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Executive branch
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Head of government
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Prime Minister Manmohan SINGH (since 22 May 2004)
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President of the General Council Claude LISE (since 22 March 1992); President of the Regional Council Alfred MARIE-JEANNE (since NA March 1998)
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Flag description
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three equal horizontal bands of saffron (subdued orange) (top), white, and green, with a blue chakra (24-spoked wheel) centered in the white band; saffron represents courage, sacrifice, and the spirit of renunciation; white signifies purity and truth; green stands for faith and fertility; the blue chakra symbolizes the wheel of life in movement and death in stagnation
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unofficial flag, derives from the civil ensign flown by French merchant ships and dates to 1766; a blue field quartered by a white cross; in the center of each rectangle is a white, coiled snake representing the venomous Fer-de-lance; the flag of France is used for official occasions
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Judicial branch
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Supreme Court (one chief justice and 25 associate justices are appointed by the president and remain in office until they reach the age of 65 or are removed for "proved misbehavior")
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Court of Appeal or Cour d'Appel
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Legal system
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common law system based on the English model; separate personal law codes apply to Muslims, Christians, and Hindus; judicial review of legislative acts
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French legal system
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Legislative branch
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bicameral Parliament or Sansad consists of the Council of States or Rajya Sabha (a body consisting of not more than 250 members up to 12 of whom are appointed by the president, the remainder are chosen by the elected members of the state and territorial assemblies; members serve six-year terms) and the People's Assembly or Lok Sabha
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unicameral General Council or Conseil General (45 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms) and a unicameral Regional Council or Conseil Regional (41 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms)
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Legislative branch
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Election results
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People's Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - INC 206, BJP 116, SP 23, BSP 21, JD(U) 20, TMC 19, DMK 18, CPI(M) 16, BJD 14, SS 11, AIADMK 9, NCP 9, TDP 6, RLD 5, CPI 4, RJD 4, SAD 4, independent 9, other 29, vacant 2(as of February 2013) - INC 204, BJP 115, SP 22, BSP 21, JD(U) 20, AITC 19, DMK 18, CPI(M) 16, BJD 14, SS 11, AIADMK 9, NCP 9, TDP 6, RLD 5, CPI 4, RJD 4, SAD 4, independents 9, other 31, nominated (INC) 2, vacant 2
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General Council - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - left-wing candidates 13, PPM 11, RPR 6, right-wing candidates 5, PCM 3, UDF 3, PMS 2, independents 2; note - the PPM won a plurality; Regional Council (second round) - percent of vote by party - MIM 53.8%, PPM 30.6%; seats by party - MIM 28, PPM 9, other 4
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Legislative branch
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Elections
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People's Assembly - last held in five phases on 16, 22-23, 30 April and 7, 13 May 2009 (next must be held by May 2014)
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General Council - last held March 2000 (next to be held in 2006); Regional Council - last held on 28 March 2004 (next to be held by March 2010)
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National holiday
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Republic Day, 26 January
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Bastille Day, 14 July (1789)
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Political parties and leaders
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Aam Aadmi Party or AAP [Arvind KEJRIWAL]<br />All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or AIADMK [J. JAYALALITHAA]<br />All India Trinamool Congress or TMC [Mamata BANERJEE]<br />Bahujan Samaj Party or BSP [MAYAWATI]<br />Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP [Rajnath SINGH]<br />Biju Janata Dal or BJD [Naveen PATNAIK]<br />Communist Party of India or CPI [A.B. BARDHAN]<br />Communist Party of India-Marxist or CPI(M) [Prakash KARAT]<br />Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or DMK [M.KARUNANIDHI]<br />Indian National Congress or INC [Sonia GANDHI]<br />Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) [Sharad YADAV]<br />Nationalist Congress Party or NCP [Sharad PAWAR]<br />Rashtriya Janata Dal or RJD [Lalu Prasad YADAV]<br />Rashtriya Lok Dal or RLD [Ajit SINGH]<br />Samajwadi Party or SP [Mulayam Singh YADAV]<br />Shiromani Akali Dal or SAD [Parkash Singh BADAL]<br />Shiv Sena or SS [Uddhav THACKERAY]<br />Telugu Desam Party or TDP [Chandrababu NAIDU]<br />
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Martinique Communist Party or PCM [Georges ERICHOT]; Martinique Independence Movement or MIM [Alfred MARIE-JEANNE]; Martinique Progressive Party or PPM [Pierre SUEDILE]; Martinique Socialist Party or PMS [Ernest WAN-AJOUHU]; Movement of Democrats and Ecologists for a Sovereign Martinique or Modemas [Garcin MALSA]; Rally for the Republic or RPR [Michel CHARLONE]; Socialist Revolution Group or GRS [Philippe PIERRE-CHARLES]; Union for French Democracy or UDF [Jean MAREN]
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Political pressure groups and leaders
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All Parties Hurriyat Conference in the Kashmir Valley (separatist group)<br />Bajrang Dal (religious organization)<br />India Against Corruption [Anna HAZAREI]<br />Jamiat Ulema-e Hind (religious organization)<br />Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh [Mohan BHAGWAT] (religious organization)<br />Vishwa Hindu Parishad [Ashok SINGHAL] (religious organization)<br /><br /><strong>other:</strong><br />numerous religious or militant/chauvinistic organizations<br />hundreds of social reform, anti-corruption, and environmental groups at state and local level<br />various separatist groups seeking greater communal and/or regional autonomy
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Caribbean Revolutionary Alliance or ARC; Central Union for Martinique Workers or CSTM [Marc PULVAR]; Frantz Fanon Circle; League of Workers and Peasants; Proletarian Action Group or GAP
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Transnational Issues
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Disputes
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International
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since China and India launched a security and foreign policy dialogue in 2005, consolidated discussions related to the dispute over most of their rugged, militarized boundary, regional nuclear proliferation, Indian claims that China transferred missiles to Pakistan, and other matters continue; Kashmir remains the site of the world's largest and most militarized territorial dispute with portions under the de facto administration of China (Aksai Chin), India (Jammu and Kashmir), and Pakistan (Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas); India and Pakistan resumed bilateral dialogue in February 2011 after a two-year hiatus, have maintained the 2003 cease-fire in Kashmir, and continue to have disputes over water sharing of the Indus River and its tributaries; UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan has maintained a small group of peacekeepers since 1949; India does not recognize Pakistan's ceding historic Kashmir lands to China in 1964; to defuse tensions and prepare for discussions on a maritime boundary, India and Pakistan seek technical resolution of the disputed boundary in Sir Creek estuary at the mouth of the Rann of Kutch in the Arabian Sea; Pakistani maps continue to show its Junagadh claim in Indian Gujarat State; Prime Minister Singh's September 2011 visit to Bangladesh resulted in the signing of a Protocol to the 1974 Land Boundary Agreement between India and Bangladesh, which had called for the settlement of longstanding boundary disputes over undemarcated areas and the exchange of territorial enclaves, but which had never been implemented; Bangladesh referred its maritime boundary claims with Burma and India to the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea; Joint Border Committee with Nepal continues to examine contested boundary sections, including the 400 square kilometer dispute over the source of the Kalapani River; India maintains a strict border regime to keep out Maoist insurgents and control illegal cross-border activities from Nepal
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