head of government: Prime Minister Goran PERSSON (since 21 March
1996)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister
elections: the monarchy is hereditary; following legislative
elections, the prime minister is elected by the Parliament; election
last held 15 September 2002 (next to be held NA September 2006)
election results: Goran PERSSON reelected prime minister with 131
out of 349 votes

Switzerland
chief of state: President Samuel SCHMID (since 1 January
2005); Vice President Moritz LEUENBERGER (since 1 January 2005);
note - the president is both the chief of state and head of
government
head of government: President Samuel SCHMID (since 1 January 2005);
Vice President Moritz LEUENBERGER (since 1 January 2005); note - the
president is both the chief of state and head of government
cabinet: Federal Council or Bundesrat (in German), Conseil Federal
(in French), Consiglio Federale (in Italian) elected by the Federal
Assembly usually from among its own members for a four-year term
elections: president and vice president elected by the Federal
Assembly from among the members of the Federal Council for one-year
terms that run concurrently; election last held 8 December 2004
(next to be held December 2005)
election results: Samuel SCHMID elected president; percent of
Federal Assembly vote - 70.7%; Moritz LEUENBERGER elected vice
president; percent of legislative vote - 64.8%

Syria
chief of state: President Bashar al-ASAD (since 17 July 2000);
Vice Presidents Abd al-Halim ibn Said KHADDAM (since 11 March 1984)
and Muhammad Zuhayr MASHARIQA (since 11 March 1984)
head of government: Prime Minister Muhammad Naji al-UTRI (since 10
September 2003)
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president
elections: president elected by popular vote for a seven-year term;
referendum/election last held 10 July 2000 - after the death of
President Hafiz al-ASAD, father of Bashar al-ASAD - (next to be held
2007); vice presidents appointed by the president; prime minister
and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president
election results: Bashar al-ASAD elected president; percent of vote
- Bashar al-ASAD 97.29%
note: Hafiz al-ASAD died on 10 June 2000; on 20 June 2000, the Ba'th
Party nominated Bashar al-ASAD for president and presented his name
to the People's Council on 25 June 2000

Taiwan
chief of state: President CHEN Shui-bian