National Assembly of Venezuela
Template:OutdatedTemplate:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox legislature Template:Politics of Venezuela
The National Assembly (Template:Langx) is the federal legislature of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which was first elected in 2000 under the 1999 constitution. It is a unicameral body made up of a variable number of members, who are elected by a "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.
Each of the 23 States and the Capital District elects no less than three representatives plus the result of dividing the state population by 1.1% of the total population of the country.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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 to 2015 the number of seats was 165.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Deputies to the National Assembly serve a five-year term and may be re-elected for a maximum of two consecutive terms. The National Assembly meets in the Federal Legislative Palace in Venezuela's capital, Caracas.
Legislative history
1961 Constitution
Template:Main Under its previous Template:Ill, Venezuela had a bicameral legislature, known as the Congress (Congreso). This Congress was composed of a Senate of Venezuela (Senado) and a Venezuelan 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. The President of Senate of Venezuela held the additional title of "President of the Congress", and was the constitutional successor of the President of Venezuela in case of a vacancy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This succession took place in 1993, when Octavio Lepage succeeded Carlos Andrés Pérez.
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. In the Constituent Assembly elections held on 25 July 1999, all but six seats were given to candidates associated with the Chávez movement. The National Constituent Assembly (ANC), consisting of 131 elected individuals, convened in August 1999 to begin rewriting the constitution. The ANC's proposed constitution was approved in a referendum on 15 December 1999 and came into effect the following 20 December.
2017 constitutional crisis
Template:See also On 29 March 2017, the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) stripped the elected National Assembly of its constitutional powers, ruling that all powers would be transferred to the Supreme Court. The previous year the court found the assembly in contempt for swearing in legislators whose elections had been deemed invalid by the court.<ref name=CNN_diss/> The 2017 court judgement declared that the "situation of contempt" meant that the assembly could not exercise its powers.<ref name="NY_diss1">Template:Cite news</ref> The action transferred powers from the Assembly, which had an opposition majority since January 2016,<ref name="NY_diss1"/> to the Supreme Court, which has a majority of government loyalists.<ref name=CNN_diss/> The move was denounced by the opposition with Assembly President Julio Borges describing the action as a coup d'état by President Nicolás Maduro.<ref name=CNN_diss>Template:Cite news</ref> However, after public protests and condemnation by international bodies, the court's decision was reversed a few days later on 1 April.<ref name=hupo_timeline>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
On 4 August 2017, Venezuela convened a new Constituent National Assembly after a special election which was boycotted by the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) and other opposition parties.<ref name=hupo_timeline/> The new Constituent Assembly is intended to rewrite the constitution; it also has wide legal powers allowing it to rule above all other state institutions. The Constituent Assembly met within the Federal Legislative Palace; while the leadership of the National Assembly had said it would continue its work as a legislature and it would still continue to meet in the same building.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
On 18 August the Constituent Assembly summoned the members of the National Assembly to attend a ceremony acknowledging its legal superiority; the opposition members of the National Assembly boycotted the event.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In response, the Constituent Assembly stripped the National Assembly of its legislative powers, assuming them for itself.<ref name="wapo_18aug">Template:Cite news</ref> It justified the move by claiming that the National Assembly had failed to prevent what it called "opposition violence" in the form of the 2017 Venezuelan protests.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The constitutionality of this move has been questioned, and it has been condemned by several foreign governments and international bodies.<ref name=wapo_18aug/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2020 contested leadership election
Template:Main The 2020 Venezuelan National Assembly Delegated Committee election of 5 January, to elect the Board of Directors of the National Assembly was disrupted. The events resulted in two competing claims for the Presidency of the National Assembly: one by deputy Luis Parra and one by Juan Guaidó.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Parra was formerly a member of Justice First, but was expelled from the party on 20 December 2019 based on corruption allegations, which he denies. From inside the legislature, Parra declared himself president of the National Assembly; a move that was welcomed by Maduro administration.<ref name="APblockedcongresJanuary">Template:Cite web</ref> The opposition disputed this outcome, saying that quorum had not been achieved and no votes had been counted.<ref name="APblockedcongresJanuary" /> Police forces had blocked access to parliament to some opposition members, including Guaidó, and members of the media. Later in the day, a separate session was carried out at the headquarters of El Nacional newspaper, where 100 of the 167 deputies voted to re-elect Guaidó as president of the parliament.<ref name="APblockedcongresJanuary" /> In his speech, Guaidó announced his resignation from Popular Will.<ref name=":10">Template:Cite web</ref>
Guaidó was sworn in a session on 7 January after forcing his way in through police barricades. Parra has reiterated his claim to the presidency of the parliament.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Membership
Any Venezuelan citizen by birth or naturalization, with at least fifteen years of residence in Venezuelan territory, who is 21 years of age or older, is eligible to be elected as a deputy to the National Assembly. However, the same person cannot hold the office of President or Vice President of the Republic, Minister, Secretary of the Presidency, or hold senior positions in Autonomous Institutes or State-owned companies, until three months after leaving these positions. Additionally, state governors, secretaries of government, and other officials at the municipal, state, or national level in the jurisdiction where the election takes place are also ineligible unless holding accidental, assistance, teaching, or academic positions.
A deputy of the National Assembly cannot own, manage, or direct companies that contract with state entities, nor can they manage private lucrative interests with such entities. Deputies are obliged to abstain from voting on issues where they have an economic conflict of interest. Moreover, they are not allowed to accept or exercise other public offices without losing their status as deputies, except for teaching, academic, or assistance activities that do not require full-time dedication.
