<hdr>The World Factbook 1994: Guatemala<nl>Government</hdr><body>
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<item><hi format=bold>Names:</hi>
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<item>• <hi format=ital>conventional long form:</hi> Republic of Guatemala
<item>• <hi format=ital>conventional short form:</hi> Guatemala
<item>• <hi format=ital>local long form:</hi> Republica de Guatemala
<item>• <hi format=ital>local short form:</hi> Guatemala
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<item><hi format=bold>Digraph:</hi> GT
<item><hi format=bold>Type:</hi> republic
<item><hi format=bold>Capital:</hi> Guatemala
<item><hi format=bold>Administrative divisions:</hi> 22 departments (departamentos, singular—departamento); Alta Verapaz, Baja Verapaz, Chimaltenango, Chiquimula, El Progreso, Escuintla, Guatemala, Huehuetenango, Izabal, Jalapa, Jutiapa, Peten, Quetzaltenango, Quiche, Retalhuleu, Sacatepequez, San Marcos, Santa Rosa, Solola, Suchitepequez, Totonicapan, Zacapa
<item><hi format=bold>Independence:</hi> 15 September 1821 (from Spain)
<item><hi format=bold>National holiday:</hi> Independence Day, 15 September (1821)
<item><hi format=bold>Constitution:</hi> 31 May 1985, effective 14 January 1986
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<item>• <hi format=ital>note:</hi> suspended on 25 May 1993 by President SERRANO; reinstated on 5 June 1993 following ouster of president
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<item><hi format=bold>Legal system:</hi> civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
<item><hi format=bold>Suffrage:</hi> 18 years of age; universal
<item><hi format=bold>Executive branch:</hi>
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<item>• <hi format=ital>chief of state and head of government:</hi> President Ramiro DE LEON Carpio (since 6 June 1993); Vice President Arturo HERBRUGER (since 18 June 1993); election runoff held on 11 January 1991 (next to be held 11 November 1995); results—Jorge SERRANO Elias (MAS) 68.1%, Jorge CARPIO Nicolle (UCN) 31.9%
<item>• <hi format=ital>note:</hi> President SERRANO resigned on 1 June 1993 shortly after dissolving Congress and the judiciary; on 6 June 1993, Ramiro DE LEON Carpio was chosen as the new president by a vote of Congress; he will finish off the remainder of SERRANO's five-year term which expires in 1995
<item>• <hi format=ital>cabinet:</hi> Council of Ministers; named by the president
<item><hi format=bold>Congress of the Republic (Congreso de la Republica):</hi> last held on 11 November 1990 (next to be held 11 November 1995); results—UCN 25.6%, MAS 24.3%, DCG 17.5%, PAN 17.3%, MLN 4.8%, PSD/AP-5 3.6%, PR 2.1%; seats—(116 total) UCN 38, DCG 27, MAS 18, PAN 12, Pro-Rios Montt 10, MLN 4, PR 1, PSD/AP-5 1, independent 5
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<item>• <hi format=ital>note:</hi> by agreement of 11 November 1993, a special election is to be held in mid-1994 to elect a new congress
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<item><hi format=bold>Judicial branch:</hi> Supreme Court of Justice (Corte Suprema de Justicia)
<item><hi format=bold>Political parties and leaders:</hi> National Centrist Union (UCN), (vacant); Solidarity Action Movement (MAS), Oliverio GARCIA Rodas; Christian Democratic Party (DCG), Alfonso CABRERA Hidalgo; National Advancement Party (PAN), Alvaro ARZU Irigoyen; National Liberation Movement (MLN), Mario SANDOVAL Alarcon; Social Democratic Party (PSD), Mario SOLARZANO Martinez; Popular Alliance 5 (AP-5), Max ORLANDO Molina; Revolutionary Party (PR), Carlos CHAVARRIA Perez; National Authentic Center (CAN), Hector MAYORA Dawe; Democratic Institutional Party (PID), Oscar RIVAS; Nationalist United Front (FUN), Gabriel GIRON; Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG), Efrain RIOS Montt
<item><hi format=bold>Other political or pressure groups:</hi> Coordinating Comittee of Agricultural, Comercial, Industrial, and Financial Associations (CACIF); Mutual Support Group (GAM); Agrarian Owners Group (UNAGRO); Committee for Campesino Unity (CUC); leftist guerrilla movement known as Guatemalan National Revolutionary Union (URNG) has four main factions—Guerrilla army of the Poor (EGP); Revolutionary Organization of the People in Arms (ORPA); Rebel Armed Forces (FAR); Guatemalan Labor Party (PGT/O)
<item><hi format=bold>Flag:</hi> three equal vertical bands of light blue (hoist side), white, and light blue with the coat of arms centered in the white band; the coat of arms includes a green and red quetzal (the national bird) and a scroll bearing the inscription LIBERTAD 15 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 1821 (the original date of independence from Spain) all superimposed on a pair of crossed rifles and a pair of crossed swords and framed by a wreath