National holiday: Slovak Constitution Day, 1 September (1992);
Anniversary of Slovak National Uprising, 29 August (1944)

Constitution: ratified 1 September 1992, fully effective 1 January
1993

Legal system: civil law system based on Austro-Hungarian codes; has
not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction; legal code modified to
comply with the obligations of Organization on Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and to expunge Marxist-Leninist legal
theory

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
chief of state: President Michal KOVAC (since 2 March 1993);
note-leaves office 2 March 1998; first round of voting for his
replacement occurred 29 January 1998
head of government: Prime Minister Vladimir MECIAR (since 12 December
1994)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation of
the prime minister
elections: president elected by National Council for a five-year term;
election last held 8 February 1993 (next to be held March 1998);
following National Council elections, the leader of the majority party
or the leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed prime
minister by the president
election results: Michal KOVAC elected president; percent of
parliamentary vote-NA

Legislative branch: unicameral National Council of the Slovak Republic
or Narodna Rada Slovensky Repubiky (150 seats; members are elected by
popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 30 September-1 October 1994 (next to be held
26-27 September 1998)
election results: percent of vote by party-HZDS 35%, SDL 10.4%,
Hungarian coalition (Hungarian Christian Democrats, Hungarian Civic
Party, Coexistence) 10.2%, KDH 10.1%, DU 8.6%, ZRS 7.3%, SNS 5.4%;
seats by party-governing coalition 83 (HZDS 61, ZRS 13, SNS 9),
opposition 67 (SDL 18, Hungarian coalition 17, KDH 17, DU 15)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court, judges are elected by the National
Parliament; Constitutional Court

Political parties and leaders: Movement for a Democratic Slovakia or
HZDS [Vladimir MECIAR, chairman]; Party of the Democratic Left or SDL
[Jozef MIGAS, chairman]; Hungarian Christian Democratic Movement or
MKDH [Bela BUGAR]; Hungarian Civic Party or MOS [Laszlo A. NAGY,
president]; Coexistence [Miklos DURAY, chairman]; Christian Democratic
Movement or KDH [Jan CARNOGURSKY, chairman]; Democratic Union or DU
[Jozef MORAVCIK, chairman]; Association of Slovak Workers or ZRS [Jan
LUPTAK, chairman]; Slovak National Party or