National Congress (Chile)

Congress in Valparaiso

The National Congress (Spanish: Congreso Nacional ) is the Chilean legislature . It is based in the port city of Valparaíso and consists of two chambers. The first Chilean Congress was formed on July 4, 1811 by resolution (1810) of the government junta, at that time still in Santiago de Chile .

After the coup in Chile in 1973 , Congress was ousted. Only after the end of the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973–1989) was the congress in Valparaíso reconstituted on March 11, 1990.

Chamber of Deputies

The Chamber of Deputies ( Cámara de Diputados ) consists of 120 direct elections. The whole country is divided into 60 constituencies, in which two MPs are elected every four years. As a rule, one mandate each goes to the two strongest parties or party alliances. However, the first-placed party provides both MPs if it has twice as many votes as the second-placed party. This electoral system is called the binomial electoral system and makes it difficult, but not completely impossible, for small parties to get elected to parliament. Currently, 8 of the 120 mandates do not come from one of the country's two dominant party alliances.

senate

The Senate ( Senado ) since one adopted on 16 August 2005 constitutional reform comprises 38 members. The elected senators come from 19 electoral districts, with each of the twelve regions and the capital having one or two electoral districts. Half of the senators are elected every four years for an eight-year term.

In addition to the senators elected by the citizens, ten other members - so-called "institutional" senators - belonged to the Senate until the constitutional reform. They were appointed by various institutions and also had a term of eight years. The president was allowed to appoint a former minister and a former university rector, the Supreme Court nominated two former judges and a former head of the audit office and the National Security Council finally nominated four former army and police chiefs. The former President Eduardo Frei even became a "Senator for life"; after losing this privilege, he successfully ran for re-election in 2006. On March 11, 2006, he was elected President of the Senate.

Web links

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