: bicameral legislature consists of the Senate (15
seats; members selected by regional councils for six-year terms) and a
Federal Assembly or Assemblee Federale (43 seats; members elected by
popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 1 and 8 December 1996 (next to be held NA
December 2000)
election results: percent of vote by party-NA; seats by party-RND 39,
RND candidate running as independent 1, FNJ 3

Judicial branch: Supreme Court or Cour Supremes, two members are
appointed by the president, two members are elected by the Federal
Assembly, one by the Council of each island, and former presidents of
the republic

Political parties and leaders: Rassemblement National pour le
Development or RND [Mohamed TAKI Abdulkarim], party of the government;
Front National pour la Justice or FNJ, Islamic party in opposition
note: under a new constitution ratified in October 1996, a two party
system was established; President Mohamed TAKI Abdulkarim called for
all parties to dissolve and join him in creating the RND; the
constitution stipulates that only parties that win six seats in the
Federal Assembly (two from each island) are permitted to be in
opposition, but if no party accomplishes that the second most
successful party will be in opposition; in the elections of December
1996 the FNJ appeared to qualify as opposition

International organization participation: ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AFESD, AL,
CCC, ECA, FAO, FZ, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF,
InOC, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), IOC, ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, UN,
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WMO, WTrO (applicant)

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Ahmed DJABIR (ambassador to the US and
Canada and permanent representative to the UN)
chancery: (temporary) care of the Permanent Mission of the Federal and
Islamic Republic of the Comoros to the United Nations, 336 East 45th
Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10017
telephone: [1] (212) 972-8010

Diplomatic representation from the US: the US does not have an embassy
in Comoros; the ambassador to Mauritius is accredited to Comoros

Flag description: green with a white crescent in the center of the
field, its points facing downward; there are four white five-pointed
stars placed in a line between the points of the crescent; the
crescent, stars, and color green are traditional symbols of Islam; the
four stars represent the four main islands of the archipelago - Mwali,
Njaz