Slovenska Republika

Government type: parliamentary democracy

Capital: Bratislava

Administrative divisions: 8 regions (kraje, singular - kraj);
Banskobystricky, Bratislavsky, Kosicky, Nitriansky, Presovsky,
Trenciansky, Trnavsky, Zilinsky

Independence: 1 January 1993 (Czechoslovakia split into the Czech
Republic and Slovakia)

National holiday: Constitution Day, 1 September (1992)

Constitution: ratified 1 September 1992, fully effective 1 January 1993;
changed in September 1998 to allow direct election of the president;
amended February 2001 to allow Slovakia to apply for NATO and EU
membership

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 Rudolf SCHUSTER (since 15
June 1999) head of government: Prime Minister Mikulas DZURINDA (since
30 October 1998) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the
recommendation of the prime minister elections: president elected by
direct, popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 29 May 1999
(next to be held NA May/June 2004); 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 note: government
coalition - SDK, SDL, SMK, SOP, KDH election results: Rudolf SCHUSTER
elected president in the first direct, popular election; percent of vote -
Rudolf SCHUSTER 57%

Legislative branch: unicameral National Council of the Slovak Republic
or Narodna Rada Slovenskej Republiky (150 seats; members are elected
on the basis of proportional representation to serve four-year terms)
election results: 9.1%, SOP 8%; seats by party - governing coalition 93
(SDK 42, SDL 23, SMK 15, SOP 13), opposition 57 (HZDS 43, SNS 14); note
- seating as of January 2002 - governing coalition 90 (SDK 23, SDL 21,
SOP 16, SMK 15, KDH 9, DS 6), opposition 51 (HZDS 43, SNS 8), PSNS 6,
independents 3 elections: Judicial branch: Supreme Court (judges are
elected by the National Council); Constitutional Court (judges appointed
by president from group of nominees approved by the National Council)

Political parties and leaders: Christian Democratic Movement or KDH
[Pavol HRUSOVS