Executive branch:
chief of state: President Nestor Kirchner (as of May 2006);
Note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
cabinet:
Cabinet appointed by the president elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms;
election
last held 24 October 1999 (next to be held NA October 2003). Election results: Fernando DE LA RUA elected president; percent of vote - 48.5%
Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional, consists of the Senate (72 seats; formerly, three members appointed by each of the provincial legislatures; presently transitioning
to one-third of the members being elected every two years to six-year terms) and the Chamber of Deputies (257 seats; one-half of the members elected every two years to four-year terms)
elections:
Senate - transition phase will begin in 2001 elections when all seats
will be fully contested; winners will randomly draw to determine whether they
will serve a two-year, four-year, or full six-year term, beginning a rotating
cycle renovating a third of the body every two years;
Chamber of Deputies - last held 24 October 1999 (next to be held NA October
2001)
election results:
Senate
percent of vote by bloc or party - NA; seats by bloc or party - Peronist 40, UCR 20, Frepaso 1, other 11;
Chamber of Deputies
percent of vote by bloc or party - NA; seats by bloc or party - Alliance 124 (UCR 85, Frepaso 36, others 3), Peronist 101, AR 12, other 20
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court (Corte Suprema), the nine Supreme Court judges are appointed by
the president with approval of the Senate Political parties and leaders:
Action for the Republic or AR [Domingo CAVALLO];
Alliance (UCR, Frepaso and others) [leader NA];
Front for a Country in Solidarity or Frepaso (a four-party coalition) [Carlos
ALVAREZ];
Justicialist Party or PJ [Carlos Saul MENEM] (Peronist umbrella political organization);
Radical Civic Union or UCR [Raul ALFONSIN];
several provincial parties
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Guillermo GONZALEZ Enrique
chancery: 1600 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009
telephone: [1] (202) 238-6400
FAX: [1] (202) 238-6471
consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant)
embassy: 4300 Colombia, 1425 Buenos Aires
mailing address: international mail: use street address; APO address: Unit 4334,
APO AA 34034
telephone: [54] (1) 777-4533, 4534
FAX: [54] (1) 777-0197
Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of light blue (top), white, and light blue; centered in the white band is a radiant yellow sun with a human face known as the Sun of May.
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