Politics of Mayotte

Mayotte

Mayotte is an overseas department and region of France consisting of a main island, Grande-Terre , a smaller island, Petite-Terre , and several islets around these two. The archipelago is located in the northern Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean, namely between northwestern Madagascar and...

takes place in a framework of a parliamentary

Parliamentary system

A parliamentary system is a system of government in which the ministers of the executive branch get their democratic legitimacy from the legislature and are accountable to that body, such that the executive and legislative branches are intertwined....

 representative democratic

Representative democracy

Representative democracy is a form of government founded on the principle of elected individuals representing the people, as opposed to autocracy and direct democracy...

 French overseas collectivity, whereby the President of the General Council is the head of government

Head of government

Head of government is the chief officer of the executive branch of a government, often presiding over a cabinet. In a parliamentary system, the head of government is often styled prime minister, chief minister, premier, etc...

, and of a multi-party system

Multi-party system

A multi-party system is a system in which multiple political parties have the capacity to gain control of government separately or in coalition, e.g.The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition in the United Kingdom formed in 2010. The effective number of parties in a multi-party system is normally...

. Executive power

Executive Power

Executive Power is Vince Flynn's fifth novel, and the fourth to feature Mitch Rapp, an American agent that works for the CIA as an operative for a covert counter terrorism unit called the "Orion Team."-Plot summary:...

 is exercised by the government.
The status of Mayotte was changed in 2001 towards one very close to the status of the départements of mainland France, with the particular designation of collectivité départementale, although the island is still claimed by the Comoros

Comoros

The Comoros , officially the Union of the Comoros is an archipelago island nation in the Indian Ocean, located off the eastern coast of Africa, on the northern end of the Mozambique Channel, between northeastern Mozambique and northwestern Madagascar...

. This change was approved by 73% at a referendum on Mayotte. After the constitutional reform of 2003 it became a collectivité d'outre-mer

Collectivité d'outre-mer

The French overseas collectivities , like the French regions are first-order administrative divisions of France. The COMs include some former French overseas territories and other French overseas entities with a particular status, all of which became COMs by constitutional reform on 28 March...

while keeping the title collectivité départementale de Mayotte.

Executive branch

The head of state is President Nicolas Sarkozy

Nicolas Sarkozy

Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....

 of France as represented by prefect Thomas Degos

Thomas Degos

Thomas Degos has been the Prefect of Mayotte since 21 July 2011, succeeding the acting Prefect Patrick Duprat.-References:...

. The head of government is President of the General Council Daniel Zaidani

Daniel Zaïdani

Daniel Zaïdani is a Mayotte politician, who has served as the President of the General Council since succeeding Ahmed Attoumani Douchina on 3 April 2011. He won the presidential election with a majority of one vote.- References :...

.

Legislative branch

The General Council

General Council of Mayotte

Mayotte elects on territorial level a legislature. The General Council has 19 members, elected for a three year term in single seat constituencies.- Presidents of the General Council:* Younoussa Bamana : 6 July 1977 – March 1991...

(Conseil Général) has 19 members, elected for a three year term in single seat constituencies.

Political parties and elections