The democratically represented government is divided principally into three branches.  Executive, which is represented by the President and his cabinet.  Legislative, which is represented by a two house system of senators and deputies.  Judicial, represented by a national judicial council ~ designed to separate politics from judicial appointment process.  

The President of the country is democratically elected and holds one term for four years.  The new constitution ratified in 1994 prohits re-election for consectutive periods.  The President of the country appoints a cabinet of ministers to handle certain affairs or direct certain government policies. The President is also the offical head of state and is commander in chief of the armed forces.  The President is elected via an election which is distinct and separate from elections for represntatives of the legislature. 

The democratically elected legislative branch consists of the congress, which is split between the Senate and Chamber of Deputies.  A system almost identical to the US government system.   

Senators are elected to a four year term and there are 30 seats in the senate.  One seat for each of the nation's 29 provinces, and the National District ~ which is in effect the 30 Th province. 

The members of the Chamber of Deputies are also elected to a four year term, and are elected based upon their representation of the population at large.  Each member, in theory, represents a constituency of 50,000 people.  Since there are currently 145 members of the chamber, that puts the general polulation of the country at about 7.2 million people.  As the population changes with the next census, the number of deputies should increase or change to reflect the new population levels. 

The judicial branch at the national level, consists of a national judicial council. This National Judicial Council has the responsibility of appointing judges independently and separately from the political process.  The system of law in the country is Civil Law and this system of an independent judiciary branch is based upon the system currently used in France. For more information on the courts and legal system, please see our other section covering this topic. 
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