| Federal Senate Senado Federal |
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|---|---|
| Type | |
| Type | Upper House |
| Leadership | |
| President of the Federal Senate | José Sarney, PMDB since February 2, 2009 |
| Structure | |
| Members | 81 |
| Political groups | |
| Elections | |
| Last election | October 3, 2010 |
| Meeting place | |
| National Congress Building Brasília Federal District Brazil |
|
| Website | |
| www.senado.gov.br | |
| Brazil |
This article is part of the series: |
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General
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Other countries · Atlas |
The Federal Senate of Brazil (Portuguese: Senado Federal do Brasil) is the upper house of the National Congress of Brazil. Created by the first Constitution of the Brazilian Empire in 1824, it was inspired by the United Kingdom's House of Lords, but with the Proclamation of the Republic in 1889 it became closer to the United States Senate.
Currently, the Senate comprises 81 seats. Three Senators from each of the 26 states and three Senators from the Federal District are elected on a majority basis to serve eight-year terms. Elections are staggered so that two-thirds of the upper house is up for election at one time and the remaining one-third four years later.
The current president of the Brazilian Senate is José Sarney, from the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party of Amapá. He was elected in early 2009 for a two-year term.
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The Federal Senate of Brazil was first established, with the name of Senate of the Empire, by the Constitution of 1824, the first enacted after the Declaration of Independence.
Following the independence, in 1822, Emperor Pedro I ordered the convocation of a National Assembly to compose the country's first Constitution. Following several disagreements with the elected deputies (which included representatives from present-day Uruguay, then part of the Brazilian Empire under the name of Província Cisplatina), the Emperor dissolved the Assembly and, in 1824, implemented the first Constitution, in which it was established that the Legislative branch would comprise a lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, and an upper house.
The first configuration of the Senate was a consulting body to the Emperor. Membership was for life and it was a place of great prestige, to which only a small part of the population could aspire.
Members of the Senate were elected, but they had to be at least 40 years old and, which was more significant as a limiting factor, an annual income of 800,000 contos-de-réis was necessary in order to run for office. Furthermore, voters were selected by income as well. In order to be able to vote in the election, any man (women did not vote in the Brazilian Empire) was required to have an annual income of at least 200,000 contos-de-réis. But those who qualified to vote with this income would not vote directly for the Senators; instead, they voted for other people, who were candidates to be Senator electors. In order to run for this position, a minimal annual income of 400,000 contos-de-réis was required. Once elected, these electors would vote for senator. The election itself would not turn out a winner automatically. The three highest-voted candidates in each circumscription would make up what was called a "triple list", from which the Emperor would select one individual that would be considered "elected". The Emperor usually picked the highest-voted individual, but it was within his discretion to select whichever of the three individuals listed. The only exception for these rules were the Princes of the Brazilian Imperial House, who were senators by right and would take a seat in the Senate upon reaching 25 years old.
The original Senate had 50 members, representing all of the Empire's Provinces, each with a number of senators proportional to its population.
The first session of the first Senate took place on May 1826, following repeated delays from the Emperor in calling the first election after the inception of the 1824 Constitution; which had led to repeated accusations that the Emperor would be attempting to establish an absolutist government.
| Federative Unit | Senator | Party | Birth city | Term | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acre | Aníbal Diniz |
|
|
2010–2015 | Substitute of Tião Viana, elected State Governor of Acre. |
