Government of Tokelau
| Country name: | conventional long form: none conventional short form: Tokelau |
| Dependency status: | self-administering territory of New Zealand; note - Tokelau and New Zealand have agreed to a draft constitution as Tokelau moves toward free association with New Zealand; a UN sponsored referendum on self governance in February 2006 did not produce the two-thirds majority vote necessary for changing the political status |
| Government type: | NA |
| Capital: | none; each atoll has its own administrative center time difference: UTC-11 (6 hours behind Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
| Administrative divisions: | none (territory of New Zealand) |
| Independence: | none (territory of New Zealand) |
| National holiday: | Waitangi Day (Treaty of Waitangi established British sovereignty over New Zealand), 6 February (1840) |
| Constitution: | administered under the Tokelau Islands Act of 1948; amended in 1970 |
| Legal system: | New Zealand and local statutes |
| Suffrage: | 21 years of age; universal |
| Executive branch: | chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor General of New Zealand Anand SATYANAND (since 23 August 2006); New Zealand is represented by Administrator David PAYTON (since 17 October 2006) head of government: Kolouei O'BRIEN (2006); note - position rotates annually among the three Faipule (village leaders) cabinet: the Council for the Ongoing Government of Tokelau, consisting of three Faipule (village leaders) and three Pulenuku (village mayors), functions as a cabinet elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; administrator appointed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade in New Zealand; the head of government is chosen from the Council of Faipule and serves a one-year term |
| Legislative branch: | unicameral General Fono (21 seats; based upon proportional representation from the three islands elected by popular vote to serve three-year terms; Nukunonu has six seats, Fakaofo has seven seats, Atafu has eight seats); note - the Tokelau Amendment Act of 1996 confers limited legislative power on the General Fono elections: last held January 2005 (next to be held January 2008) |
| Judicial branch: | Supreme Court in New Zealand exercises civil and criminal jurisdiction in Tokelau |
| Political parties and leaders: | none |
| Political pressure groups and leaders: | none |
| International organization participation: | PIF (observer), SPC, UNESCO (associate), UPU |
| Diplomatic representation in the US: | none (territory of New Zealand) |
| Diplomatic representation from the US: | none (territory of New Zealand) |
| Flag description: | the flag of New Zealand is used |