nce 11 March 2000); note - the president is both the chief of
state and head of government

head of government: President Ricardo LAGOS Escobar (since 11 March
2000); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of
government

cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president

elections: president elected by popular vote for a six-year term;
election last held 12 December 1999, with runoff election held 16
January 2000 (next to be held NA December 2005)

election results: Ricardo LAGOS Escobar elected president; percent
of vote - Ricardo LAGOS Escobar 51.32%, Joaquin LAVIN 48.68%

Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional
consists of the Senate or Senado (48 seats, 38 elected by popular
vote and 10 appointed (all former presidents who served 6 years are
senators for life); members serve eight-year terms - one-half
elected every four years) and the Chamber of Deputies or Camara de
Diputados (120 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve
four-year terms)

elections: Senate - last held 11 December 1997 (next to be held NA
December 2001); Chamber of Deputies - last held 11 December 1997
(next to be held NA December 2001)

election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by
party - CPD (PDC 14, PS 4, PPD 2), RN 7, UDI 10, UCCP 1,
independents 10; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party -
CPD 50.55% (PDC 22.98%, PS 11.10%, PPD 12.55%, PRSD 3.13%), RN
16.78%, UDI 14.43%; seats by party - CPD 70 (PDC 39, PPD 16, PRSD 4,
PS 11), RN 24, UDI 21, Socialist Party 1, right-wing independents 4

Judicial branch: Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (judges are
appointed by the president and ratified by the Senate from lists of
candidates provided by the court itself; the president of the
Supreme Court is elected by the 21-member court); Constitutional
Tribunal

Political parties and leaders: Center-Center Union Party or UCCP
[Francisco Javier ERRAZURIZ]; Christian Democratic Party or PDC
[Ricardo HORMAZABAL]; Coalition of Parties for Democracy
("Concertacion") or CPD - including PDC, PS, PPD, PRSD; Independent
Democratic Union or UDI [Pablo LONGUEIRA]; National Renewal or RN
[Alberto CARDEMIL]; Party for Democracy or PPD [Guido GIRARDI];
Radical Social Democratic Party or PRSD [Anselmo SULE]; Socialist
Party or PS [Ricardo NUNEZ]

Political pressure groups and leaders: revitalized university
student federations at all major universities; Roman Catholic
Chu