Government of Cook Islands
| Country name: | conventional long form: none conventional short form: Cook Islands former: Harvey Islands |
| Dependency status: | self-governing in free association with New Zealand; Cook Islands is fully responsible for internal affairs; New Zealand retains responsibility for external affairs and defense, in consultation with the Cook Islands |
| Government type: | self-governing parliamentary democracy |
| Capital: | name: Avarua geographic coordinates: 21 12 S, 159 46 W time difference: UTC-10 (5 hours behind Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
| Administrative divisions: | none |
| Independence: | none (became self-governing in free association with New Zealand on 4 August 1965 and has the right at any time to move to full independence by unilateral action) |
| National holiday: | Constitution Day, first Monday in August (1965) |
| Constitution: | 4 August 1965 |
| Legal system: | based on New Zealand law and English common law |
| Suffrage: | NA years of age; universal (adult) |
| Executive branch: | chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Frederick GOODWIN (since 9 February 2001); New Zealand High Commissioner John BRYAN (since 6 September 2005), representative of New Zealand head of government: Prime Minister Jim MARURAI (since 14 December 2004); Deputy Prime Minister Terepai MAOATE (since 9 August 2005) cabinet: Cabinet chosen by the prime minister; collectively responsible to Parliament elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; the UK representative is appointed by the monarch; the New Zealand high commissioner is appointed by the New Zealand Government; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition usually becomes prime minister |
| Legislative branch: | bicameral Parliament consisting of a Legislative Assembly (or lower house) (25 seats, 24 seats representing districts of the Cook Islands, 1 seat representing Cook Islanders living overseas; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) and a House of Ariki (or upper house) made up of traditional leaders note: the House of Ariki advises on traditional matters and maintains considerable influence but has no legislative powers elections: last held 26 September 2006 (next to be held by 2011) election results: percent of vote by party - Demo 51.9%, CIP 45.5%, independent 2.7%; seats by party - Demo 15, CIP 8, independent 1 |
| Judicial branch: | High Court |
| Political parties and leaders: | Cook Islands Party or CIP [Henry PUNA]; Democratic Party or Demo [Dr. Terepai MAOATE] |
| Political pressure groups and leaders: | NA |
| International organization participation: | ACP, AsDB, FAO, ICAO, ICRM, IFAD, IFRCS, IOC, ITUC, OPCW, PIF, Sparteca, SPC, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO |
| Diplomatic representation in the US: | none (self-governing in free association with New Zealand) |
| Diplomatic representation from the US: | none (self-governing in free association with New Zealand) |
| Flag description: | blue, with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and a large circle of 15 white five-pointed stars (one for every island) centered in the outer half of the flag |