National Assembly (Venezuela)

National Assembly
Asamblea Nacional
4th National Assembly
Coat of arms or logo
Logo
Type
Type
Leadership
Julio Borges, MUD/PJ
Since 5 January 2017
1st Vice President
Freddy Guevara, MUD/VP
Since 5 January 2017
2nd Vice President
Dennis Fernández, MUD/AD
Since 5 January 2017
Majority Leader
Stalin González, MUD/UNT
Since 5 January 2017
Minority Leader
Héctor Rodríguez, GPP/PSUV
Since 5 January 2016
Structure
Seats 167
Political groups

Government (55)

  •      PSUV (52)
  •      PCV (2)
  •      VBR (1)

Opposition (112)

  •      PJ (33)
  •      AD (25)
  •      UNT (18)
  •      VP (14)
  •      LCR (4)
  •      MPV (es) (4)
  •      ProVen (2)
  •      CC (es) (2)
  •      AP (2)
  •      VV (1)
  •      ABP (1)
  •      GE (es) (1)
  •      Indigenous seats (3)
  •      Independents (2)
Elections
Parallel voting
Last election
 6 December 2015
Meeting place
Federal Legislative Palace, Caracas
Website
Asamblea Nacional
Venezuela
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Venezuela

The National Assembly (Spanish: Asamblea Nacional) is a legislature for Venezuela that was first elected in 2000. It is a unicameral body made up of a variable number of members, who were elected by "universal, direct, personal, and secret" vote partly by direct election in state-based voting districts, and partly on a state-based party-list proportional representation system. The number of seats is constant, each state and the Capital district elected three representatives plus the result of dividing the state population by 1.1% of the total population of the country.[1] Three seats are reserved for representatives of Venezuela's indigenous peoples and elected separately by all citizens, not just those with indigenous backgrounds. For the 2010-2015 period the number of seats was 165.[2] All deputies serve five-year terms. The National Assembly meets in the Federal Legislative Palace in Venezuela's capital, Caracas.

Legislative History

1961 Constitution

Under its previous 1961 Constitution, Venezuela had a bicameral legislature, known as the Congress (Congreso). This Congress was composed of a Senate (Senado) and a Chamber of Deputies (Cámara de Diputados).

The Senate was made up of two senators per state, two for the Federal District, and a number of ex officio senators intended to represent the nation's minorities. In addition, former presidents (those elected democratically or their replacements legally appointed to serve at least half a presidential term) were awarded lifetime senate seats. Senators were required to be Venezuelan-born citizens and over the age of 30.

The members of the Chamber of Deputies were elected by direct universal suffrage, with each state returning at least two. Deputies had to be at least 21 years old.

The Senate and the Chamber of Deputies were each led by a President, and both performed their functions with the help of a Directorial Board.

1999 Constitution

President Hugo Chávez was first elected in December 1998 on a platform calling for a National Constituent Assembly to be convened to draft a new constitution for Venezuela. Chávez's argument was that the existing political system, under the earlier 1961 Constitution, had become isolated from the people. This won broad acceptance, particularly among Venezuela's poorest classes, who had seen a significant decline in their living standards over the previous decade and a half. The National Constituent Assembly (ANC), consisting of 131 elected individuals, convened in August 1999 to begin rewriting the constitution. In free elections, voters gave all but six seats to persons associated with the Chávez movement. The Venezuelan people approved the ANC's proposed constitution in a referendum on 15 December 1999. It was promulgated by the ANC and came into effect the following 20 December.

Venezuelan parliamentary election, 2015 saw the election of both Rosmit Mantilla, the first-ever openly gay member of the assembly,[3] and Tamara Adrián, the first openly transgender member.[4]

2017 constitutional crisis

In March 2017, the Supreme Court (TSJ) stripped the Assembly of its powers, ruling that all powers would be transferred to the Supreme Court. The previous year the Court has found the Assembly in contempt for swearing in legislators whose elections had been deemed invalid by the court.[5] The 2017 court judgement declared that the "situation of contempt" meant that the Assembly could not exercise its powers.[6]

The action transferred powers from the Assembly, which had an opposition majority since January 2016,[6] to the Supreme Court, which has a majority of government loyalists.[5] The move was denounced by the opposition with Assembly President Julio Borges describing the action as a coup d'état by President Nicolás Maduro.[5] In reporting the story, the New York Times noted that in the previous few months Maduro had been swiftly consolidating power, and the Assembly was considered by many to be the sole remaining counterbalance to the President's control. It also noted that many critics and regional leaders are now openly referring to the political situation as a dictatorship.[6]

The move was also condemned by Peru, who recalled their ambassador in protest.[5] Luis Almagro of the Organization of American States described the situation as a "self-inflicted coup."[6]

On August 4, 2017 Venezuela convened a new National Constitutional Assembly which has the power to rewrite the constitution and rule above all other state institutions. The Constitutional Assembly is also located within the Federal Legislative Palace. The leadership of the National Assembly have said it would to continue its work as a legislature and it will still meet in the Federal Legislative Palace.[7]

Structure and powers

Under the new Bolivarian 1999 Constitution, the legislative branch of Government in Venezuela is represented by a unicameral National Assembly. The Assembly is made up of 165 deputies (diputados), who are elected by "universal, direct, personal, and secret" vote on a national party-list proportional representation system. In addition, three deputies are returned on a state-by-state basis, and three seats are reserved for representatives of Venezuela's indigenous peoples.

