The Legislature of the Marshall Islands ( ) has 33 members, elected for a four-year term in nineteen single-seat and five multi-seat

constituencies An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

. The last election was November 20, 2023. Elections in the Marshall Islands are officially

nonpartisan Nonpartisan or non-partisan may refer to: __NOTOC__ General political concepts * Nonpartisanship, also known as Nonpartisanism, co-operation without reference to political parties * Non-partisan democracy, an election with no official recognition ...

, but most members of the are affiliated with one of the four active

political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

in the

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country west of the International Date Line and north of the equator in the Micronesia region of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. The territory consists of 29 c ...

: Aelon Kein Ad (AKA),

Kien Eo Am Kien or Kiens may refer to: * Kien, Bern, a village in Bern, Switzerland * Kien, Burkina Faso, a village * Kien (album), ''Kien'' (album), a 2008 album by the Japanese group Bleach * Pine Ridge Airport (ICAO: KIEN), Pine Ridge, South Dakota , US * ...

(KEA), United People's Party (UPP), and United Democratic Party (UDP).

History

Bicameral Marshall Islands Congress was established in July 1950. The two chambers were the House of Iroij and the House of Assembly. Kabua Kabua was the president of the House of Iroij in 1953.

Atlan Anien Atlan Anien (January 17, 1920 – 1992) was a speaker of the Legislature of the Marshall Islands. Biography Anien began his education at the US Navy Interpreter School and subsequently went to Goshen College and then the University of Hawaii ...

was the president of the House of Assembly in 1953. The Congress was reformulated as unicameral in 1958. Members were elected for a 4-year term. The congress was chaired by

in 1959,

Amata Kabua Iroijlaplap Amata Kabua (November 17, 1928 – December 19, 1996) was the first President of the Marshall Islands from 1979 until his death in 1996 (five consecutive terms). Background Amata Kabua was a scion of Marshallese Royalty. Amata Kabua ...

in 1962, and Dwight Heine in 1963 and 1964 The legislature, ''Nitijeļā'', was established in its current form in 1979 by the

Constitution of the Marshall Islands A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

Speakers

The salary of the speaker is set to 35,000 USD annually.

Members of

The twenty-four electoral districts into which the country is divided correspond to the inhabited islands and

atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical parts of the oceans and seas where corals can develop. Most ...

s. There are four political parties in the Marshall Islands: Aelon Kein Ad (AKA),

(KEA), United People's Party (UPP), and United Democratic Party (UDP). Control is shared by the AKA and the KEA.

Committees

The has 7 permanent standing committees with oversight authority and legislative authority. All committees have 9 members.

Staff

The is supported by various staff.

Clerk of the

The Clerk is the administrative head of the legislature, with authority to approve related matters. The Clerk prepares the 's business and serves as the legislature's secretary, keeping minutes and publishing them. The current Clerk is Morean Watak, and Carl Alik is her Assistant Clerk.

Legislative Counsel

The Office of the Legislative Counsel was established in 1981. The office provides legal advice to MPs and the Speaker, as well as providing legislative drafting services. The Legislative Counsel also serves as the Commissioner of the Marshall Islands Revised Code if the Cabinet has not appointed a Commissioner. The current Legislative Counsel is Joe Lomae.

References

External links

* {{National unicameral legislatures

Politics of the Marshall Islands Political organizations based in the Marshall Islands

1979 establishments in the Marshall Islands