s: Federal Assembly--last held 1 and 8 December 1996 (next to
be held NA)
election results: Federal Assembly--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
NA]
note: under a new constitution ratified in October 1996, a two-party
system was established; former 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, IFRCS
(associate), ILO, IMF, InOC, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), IOC, ITU,
NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WMO, WTrO
(applicant)

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador-designate 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

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, Njazidja, Nzwani, and Mayotte (a territorial
collectivity of France, but claimed by Comoros); the design, the
most recent of several, is described in the constitution approved by
referendum on 7 June 1992

Economy

Economy--overview: One of the world's poorest c