6, right-wing
candidates 5, PCM 3, UDF 3, PMS 2, independents 2; note - the PPM
won a plurality; Regional Council (second round) - percent of vote
by party - MIM 53.8%, PPM 30.6%; seats by party - MIM 28, PPM 9,
other 4
note: Martinique elects 2 seats to the French Senate; elections last
held September 2004 (next to be held September 2008); results -
percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PPM 1, left-wing
candidate 1; Martinique also elects 4 seats to the French National
Assembly; elections last held, first round - 9 June 2002, second
round - 16 June 2002 (next to be held not later than June 2007);
results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - UMP-RPR 1,
PMS 1, MIM 1, left-wing candidate 1 (candidacy of the left-wing
candidate was found invalid by the Constitutional Council; new
elections will be called)
Judicial branch:
Court of Appeal or Cour d'Appel
Political parties and leaders:
Martinique Communist Party or PCM [Georges ERICHOT]; Martinique
Independence Movement or MIM [Alfred MARIE-JEANNE]; Martinique
Progressive Party or PPM [Pierre SUEDILE]; Martinique Socialist
Party or PMS [Ernest WAN-AJOUHU]; Movement of Democrats and
Ecologists for a Sovereign Martinique or Modemas [Garcin MALSA];
Rally for the Republic or RPR [Michel CHARLONE]; Socialist
Revolution Group or GRS [Philippe PIERRE-CHARLES]; Union for French
Democracy or UDF [Jean MAREN]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
Caribbean Revolutionary Alliance or ARC; Central Union for
Martinique Workers or CSTM [Marc PULVAR]; Frantz Fanon Circle;
League of Workers and Peasants; Proletarian Action Group or GAP
International organization participation:
UPU, WCL, WFTU