| Jorge Viana |
|
|
2011–2019 | ||
| Sérgio Petecão |
|
|
2011–2019 | ||
| Alagoas | Fernando Collor |
|
|
2007–2015 | |
| Benedito de Lira |
|
|
2011–2019 | ||
| Renan Calheiros |
|
|
2011–2019 | Re-elected. | |
| Amapá | Gilvam Borges |
|
|
2011–2019 | Re-elected. |
| José Sarney |
|
|
2007–2015 | Elected President of the Senate (2011–2013). | |
| Randolfe Rodrigues |
|
|
2011–2019 | ||
| Amazonas | Eduardo Braga |
|
|
2011–2019 | |
| João Pedro |
|
|
2007–2015 | Substitute of Alfredo Nascimento, appointed as Minister of Transportation. | |
| Vanessa Grazziotin |
|
|
2011–2019 | ||
| Bahia | Walter Pinheiro |
|
|
2011–2019 | |
| Lídice da Mata |
|
|
2011–2019 | ||
| João Durval |
|
|
2007–2015 | ||
| Ceará | Inácio Arruda |
|
|
2007–2015 | |
| José Pimentel |
|
|
2011–2019 | ||
| Eunício Oliveira |
|
|
2011–2019 | ||
| Distrito Federal | Rodrigo Rollemberg |
|
|
2011–2019 | |
| Cristovam Buarque |
|
|
2011–2019 | Re-elected. | |
| Gim Argello |
|
|
2007–2015 | Substitute of Joaquim Roriz. | |
| Espírito Santo | Magno Malta |
|
|
2011–2010 | Re-elected. |
| Ricardo Ferraço |
|
|
2011–2019 | ||
| Ana Rita Esgario |
|
|
2011–2015 | Substitute of Renato Casagrande, elected State Governor of Espírito Santo. | |
| Goiás | Demóstenes Torres |
|
|
2011–2019 | Re-elected. |
| Lúcia Vânia |
|
|
2011–2019 | Re-elected. | |
| Cyro Miranda Júnior |
|
|
2010–2015 | Substitute of Marconi Perillo, elected State Governor of Goiás. | |
| Maranhão | Epitácio Cafeteira |
|
|
2007–2015 | |
| João Alberto Souza |
|
|
2011–2019 | ||
| Lobão Filho |
|
|
2011–2019 | Substitute of Edison Lobão, appointed Minister of Mines and Energy. | |
| Mato Grosso | Jayme Campos |
|
|
2007–2015 | |
| Blairo Maggi |
|
|
2011–2019 | ||
| Pedro Taques |
|
|
2011–2019 | ||
| Mato Grosso do Sul | Delcídio Amaral |
|
|
2011–2019 | Re-elected. |
| Marisa Serrano |
|
|
2007–2015 | ||
| Waldemir Moka |
|
|
2011–2019 | ||
| Minas Gerais | Aécio Neves |
|
|
2011–2019 | Leader of the Opposition in the Senate. |
| Clésio Andrade |
|
|
2011–2014 | Substitute of Eliseu Resende, deceased. | |
| Zezé Perrela | 2011–2019 | Substitute of Itamar Franco, deceased. | |||
| Pará | Flexa Ribeiro |
|
|
2011–2019 | Re-elected. |
| Marinor Brito |
|
|
2011–2019 | ||
| Mário Couto |
|
|
2007–2015 | ||
| Paraíba | Cícero Lucena |
|
|
2007–2015 | |
| Vital do Rego Filho |
|
|
2011–2019 | ||
| Wilson Santiago |
|
|
2011–2019 | ||
| Paraná | Álvaro Dias |
|
|
2007–2015 | |
| Sérgio de Souza |
|
|
2011–2019 | Substitute of Gleisi Hoffmann, appointed as Chief of Staff | |
| Roberto Requião |
|
|
2011–2019 | ||
| Pernambuco | Jarbas Vasconcelos |
|
|
2007–2015 | |
| Humberto Costa |
|
|
2011–2019 | ||
| Armando Monteiro |
|
|
2011–2019 | ||
| Piauí | Ciro Nogueira |
|
|
2011–2019 | |
| João Vicente Claudino |
|
|
2007–2015 | ||
| Wellington Dias |
|
|
2011–2019 | ||
| Rio de Janeiro | Francisco Dornelles |
|
|
2007–2015 | |
| Marcelo Crivella |
|
|
2011–2019 | Re-elected. | |
| Lindbergh Farias |
|
|
2011–2019 | ||
| Rio Grande do Norte | Paulo Davim |
|
|
2011–2019 | Substitute of Garibaldi Alves Filho, appointed as Minister of Social Security |
| José Agripino |
|
|
2011–2019 | Re-elected. | |
| Garibaldi Alves |
|
|
2011–2015 | Substitute of Rosalba Ciarlini, elected State Governor of Rio Grande do Norte. | |
| Rio Grande do Sul | Paulo Paim |
|
|
2011–2019 | Re-elected. |
| Pedro Simon |
|
|
2007–2015 | Re-elected. | |
| Ana Amélia Lemos |
|
|
2011–2019 | ||
| Rondônia | Acir Gurgacz |
|
|
2007–2015 | Took office after Expedito Júnior had his term revoked. |
| Ivo Cassol |
|
|
2011–2019 | ||
| Valdir Raupp |
|
|
2011–2019 | Re-elected. | |
| Roraima | Angela Portela |
|
|
2011–2019 | |
| Mozarildo Cavalcanti |
|
|
2007–2015 | ||
| Romero Jucá |
|
|
2011–2019 | Re-elected. Leader of the Government in the Senate. | |
| Santa Catarina | Luiz Henrique da Silveira |
|
|
2011–2019 | |
| Paulo Bauer |
|
|
2011–2019 | ||
| Casildo Maldaner |
|
|
2011–2015 | Substitute of Raimundo Colombo, elected State Governor of Santa Catarina. | |
| São Paulo | Aloysio Nunes |
|
|
2011–2019 | |
| Eduardo Suplicy |
|
|
2007–2015 | ||
| Marta Suplicy |
|
|
2011–2019 | ||
| Sergipe | Eduardo Amorim |
|
|
2011–2019 | |
| Antônio Carlos Valadares |
|
|
2011–2019 | Re-elected. | |
| Maria do Carmo Alves |
|
|
2007–2015 | ||
| Tocantins | João Ribeiro |
|
|
2011–2019 | Re-elected. |
| Kátia Abreu |
|
|
2007–2015 | ||
| Vicentinho Alves |
|
|
2011–2019 |
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