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Executive branch
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Head of government
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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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Prime Minister David CAMERON (since 11 May 2010)
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Flag description
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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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blue field with the red cross of Saint George (patron saint of England) edged in white superimposed on the diagonal red cross of Saint Patrick (patron saint of Ireland), which is superimposed on the diagonal white cross of Saint Andrew (patron saint of Scotland); properly known as the Union Flag, but commonly called the Union Jack; the design and colors (especially the Blue Ensign) have been the basis for a number of other flags including other Commonwealth countries and their constituent states or provinces, and British overseas territories
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Judicial branch
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Court of Appeal or Cour d'Appel
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Supreme Court of the UK (established in October 2009 taking over appellate jurisdiction formerly vested in the House of Lords is the final court of appeal); Senior Courts of England and Wales (comprising the Court of Appeal, the High Court of Justice, and the Crown Courts); Court of Judicature (Northern Ireland); Scotland's Court of Session and High Court of the Justiciary
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Legal system
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French legal system
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common law system; has nonbinding judicial review of Acts of Parliament under the Human Rights Act of 1998
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Legislative branch
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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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bicameral Parliament consists of House of Lords
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Legislative branch
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A note
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<a href=/country/mb><a href=/country/mb>Martinique</a></a> elects 2 seats to the <a href=/kp/French><a href=/country/fr>French</a></a> <a href=/encyclopedia/United-States-Senate>Senate</a>; elections last held <a href=/kp/NA><a href=/encyclopedia/natural-abundance>NA</a></a> September 2001 (next to be held September 2004); results - percent of vote by party - <a href=/kp/NA>NA</a>%; seats by party - PPM 2; <a href=/country/mb><a href=/country/mb>Martinique</a></a> also elects 4 seats to the <a href=/kp/French><a href=/country/fr>French</a></a> <a href=/encyclopedia/National-Assembly-of-the-Republic-of-China>National Assembly</a>; elections last held, first round - 9 June 2002, second round - 16 June 2002 (next to be held June 2007); results - percent of vote by party - <a href=/kp/NA>NA</a>%; seats by party - UMP-RPR 1, PMS 1, MIM 1, left-wing candidate 1
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in 1998 elections were held for a <a href=/kp/Northern>Northern</a> <a href=/country/ei><a href=/country/ei>Ireland</a></a> <a href=/encyclopedia/Parliament-(band)>Parliament</a> (because of unresolved disputes among existing parties, the transfer of power from London to <a href=/kp/Northern>Northern</a> <a href=/country/ei><a href=/country/ei>Ireland</a></a> came only at the end of 1999 and was twice rescinded before reinstatement in November 2001); in 1999 there were elections for a new <a href=/encyclopedia/Scotland><a href=/encyclopedia/Scotland>Scottish</a></a> <a href=/encyclopedia/Parliament-(band)>Parliament</a> and a new <a href=/encyclopedia/Wales>Welsh</a> Assembly
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Legislative branch
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Election results
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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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House of Commons - percent of vote by party - Conservative 36.1%, Labor 29%, Liberal Democrats 23%, other 11.9%; seats by party - Conservative 305, Labor 258, Liberal Democrat 57, other 30
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Legislative branch
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Elections
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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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House of Lords - no elections (note - in 1999, as provided by the House of Lords Act, elections were held in the House of Lords to determine the 92 hereditary peers who would remain there; elections are held only as vacancies in the hereditary peerage arise); House of Commons - last held on 6 May 2010 (next to be held by June 2015)
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Legislative branch
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Note
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Martinique elects 2 seats to the French Senate; elections last held September 2004 (next to be held September 2008); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PPM 1, left-wing candidate 1; Martinique also elects 4 seats to the French National Assembly; elections last held, first round - 9 June 2002, second round - 16 June 2002 (next to be held not later than June 2007); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - UMP-RPR 1, PMS 1, MIM 1, left-wing candidate 1 (candidacy of the left-wing candidate was found invalid by the Constitutional Council; new elections will be called)
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in 1998 elections were held for a Northern Ireland Assembly (because of unresolved disputes among existing parties, the transfer of power from London to Northern Ireland came only at the end of 1999 and has been suspended four times, the latest occurring in October 2002 and lasting until 8 May 2007); in 1999, the UK held the first elections for a Scottish Parliament and a Welsh Assembly, the most recent of which were held in May 2007
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National holiday
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Bastille Day, 14 July (1789)
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the UK does not celebrate one particular national holiday
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Political parties and leaders
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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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Conservative [David CAMERON]<br />Democratic Unionist Party or DUP (Northern Ireland) [Peter ROBINSON]<br />Labor Party [Ed MILIBAND]<br />Liberal Democrats (Lib Dems) [Nick CLEGG]<br />Party of Wales (Plaid Cymru) [Leanne WOOD]<br />Scottish National Party or SNP [Alex SALMOND]<br />Sinn Fein (Northern Ireland) [Gerry ADAMS]<br />Social Democratic and Labor Party or SDLP (Northern Ireland) [Alasdair MCDONNELL]<br />Ulster Unionist Party (Northern Ireland) [Mike NESBITT]<br />United Kingdom Independent Party or UKIP [Nigel FARAGE]
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Political pressure groups and leaders
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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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Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament<br />Confederation of British Industry<br />National Farmers' Union<br />Trades Union Congress
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Transnational Issues
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Disputes
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International
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none
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in 2002, Gibraltar residents voted overwhelmingly by referendum to reject any "shared sovereignty" arrangement between the UK and Spain; the Government of Gibraltar insisted on equal participation in talks between the two countries; Spain disapproved of UK plans to grant Gibraltar greater autonomy; Mauritius and Seychelles claim the Chagos Archipelago (British Indian Ocean Territory); in 2001, the former inhabitants of the archipelago, evicted 1967 - 1973, were granted U.K. citizenship and the right of return, followed by Orders in Council in 2004 that banned rehabitation, a High Court ruling reversed the ban, a Court of Appeal refusal to hear the case, and a Law Lords' decision in 2008 denied the right of return; in addition, the United Kingdom created the world's largest marine protection area around the Chagos islands prohibiting the extraction of any natural resources therein; UK rejects sovereignty talks requested by Argentina, which still claims the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; territorial claim in Antarctica (British Antarctic Territory) overlaps Argentine claim and partially overlaps Chilean claim; Iceland, the UK, and Ireland dispute Denmark's claim that the Faroe Islands' continental shelf extends beyond 200 nm
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