!!!Montserrat: Government ||Country name|''conventional long form'': none \\ ''conventional short form'': Montserrat \\ ''etymology'': island named by explorer Christopher COLUMBUS in 1493 after the Benedictine abbey Santa Maria de Montserrat, near Barcelona, Spain \\ ||Dependency status|overseas territory of the UK ||Government type|parliamentary democracy (Legislative Council); self-governing overseas territory of the UK ||Capital|Plymouth; note - Plymouth was abandoned in 1997 because of volcanic activity; interim government buildings have been built at Brades Estate in the Carr's Bay/Little Bay vicinity at the northwest end of Montserrat[{GoogleMap location='Plymouth; note - Plymouth was abandoned in 1997 because of volcanic activity; interim government buildings have been built at Brades Estate in the Carr's Bay/Little Bay vicinity at the northwest end of Montserrat' zoom='6'}] \\ ''geographic coordinates'': 16 42 N, 62 13 W \\ ''time difference'': UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) \\ ||Administrative divisions|3 parishes; Saint Anthony, Saint Georges, Saint Peter ||Independence|none (overseas territory of the UK) ||National holiday|birthday of Queen ELIZABETH II, second Saturday in June (1926) ||Constitution|previous 1960; latest effective 1 September 2010; amended 2011 (2016) ||Legal system|English common law ||Citizenship|see United Kingdom ||Suffrage|18 years of age; universal ||Executive branch|''chief of state'': Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor Elizabeth CARRIERE (since 5 August 2015) \\ ''head of government'': Premier Donaldson ROMERO (since 12 September 2014); note - effective with the new Constitution Order of October 2010, the office of premier replaced the office of chief minister \\ ''cabinet'': Executive Council consists of the governor, the premier, 3 other ministers, the attorney general, and the finance secretary \\ ''elections/appointments'': the monarchy is hereditary; governor appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party usually becomes premier \\ ||Legislative branch|''description'': unicameral Legislative Council (11 seats; 9 members directly elected in a single constituency by absolute majority vote in two rounds to serve 5-year terms and 2 ex-officio members - the attorney general and financial secretary) \\ ''elections'': last held on 11 September 2014 (next to be held by 2019) \\ ''election results'': percent of vote by party - PDM 50%, MCAP 35.4%, other 14.6%; seats by party - PDM 7, MCAP 2 \\ ||Judicial branch|''highest court(s)'': the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC) is the itinerant superior court of record for the 9-member Organization of Eastern Caribbean States to include Montserrat; the ECSC - with its headquarters on St. Lucia - is headed by the chief justice and is comprised of the Court of Appeal with 3 justices and the High Court with 16 judges; sittings of the Court of Appeal and High Court rotate among the 9 member states; 1 judge of the Supreme Court is a resident of Montserrat and presides over the High Court; note - Montserrat is also a member of the Caribbean Court of Justice \\ ''judge selection and term of office'': chief justice of Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court appointed by the Her Majesty, Queen ELIZABETH II; other justices and judges appointed by the Judicial and Legal Services Commission, and independent body of judicial officials; Court of Appeal justices appointed for life with mandatory retirement at age 65; High Court judges appointed for life with mandatory retirement at age 62 \\ ''subordinate courts'': magistrate's court \\ ||Political parties and leaders|Movement for Change and Prosperity or MCAP (Reuben MEADE) \\ People's Democratic Movement or PDM (Shirley OSBORNE) ||Political pressure groups and leaders|NA ||International organization participation|Caricom, CDB, Interpol (subbureau), OECS, UPU ||Diplomatic representation in the US|none (overseas territory of the UK) ||Diplomatic representation from the US|none (overseas territory of the UK) ||Flag description|blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the Montserratian coat of arms centered in the outer half of the flag; the arms feature a woman in green dress, Erin, the female personification of Ireland, standing beside a yellow harp and embracing a large dark cross with her right arm; Erin and the harp are symbols of Ireland reflecting the territory's Irish ancestry; blue represents awareness, trustworthiness, determination, and righteousness ||National anthem| \\ ''__note__'': as a territory of the UK, "God Save the Queen" is official (see United Kingdom) \\