a five-year term;
election last held 26 October 2000 (next to be held October 2005);
prime minister appointed by the president
election results: Laurent GBAGBO elected president; percent of vote
- Laurent GBAGBO 59.4%, Robert GUEI 32.7%, Francis WODIE 5.7%, other
2.2%

Legislative branch:
unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (225 seats;
members are elected in single- and multi-district elections by
direct popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: elections last held 10 December 2000 with by-elections on
14 January 2001 (next to be held October 2005)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party -
FPI 96, PDCI-RDA 94, RDR 5, PIT 4, other 2, independents 22, vacant 2
note: a Senate is scheduled to be created in the next full election
in 2005

Judicial branch:
Supreme Court or Cour Supreme consists of four chambers: Judicial
Chamber for criminal cases, Audit Chamber for financial cases,
Constitutional Chamber for judicial review cases, and Administrative
Chamber for civil cases; there is no legal limit to the number of
members

Political parties and leaders:
Citizen's Democratic Union or UDCY [Eg Theodore MEL]; Democratic
Party of Cote d'Ivoire-African Democratic Rally or PDCI-RDA [Henri
Konan BEDIE]; Ivorian Popular Front or FPI [Laurent GBAGBO]; Ivorian
Worker's Party or PIT [Francis WODIE]; Rally of the Republicans or
RDR [Alassane OUATTARA]; Union for Democracy and Peace or UDPCI
[Paul Akoto YAO]; over 20 smaller parties

Political pressure groups and leaders:
NA

International organization participation:
ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, ECOWAS, Entente, FAO, FZ, G-24, G-77, IAEA,
IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC,
IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITU, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OPCW,
UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WCL,
WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Daouda DIABATE
chancery: 3421 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007
telephone: [1] (202) 797-0300
FAX: [1] (202) 462-9444

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Aubrey HOOKS
embassy: 5 Rue Jesse Owens, Abidjan
mailing address: B. P. 1712, Abidjan 01
telephone: [225] 20 21 09 79
FAX: [225] 20 22 32 59

Flag description:
three equal vertical bands of orange (hoist side), white,