Parliament of Haiti

Parliament of Haiti Parlement Haitien
Type
Type	Bicameral
Houses	Senate Chamber of Deputies
Leadership
President of the Senate	Riché Andris Since 12 January 2015
Seats	129 members (30 senators 99 deputies)
Meeting place
Palais Législatif, Port-au-Prince
Website
www.parlementhaitien.ht

The parliament of Haiti (French: Parlement Haïtien) is the legislature of the Republic of Haiti. It sits at the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince. The Parliament is bicameral, the upper house being the Senate and the lower house being the Chamber of Deputies.

Houses

Senate

Main article: Senate (Haiti)

The Senate consists of thirty seats, with three members from each of the ten administrative departments. Prior to the creation of the Nippes Department in 2003, there were twenty-seven seats. Senators are elected by popular vote to six-year terms, with one-third elected every two years. After the elections of 2000, twenty-six of the then twenty-seven seats were held by Jean-Bertrand Aristide's Fanmi Lavalas party. The Senate was not in session following the overthrow of Aristide's government in February 2004. An interim government was put in place following the rebellion, and the remaining Senators were not recognised during that time. The Senate was re-established and elections were held on 21 April 2006. In the Senate elections of 2009 LESPWA won five seats, and five parties won one seat each (OPL, AAA, FUSION, KONBA, UCADDE), as well as an independent.

Chamber of Deputies

Main article: Chamber of Deputies (Haiti)

The Chamber of Deputies has ninety-nine members (previously eighty-three) who are elected by popular vote to four-year terms. Candidates from Aristide's Fanmi Lavalas party took seventy-three of the then eighty-three seats in the 2000 elections. Following the overthrow of the government in February 2004, the Chamber of Deputies remained empty. It was re-established along with the Senate, and elections were held on 21 April 2006. The next Chamber elections are scheduled for 2010.

National Assembly

The National Assembly (French: Assemblée Nationale) is a joint session of Parliament. The National Assembly is convened for specific purposes laid out in the Constitution.

Meetings of the National Assembly are presided over by the President of the Senate, with the President of the Chamber of Deputies assisting. The Secretaries of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies also serve as Secretaries of the National Assembly. The National Assembly building was destroyed during the earthquake on 12 January 2010.

Palais Législatif

The Palais Législatif (Legislative Building) was among the many structures which were virtually destroyed by the earthquake on January 12, 2010. Parliament resumed sitting shortly after the earthquake in a temporary classroom.

See also

• List of legislatures by country

References

^ [A___] citations are Article numbers of the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of Haiti. A government-issued but unofficial (and error-prone) English translation is available at http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3ae6b542c.html and http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/Haiti/haiti1987.html and the French original is available at http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/Haiti/haiti1987fr.html

•  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the CIA World Factbook.

External links

• Official website (French)