Mayotte Government Profile 2011

Country name

conventional long form: Department Collectivity of Mayotte
conventional short form: Mayotte

Dependency status

departmental collectivity of France

Government type

NA

Capital

name: Mamoudzou
geographic coordinates: 12 46 S, 45 13 E
time difference: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

Administrative divisions

none (territorial overseas collectivity of France)

Affiliation

(overseas collectivity of France)

Independence

none (territorial overseas collectivity of France)

National holiday

Bastille Day, 14 July (1789)

Constitution

4 October 1958 (French Constitution)

Legal system

the laws of France where applicable apply

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Executive branch

chief of state: President Nicolas SARKOZY (since 16 May 2007); represented by Prefect Hubert DERACHE (since 22 July 2009)
head of government: President of the General Council Ahmed Attoumani DOUCHINA (since March 2008)
cabinet: NA
elections: French president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; prefect appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of the Interior; president of the General Council elected by the members of the General Council for a six-year term; next election to be held in 2014

Legislative branch

unicameral General Council or Conseil General (19 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve three-year terms)
elections: last held on 9 and 16 March 2008 (next to be held in 2011)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - UMP 8, Diverse Right 4, independents 4, Citizens and Republic Movement 1, Democratic Movement 1, Diverse Left 1; note - political parties are the same as parties in France
note: Mayotte elects two members of the French Senate; elections last held 21 September 2008 (next to be held in September 2014); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - UC-UDF 1, UMP 1; Mayotte also elects one member to the French National Assembly; elections last held 10-17 June 2007 (next to be held in 2012); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - independent 1

Judicial branch

Supreme Court or Tribunal Superieur d'Appel

Political parties and leaders

Democratic Front or FD [Youssouf MOUSSA]; Federation of Mahorans or UMP-RPR [Mansour KAMARDINE]; Force of the Rally and the Alliance for Democracy or FRAP; Mahoran Popular Movement or MPM [Ahmed MADI]; Movement for Department Status Mayotte or MDM [Mouhoutar SALIM]; Renewed Communist Party of Mayotte or MRC [Omar SIMBA]; Socialist Party or PS [Ibrahim ABUBACAR] (local branch of French Parti Socialiste); Union for French Democracy or UDF [Henri JEAN-BAPTISTE]

Political pressure groups and leaders

NA

International organization participation

InOC, UPU

Diplomatic representation in the US

none (territorial overseas collectivity of France)

Diplomatic representation from the US

none (territorial overseas collectivity of France)

Flag description

unofficial, local flag with the coat of arms of Mayotte centered on a white field, above which the name of the island appears in red capital letters; the main elements of the coat of arms are a blue upper half with white upturned crescent moon and a red lower half with two yellow ylang-ylang flowers, supported on either side by a white seahorse, and set above a scroll with the motto RA HACHIRI (We are Vigilant)
note: the flag of France used for official occasions

Group

All, OREA, Europe/French Dependencies, Africa