GOVERNMENT
Country
name:
conventional long form: Department of Martinique
conventional short form: Martinique
local long form: Departement de la Martinique
local short form: Martinique
Dependency status:
overseas department of France
Government type:
NA
Capital:
Fort-de-France
Administrative divisions:
none (overseas department of France)
Independence:
none (overseas department of France)
National holiday:
Bastille Day, 14 July (1789)
Constitution:
28 September 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
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 Assembly or Conseil Regional (41 seats; members are elected
by popular vote to serve six-year terms)
elections: General Council - last held NA March 2000 (next to
be held NA 2006); Regional Assembly - 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 Assembly (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 NA September 2001 (next to be held September 2004);
results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PPM
2; 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, PS
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:
WCL, WFTU
Diplomatic representation in the US:
none (overseas department of France)
Diplomatic representation from the US:
none (overseas department of France)
Flag description:
a light blue background is divided into four quadrants by a white
cross; in the center of each rectangle is a white snake; the flag
of France is used for official occasions
