| | New Zealand
Government
As New Zealand has been colonized by Britain, it has virtually adopted British form of government. Parliamentary monarchy is the form of government in New Zealand as that of the England. Head of state is Elizabeth II. This is why it is called constitutional monarchy. In fact, Queen does not execute any power. Her every work is done with the advice of Prime Minister.
Prime Minister is the chief executive and he is the leader of the majority party in the Parliament. He presides over the cabinet and selects his minister of council. Prime Minister exercises all the theoretical power with his cabinet in the name of Queen. The Prime Minister must be the elected member of the House of Representative. Currently, coalition government is in power as no one single party was able to gain majority.
Parliament of New Zealand has only one chamber i.e. House of representative. House of representative has 120 members. General elections are held every three years. Parliamentary elections are held under the proportionate representative system. One of the most important matters associated with the voting system in New Zealand is that it is the first country in the world to take initiative for women and give them voting right. It ensured direct participation of women community in the democratic process. Consequences were visible with women being highly educated and self- dependent, which proved crucial to sustain and grow economic development of the country.
Most recent and major consequence of the policy is that New Zealand is the only country in the world in which all the highest offices have been simultaneously occupied by women. Further, this was even a world record, and that reflects equality and prosperous condition of women in the country.After half of decades of signing of Treaty of Waitangi, Supreme Court came into existence. Supreme Court is the highest court in the New Zealand, established in 2004. |
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