Parliament of Haiti

Haiti

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The Parliament of Haiti (French: Parlement d'Haïti) is the legislature of the Republic of Haiti. It sits at the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince.^[A103] The Parliament is bicameral, the upper house being the Senate of Haiti and the lower house being the Chamber of Deputies of Haiti.^[A88]

Houses

Senate

Main article: Senate of 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. The next elections are scheduled to occur in 2008, when one-third of the Senate seats will be open.

Chamber of Deputies

Main article: Chamber of Deputies of 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.^[A98]

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.^[A99] The National Assembly was destroyed in the earthquake of 2010

Palais Législatif

The Palais Législatif (Legislative Building)^[1][2] was among the many structures which were severely damaged — if not destroyed — by the 2010 Haiti earthquake on January 12, 2010. Parliament resumed sitting shortly after the earthquake in a temporary classroom.^[3]

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

1. ^ (French) Parlement Haitien - Chambres des Deputés, Page d'Accueil (accessed 31 January 2010)
2. ^ (French) Parlement Haitien - Senat, Page d'Accueil (accessed 31 January 2010)
3. ^ "Haiti's leaders face 'hell of a job.'" Toronto Star, 23 January 2010

• "Haiti". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. 2006-11-14. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ha.html. Retrieved 2006-11-17. 
• Schutt-Ainé, Patricia; Staff of Librairie Au Service de la Culture (1994). Haiti: A Basic Reference Book. Miami, Florida: Librairie Au Service de la Culture. p. 167. ISBN 0-9638599-0-0. 
•  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the CIA World Factbook.

External links

• (French) Parlement d'Haïti — official website