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Congress of the Republic of Guatemala

Congreso de la República de Guatemala
Type
Type
History
Founded1945
Leadership
Shirley Rivera, Vamos
since January 14, 2022
1st Vice President
Carlos López, UNE
since January 14, 2022
2nd Vice President
Carolina Orellana, UCN
since January 14, 2022
3rd Vice President
Efraín Ménendez, Valor
since January 14, 2022
Structure
Seats160 members
Congreso de Guatemala (2019).svg
Political groups
Elections
Closed-list proportional representation
Last election
June 16, 2019
Next election
2023
Meeting place
Congreso de Guatemala (7895588940).jpg
Guatemala City
Website
www.congreso.gob.gt
Politics of Guatemala
Coat of arms of Guatemala.svg
Executive
Legislature
Judiciary
Administrative divisions
Recent elections
Political parties
Foreign relations
flag Guatemala portal

The Congress of the Republic (Spanish: Congreso de la República) is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Guatemala. The Guatemalan Congress is made up of 160 deputies who are elected by direct universal suffrage to serve four-year terms. The electoral system is closed party list proportional representation. 31 of the deputies are elected on a nationwide list, whilst the remaining 127 deputies are elected in 22 multi-member constituencies. Each of Guatemalas's 22 departments serves as a district, with the exception of the department of Guatemala containing the capital, which on account of its size is divided into two (distrito central and distrito Guatemala). Departments are allocated seats based on their population size and they are shown in the table below.

Deputies by Department

Department Deputies
Listado Nacional 31
Distrito Central 19
Alta Verapaz 9
Baja Verapaz 2
Chimaltenango 5
Chiquimula 3
El Progreso 1
Escuintla 6
Guatemala (Distrito) 11
Huehuetenango 10
Izabal 3
Jalapa 3
Jutiapa 4
Petén 4
Quetzaltenango 7
Quiché 8
Retalhuleu 3
Sacatepéquez 3
San Marcos 9
Santa Rosa 3
Sololá 3
Suchitepéquez 5
Totonicapán 4
Zacapa 2
Total 160

History

Guatemala had a bicameral legislature in the 1845 constitution. It was replaced with unicameral Chamber of Representatives (Spanish: Cámara de Representantes), which was reformulated as National Assembly (Spanish: Asamblea Nacional) in 1879, which was replaced by Congress of the Republic in 1945.[2]

Political culture

It is not uncommon for deputies to change parties during the legislature's term or to secede from a party and create a new party or congressional block.

Building

The Congress of the Republic Guatemala is located in the National Palace in Guatemala city.

During the protests against the budget for 2021 on 21 November 2020, protestors entered the building and set parts of it on fire.[3][4][5]

Latest election

Main article: Guatemalan general election, 2019
Result of the legislative election.
Result of the legislative election.
Congreso de Guatemala (2019).svg
Party National List Districts Total
seats 		+/−
Votes % Seats Votes % Seats
National Unity of Hope 724,517 17.92 7 47 54 +26
Vamos 321,830 7.96 3 13 16 New
National Change Union 220,728 5.46 2 10 12 +6
Valor 184,155 4.55 1 8 9 New
National Convergence Front 211,453 5.23 2 6 8 –27
Bienestar Nacional 193,604 4.79 2 6 8 +8
Semilla 212,012 5.24 2 5 7 New
Vision with Values 189,862 4.70 2 5 7 +3
Todos 177,307 4.39 1 6 7 –9
Humanist Party of Guatemala 188,327 4.66 2 4 6 New
Commitment, Renewal and Order 178,057 4.40 1 5 6 +1
Winaq 141,394 3.50 1 3 4 +3
Citizen Prosperity 132,968 3.29 1 2 3 New
Victoria 101,676 2.51 1 2 3 +3
Unionist Party 118,648 2.93 1 2 3 +2
Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity 112,489 2.78 1 2 3 +2
National Advancement Party 110,080 2.72 1 1 2 –1
Movement for the Liberation of Peoples 120,448 2.98 1 0 1 New
Podemos 67,910 1.68 0 1 1 –11
Fuerza 77,999 1.93 0 0 0 –1
Encuentro por Guatemala 70,490 1.79 0 0 0 –6
Convergence 49,463 1.22 0 0 0 –3
Libre 47,826 1.18 0 0 0 New
Avanza 34,983 0.87 0 0 0 New
Productivity and Work Party 29,582 0.73 0 0 0 New
Unidos 25,662 0.63 0 0 0 New
Invalid/blank votes 1,084,182 – – – – – –
Total 5,127,244 100 32 100 128 160 +2
Registered voters/turnout 8,086,526 62.64 – – – –
Source: Supreme Electoral Tribunal (99% counted)

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The party is divided into two factions: Sandra Torres' faction (33 deputies) and Oscar Argueta Mayén's faction (19 deputies)
  2. ^ After the UCN dissolved, all UCN MPs became non-affiliated politicians[1]
  3. ^ The party is divided into two factions: Fidel Reyes Lee's faction (6 deputies) and Evelyn Morataya's faction (2 deputies)
  4. ^ The party is divided into three factions: Samuel Pérez Álvarez's faction (5 deputies), Alberto Sánchez Guzmán's faction and Luis Fernando Pineda's faction
  5. ^ The party is divided into two factions: Sonia Gutiérrez Raguay's faction (3 deputies) and Aldo Dávila's faction
  6. ^ The party is divided into two factions: Manuel Conde's faction and Eduardo Zachrisson's faction
  7. ^ Julia Izabel Anshelm-Moller and Héctor Manuel Choc Caal, who were expelled from the Victoria caucus

References

  1. ^ "TSE ratifica la cancelación de la UCN y notifica al partido". El Periódico (in Spanish). 29 January 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  2. ^ Guatemala. Latin American series ;no. 30. 1947. hdl:2027/hvd.32044058953571.
  3. ^ Wirtz, Nic; Kitroeff, Natalie (November 21, 2021). "Protesters in Guatemala Set Fire to Congress Building Over Spending Cuts". New York Times. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
  4. ^ Pérez D., Sonia (November 21, 2020). "Protesters burn part of Guatemala's Congress building". ABC News. Archived from the original on 2020-11-21. Retrieved November 28, 2021.
  5. ^ "Protesters set fire to Guatemalan Congress". MSN.com. AFP. November 21, 2020. Retrieved November 28, 2021.((cite news)): CS1 maint: url-status (link)

External links

Guatemala articles
National legislative bodies of the Americas
National unicameral legislatures
Authority control
Categories