ional Assembly - last held in two rounds on 5 January
and 23 February 1997, (next to be held NA 2001); in the first round of
voting on 5 January 1997 some candidates won clear victories by
receiving 50% or more of the vote; where that did not happen, the two
highest scoring candidates stood for a second round of voting
election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - MPS
65, URD 29, UNDR 15, RDP 3, others 13

Judicial branch: Supreme Court; Court of Appeal; Criminal Courts;
Magistrate Courts

Political parties and leaders: Patriotic Salvation Movement or MPS
[Maldom Bada ABBAS, chairman], originally in opposition but now the
party in power and the party of the president; National Union for
Development and Renewal or UNDR [Saleh KEBZABO, leader]; Rally for
Democracy and Progress or RDP [Lal Mahamat CHOUA, leader]; Union for
Renewal and Democracy or URD [Gen. Wadal Abdelkader KAMOUGUE, leader];
note - in mid-1996 Chad had about 60 political parties, of which these
are the most prominent in the new National Assembly

Political pressure groups and leaders: NA

International organization participation: ACCT, ACP, AfDB, BDEAC,
CEEAC, ECA, FAO, FZ, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD,
IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, UDEAC,
UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission : Ambassador Mahamat Saleh AHMAT
chancery: 2002 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20009
telephone: [1] (202) 462-4009
FAX: [1] (202) 265-1937

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador David C. HALSTED
embassy: Avenue Felix Eboue, N'Djamena
mailing address : B. P. 413, N'Djamena
telephone: [235] (51) 70-09, (51) 90-52, (51) 92-33
FAX: [235] (51) 56-54

Flag description: three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side),
yellow, and red; similar to the flag of Romania; also similar to the
flag of Andorra, which has a national coat of arms featuring a
quartered shield centered in the yellow band; design was based on the
flag of France

Economy

Economy - overview: Unfavorable climate, geographic remoteness, poor
resource endowment, and lack of infrastructure make Chad one of the
most underdeveloped countries in the world. Its economy is hobbled by
political turmoil, drought, and food shortages. Consequently the
economy has shown little progress in recent years in overcoming a
severe setback brought on by