hanged in September 1998 to allow direct election of the
president

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 30 May 1999 (next to be held NA 2004); note -
following the National Council elections in September 1998, the
Constitution was changed to allow direct election of the president;
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: Rudolf SCHUSTER won the first direct popular
election with 57% of the vote
note: government coalition - SDK, SDL, SMK, SOP

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)
elections: last held 25-26 September 1998 (next to be held NA
September 2002)
election results: percent of vote by party - HZDS 27%, SDK 26.3%, SDL
14.7%, SMK 9.1%, SNS 9.1%, SOP 8%; seats by party - governing
coalition 93 (SDK 42, SDL 23, SMK 15, SOP 13), opposition 57 (HZDS 43,
SNS 14)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court, judges are elected by the National
Council; Constitutional Court, judges appointed by president from
group of nominees approved by the parliament

Political parties and leaders: Christian Democratic Movement or KDH
; Coexistence ; Democratic Party or DS
; Democratic Union or DU ; Hungarian
Christian Democratic Movement or MKDH ; Hungarian Civic
Party or MOS ; Movement for a Democratic Slovakia or
HZDS ; Party of Civic Understanding or SOP [Pavol
HAMZIK]; Party of Greens in Slovakia or SZS ; Party
of the Democratic Center or SDS ; Party of the
Democratic Left or SDL ; Party of the Hungarian Coalition
or SMK (includes MKDH, MOS, and Coexistence) ; Slovak
Democratic Coalition or SDK (includes KDH, DS, DU, SSDS, SZS)