News from March 2017
By State Newswire | Mar 3, 2017
News Release: Nauru is a constitutional republic. International observers deemed free and fair the parliamentary election held July 9-11. Parliament re-elected President Baron Waqa who was also a member of parliament.
By State Newswire | Mar 3, 2017
News Release: Hungary is a multiparty parliamentary democracy. The unicameral National Assembly (parliament) exercises legislative authority. The parliament elects the president (the head of state) every five years. The president appoints a prime minister from the majority party or coalition in parliament following...
By State Newswire | Mar 3, 2017
News Release: Vanuatu is a multiparty parliamentary democracy with a freely elected government. The president is head of state. Following a snap election in January, which observers considered generally free and fair, parliament elected Charlot Salwai as prime minister.
By State Newswire | Mar 3, 2017
News Release: Bahrain is a constitutional monarchy. King Hamad Bin Isa al-Khalifa, the head of state, appoints the cabinet, consisting of 26 ministers; 12 of those ministers were members of the al-Khalifa ruling family. Parliament consists of an appointed upper house, the Shura (Consultative) Council, and the elected...
By State Newswire | Mar 3, 2017
News Release: President Bashar Asad has ruled the Syrian Arab Republic since 2000. The constitution mandates the primacy of Baath Party leaders in state institutions and society, and Asad and Baath party leaders dominated all three branches of government. The 2014 presidential election won by Asad and the geographically...
By DOJ Newswire | Mar 3, 2017
News Release: Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, William F. Sweeney Jr., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI") and James P. O’Neill, the Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD")...
By State Newswire | Mar 3, 2017
News Release: The Dominican Republic is a representative constitutional democracy. In May voters elected Danilo Medina of the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) as president for a second four-year term. Impartial outside observers assessed the elections as generally free and orderly despite failures in the rollout of a new electronic voting system.
By State Newswire | Mar 3, 2017
News Release: Czech Republic is a multiparty parliamentary democracy. Legislative authority is vested in a bicameral parliament, consisting of a Chamber of Deputies (Poslanecka snemovna) and the senate (Senat). The president is head of state and appoints a prime minister from the majority party or coalition. In 2013...
By State Newswire | Mar 3, 2017
Release: Kenya is a republic with three branches of government: an executive branch, led by a directly elected president; a bicameral parliament consisting of the Senate and the National Assembly; and the judiciary. The country continued to transfer significant elements of fiscal and administrative authority...
By DOJ Newswire | Mar 3, 2017
News Release: Concord, N.H.-Emily Gray Rice, United States Attorney for the District of New Hampshire, announced that Matthew Bergeron, 30, of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, Rashawn Dunn, 30, of Manchester, New Hampshire, and Jessica Fithian, 33, of Manchester, New Hampshire, have all pleaded guilty this week to conspiracy charges arising out of the straw purchase of firearms in 2016.
By DOJ Newswire | Mar 3, 2017
News Release: Fadi Yassine, age 42, a Lebanese citizen, has been charged in a one-count Indictment filed in the Northern District of Iowa with conspiring to violate the Arms Export Control Act and to ship, transport, and deal firearms without a license.
By State Newswire | Mar 3, 2017
News Release: Greece is a constitutional republic and multiparty parliamentary democracy. Legislative authority is vested in the unicameral parliament. On Sept. 20, 2015, the country held parliamentary elections that were considered free and fair. A coalition government formed by the SYRIZA and ANEL parties headed by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras led the country.
By State Newswire | Mar 3, 2017
Release: Pakistan is a federal republic. In May 2013 the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party won a majority of seats in parliamentary elections, and Nawaz Sharif became prime minister for the third time. While judged to be mostly free and fair, some independent observers and political parties raised concerns...
By State Newswire | Mar 3, 2017
Release: The Republic of the Congo is a parliamentary republic in which the constitution, promulgated in November 2015, vests most decision-making authority and political power in the president and prime minister. In October 2015 citizens adopted the new constitution by a 94 percent vote, but the opposition and...
By State Newswire | Mar 3, 2017
News Release: The Kyrgyz Republic has a parliamentary form of government designed to limit presidential power and enhance the role of parliament and the prime minister. On Dec. 11, a national referendum on constitutional reform was held in conjunction with municipal elections. An overwhelming majority (79.6 percent)...
By State Newswire | Mar 3, 2017
News Release: The Republic of Lithuania is a constitutional, multiparty, parliamentary democracy. Legislative authority resides in a unicameral parliament (Seimas), and executive authority resides in the Office of the President. Observers evaluated the 2014 presidential elections and parliamentary elections on October 9 and 23 as generally free and fair.
By State Newswire | Mar 3, 2017
Release: Saint Lucia is a multiparty, parliamentary democracy. In generally free and fair elections on June 6, the United Workers Party (UWP) won 11 of the 17 seats in the House of Assembly, defeating the previously ruling Saint Lucia Labor Party (SLP). UWP leader Allen Chastanet became prime minister.
By State Newswire | Mar 3, 2017
Release: Mauritius is a multiparty democracy governed by the prime minister, the Council of Ministers, and the National Assembly. International and local observers judged elections for both the prime minister and legislators in December 2014 to be generally free and fair.
By State Newswire | Mar 3, 2017
Release: Ecuador is a constitutional, multiparty republic with an elected president and unicameral legislature. In 2013 voters re-elected President Rafael Correa and chose members of the National Assembly in elections that were generally free and fair. In December 2015 the National Assembly approved 16 amendments to the constitution, including one that would eliminate term limits for the presidency and other elected positions, starting after the 2017 national elections.
By State Newswire | Mar 3, 2017
Release: Sri Lanka is a constitutional, multiparty republic with a freely elected government. In January 2015, voters elected President Maithripala Sirisena to a five-year term. The Parliament shares power with the president. August 2015 parliamentary elections resulted in a coalition government between the two major political parties. Both elections were free and fair.