All deputies serve five-year terms and must appoint a replacement (suplente) to stand in for them in during periods of incapacity or absence (Art. 186). Under the 1999 constitution deputies could be reelected on up to two terms (Art. 192); under the Venezuelan constitutional referendum, 2009 these term limits were removed. Deputies must be Venezuelan citizens by birth, or naturalized Venezuelans with a period of residency in excess of 15 years; older than 21 on the day of the election; and have lived in the state for which they seek election during the previous four years (Art. 188).

Beyond passing legislation (and being able to block any of the president's legislative initiatives), the Assembly has a number of specific powers outlined in Article 187, including approving the budget, initiating impeachment proceedings against most government officials (including ministers and the Vice President, but not the President, who can only be removed through a recall referendum) and appointing the members of the electoral, judicial, and prosecutor's branches of government. Among others it also has the power to authorize foreign and domestic military action and to authorize the President to leave the national territory for more than 5 days.

The Assembly is led by a President with 2 Vice Presidents, and together with a secretary and an assistant secretary, they form the Assembly Directorial Board, and when it is on recess twice a year, they lead a Standing Commission of the National Assembly together with 28 other MPs.

Since 2010 the Assembly's 15 Permanent Committees, created by the 2010 Assembly Rules, are manned with a minimum number of 7 and a maximum of 25 MPs tackling legislation of various issues. The Committees' offices are housed in the José María Vargas Building in Caracas, few hundred yards from the Federal Legislative Palace, the former building is also where the offices of the Assembly leadership are located.

Electoral system

In the Venezuelan parliamentary election, 2000, representatives were elected under a mixed member proportional representation, with 60% elected in single seat districts and the remainder by closed party list proportional representation.[8] This was an adaptation of the system previously used for the Venezuelan Chamber of Deputies,[9] which had been introduced in 1993, with a 50-50 balance between single seat districts and party lists,[10] and deputies per state proportional to population, but with a minimum of three deputies per state.[11]

For the 2010 election, the Ley Orgánica de Procesos Electorales (LOPE) among other changes reduced the party list proportion to 30%.[12] In addition, the law completely separated the district vote and the party list votes, creating a system of parallel voting. Previously, parties winning nominal district seats had had these subtracted from the total won under the proportional party list, which had encouraged parties to game the system by creating separate parties for the party list.[13]

Political composition

The first election of deputies to the new National Assembly took place on 30 July 2000. President Hugo Chávez' Fifth Republic Movement won 92 seats (56%). The opposition did not participate in the 2005 elections, and as a result gained no seats, while the Fifth Republic Movement gained 114 (69%). In 2007 a number of parties, including the Fifth Republic Movement, merged to create the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), which in January 2009 held 139 of the 169 seats (82%). In the 2010 election, for which the number of deputies was reduced to 165, the PSUV won 96 seats (58%), the opposition electoral coalition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) 65, and Patria Para Todos won 2.

At the 2015 parliamentary election, the MUD won 109 of the 164 general seats and all three indigenous seats, which gave them a supermajority in the National Assembly; while the government's own coalition, the Great Patriotic Pole, won the remaining 55 seats. Voter turnout exceeded 70 percent.[14]

The result, however, was marred by the January 2016 suspension from the NA by the Supreme Tribunal of Justice of 4 elected MPs from Amazonas state due to voter fraud and election irregularities. 3 of the 4 were opposition deputies and one was from the GPP.

Following the 2017 Venezuelan Constitutional Assembly Election the new Venezuelan Constitutional Assembly was inaugurated which has the power to rule over all other state institutions and rewrite the constitution.

Latest election

Party Votes % Seats +/–

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Ley Orgánica de Procesos Electorales" (in Spanish). Consejo Nacional Electoral. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
  2. ↑ "Dos mil 719 candidatos se disputarán los curules de la Asamblea Nacional" (in Spanish). Venezolana de Televisión. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
  3. ↑ "Amnistía Internacional declara preso de conciencia a Rosmit Mantilla, diputado y activista gay". El Mundo, December 13, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Venezuela Elects First Transgender Congresswoman in the Americas". Out, December 7, 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Venezuela's high court dissolves National Assembly
  6. 1 2 3 4 Casey, Nicolas; Torres, Patrica (30 March 2017). "Venezuela Moves a Step Closer to One-Man Rule". New York Times. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  7. ↑ "La Asamblea Nacional continuará sesionando y trabajando desde el Palacio Federal Legislativo". La Patilla (in Spanish). 4 August 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  8. ↑ CNN, Venezuela (Presidential), accessed 27 September 2010
  9. ↑ Donna Lee Van Cott (2005), From movements to parties in Latin America: the evolution of ethnic politics, Cambridge University Press. p29
  10. ↑ Crisp, Brian F. and Rey, Juan Carlos (2003), "The Sources of Electoral Reform in Venezuela", in Shugart, Matthew Soberg, and Martin P. Wattenberg, Mixed-Member Electoral Systems - The Best of Both Worlds?, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. pp. 173-194(22)
  11. ↑ Crisp and Rey(2003:175)
  12. ↑ Venezuelanalysis.com, 2 August 2009, Venezuela Passes New Electoral Law
  13. ↑ Venezuelanalysis.com, 1 October 2010, A New Opportunity for Venezuela’s Socialists
  14. ↑ "Venezuela Opposition Won Majority of National Assembly Seats". Bloomberg. 7 December 2015. Retrieved 7 December 2015.

Coordinates: 10°30′20″N 66°54′57″W / 10.50556°N 66.91583°W / 10.50556; -66.91583

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