Congress of the Republic of Guatemala Congreso de la República de Guatemala | |
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Type | |
Type | |
History | |
Founded | 1945 |
Leadership | |
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 | |
Seats | 160 members |
Political groups | |
Elections | |
Closed-list proportional representation | |
Last election | June 16, 2019 |
Next election | 2023 |
Meeting place | |
Guatemala City | |
Website | |
www |
Judiciary |
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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.
Department | Deputies |
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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 |
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]
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.
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]
Main article: Guatemalan general election, 2019 |
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) |