The Chamber of Deputies (french: Chambre des Députés; ht, Chanm Depite) is the lower house of Haiti's bicameral

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

, the

Haitian Parliament The National Assembly (french: Assemblée nationale, ht, Asanble Nasyonal) is the bicameral legislature of the Republic of Haiti, consisting of the upper house as the Senate (Sénat) and the lower house as the Chamber of Deputies (Chambre ...

. The

upper house An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restric ...

of the Haitian Parliament is the

Senate of Haiti The Senate (french: Sénat, ) is the upper house of Haiti's bicameral legislature, the Haitian Parliament. The lower house of the Haitian Parliament is the Chamber of Deputies of Haiti, Chamber of Deputies. The Senate consists of thirty seats, w ...

. The Chamber has 119 members (previously 99) who are elected by popular vote to four-year terms. There are no

term limit A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...

s for Deputies; they may be re-elected indefinitely. In March 2015 a new electoral decree stated that the new Chamber of Deputies have 118 members, and the Senate will retain the 30 members. On 13 March, President

Michel Martelly Michel Joseph Martelly (; born 12 February 1961) is a Haitian musician and politician who was the President of Haiti from May 2011 until February 2016. He was sanctioned by the Canadian Government for his involvement in human rights violations ...

issued a decree that split the Cerca La Source into two constituencies, and therefore increasing the number of deputies up to 119.

Elections history

The first bicameral legislature, created under Alexandre Pétion's 1816 revision to the 1806 constitution, formed the Senate as the upper house and the Chamber of Representatives of the Communes as the lower house. The Chamber, which was first elected on 10 February 1817 and held its first session on 22 April 1817, elected Pierre André as its first president of the chamber. Pétion gave his final public speech in front of the newly-seated chamber, but then suspended the legislature the following year. Candidates from Jean-Bertrand Aristide's

Fanmi Lavalas Fanmi Lavalas ( en, Lavalas Family, Lavalas is Haitian Creole for ''flood''), is a social-democratic political party in Haiti. Its leader is former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. It has been a powerful force in Haitian politics since 1 ...

party took 73 of the then 83 seats in the 2000 elections. Following the overthrow of the government in February 2004, an interim government was established. The terms of the Deputies expired during the rule of the interim government and the Chamber remained empty. It was re-established along with the Senate, and elections were scheduled for November 2005. After many delays and missed deadlines, elections were finally held on 21 April 2006. The Deputies commenced meeting in June 2006. The exact makeup of the Chamber remains unknown as the Provisional Electoral Committee (CEP) has not posted the results. The next Chamber elections were scheduled for 2010. There were new parliamentary elections in 2015–16.

Elections history

Previous composition

Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies

See also

References