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Type: Constitutional monarchy with Westminster-style parliament.
Constitution: 1983.
Independence: 19th September 1983.
Branches.
Executive: Governor General (Representing Queen Elizabeth II, Head of State), Prime Minister (Head of Government), Cabinet.
Legislative: An 11-member senate appointed by the governor general (mainly on the advice of the prime minister and the leader of the opposition) and an 11-member popularly elected house of representatives.
Judicial: Magistrate’s courts, Eastern Caribbean supreme court (high court and court of appeals), final appeal to privy council in London.
Administrative subdivisions: 14 parishes.
Political parties: St. Kitts and Nevis Labour Party (ruling), People’s Action Movement (PAM), Concerned Citizens Movement (a Nevis-based party), and Nevis Reformation Party.
Suffrage: Universal at 18.
As head of state, Queen Elizabeth II is represented in St. Kitts and Nevis by a Governor-General, who acts on the advice of the prime minister and the cabinet. The prime minister is the leader of the majority party of the house, and the cabinet conducts affairs of state. St. Kitts and Nevis has a bicameral legislature: An 11-member senate appointed by the governor general (mainly on the advice of the prime minister and the leader of the opposition); and an 11-member popularly elected house of representatives which has eight St. Kitts seats and three Nevis seats. The prime minister and the cabinet are responsible to the parliament.
Constitutional safeguards include freedom of speech, press, worship, movement, and association. Like its neighbours in the English-speaking Caribbean, St. Kitts and Nevis has an excellent human rights record. Its judicial system is modeled on British practice and procedure and its jurisprudence on English common law. The Royal St. Kitts and Nevis police force has about 340 members.