Structure and powers
Under the current Bolivarian 1999 Constitution, the legislative branch of Government in Venezuela is represented by a unicameral National Assembly. The Assembly is currently made up of 277 seats<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>. Officials are elected by "universal, direct, personal, and secret" vote on a national party-list proportional representation system.<ref name=":0" /> In addition, three deputies are returned on a state-by-state basis, and three seats are reserved for representatives of Venezuela's indigenous peoples.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>
All deputies serve five-year terms and must appoint a replacement (suplente) to stand in for them during periods of incapacity or absence.<ref name=":0" /> Under the 1999 constitution deputies could be reelected on up to two terms (Art. 192); under the 2009 Venezuelan constitutional referendum these term limits were removed.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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).<ref name=":0" />
Beyond passing legislation (and being able to block any of the president's legislative initiatives), the National 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.<ref name=":0" /> 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 Board of Directors (BoD-NAVEN), and when it is on recess twice a year, they lead a Standing Commission of the National Assembly together with 28 other MPsTemplate:Citation needed.
Since 2010 the Assembly's 15 Permanent Committees, created by the 2010 Assembly Rules, are composed by MPs (ranging from the minimum of 7 to the maximum of 25) tackling legislation of various issues.<ref name=":0" /> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Electoral system
In the 2000 Venezuelan parliamentary election, 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.<ref name=CNN>CNN, Venezuela (Presidential) Template:Webarchive, accessed 27 September 2010</ref> This was an adaptation of the system previously used for the Venezuelan Chamber of Deputies,<ref>Donna Lee Van Cott (2005), From movements to parties in Latin America: the evolution of ethnic politics, Cambridge University Press. p29</ref> which had been introduced in 1993, with a 50-50 balance between single seat districts and party lists,<ref name=Crisp>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)</ref> and deputies per state proportional to population, but with a minimum of three deputies per state.<ref>Crisp and Rey(2003:175)</ref>
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 (GPP), won the remaining 55 seats. Voter turnout exceeded 70 percent.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The result, however, was marred by the January 2016 suspension from the National Assembly by the Supreme Tribunal of Justice of 4 elected members of Parliament (MPs) from Amazonas state due to alleged voter fraud and election irregularities. 3 of the 4 were opposition deputies and one was from the government's coalition (GPP). Template:Citation needed
Following the 2017 Venezuelan Constituent Assembly election the new Venezuelan Constitutional Assembly was inaugurated which has the power to rule over all other state institutions and rewrite the constitution. As of May 2019, the Constituent Assembly mandate is expected to expire on 31 December 2020 (after next National Assembly elections), a measure that replaces the previous resolution of August 2017 that established its validity for at least two years.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2020, Maduro’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela and allied parties claimed to have captured 67 percent of seats in the National Assembly, but that election was also disputed by EU and U.S. officials. Nevertheless, since then Maduro has exercised majority control of the Venezuelan parliament, displacing Juan Guaidó from his oppositional presidency.<ref>"Venezuela’s Guaido vows to challenge Maduro’s congress win" aljazeera. 7 Dec 2020. Accessed 23 April 2023.</ref>
Members
- I National Assembly of Venezuela
- II National Assembly of Venezuela
- III National Assembly of Venezuela
- IV National Assembly of Venezuela
- V National Assembly of Venezuela
Board of Directors
| Office | Deputy<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| President of the National Assembly | style="background:Template:Party color;"| | Jorge Jesús Rodríguez Gómez | PSUV |
| First Vice President of the National Assembly | style="background:Template:Party color;"| | Pedro José Infante Aparicio | PSUV |
| Second Vice President of the National Assembly | style="background:Template:Party color;"| | América Valentina Pérez Dávila | PSUV |
Standing committees
| Committee | Chairperson<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standing Committee on Eco-socialism | style="background:Template:Party color;"| | Ricardo Antonio Molina Peñaloza | PSUV |
| Standing Committee on Indigenous Peoples | style="background:Template:Party color;"| | Nicia Marina Maldonado Maldonado | PSUV |
| Standing Committee on the People's Power and Communication | style="background:Template:Party color;"| | Juan Carlos Alemán Pérez | PSUV |
| Standing Committee on Education, Health, Science, Technology and Innovation | style="background:Template:Party color;"| | Ricardo Ignacio Sánchez Mujica | APC |
| Standing Committee on Culture and Recreation | style="background:Template:Party color;"| | Cristobal Leobardo Jiménez | PSUV |
| Standing Committee on Families, Freedom of Religion and Worship | style="background:Template:Party color;"| | Asia Yajaira Villegas Poljak | PSUV |
| Standing Committee on Administration and Services | style="background:Template:Party color;"| | Pedro Miguel Carreño Escobar | PSUV |
| Standing Committee on Foreign Policy, Sovereignty and Integration | style="background:Template:Party color;"| | Timoteo De Jesus Zambrano Guedez | CMC |
| Standing Committee on Internal Policy | style="background:Template:Party color;"| | María Gabriela Vega Sosa | PSUV |
| Standing Committee on Comptrollership | style="background:Template:Party color;"| | Willian Rafael Gil Calderón | PSUV |
| Standing Committee on Economy, Finance and National Development | style="background:Template:Party color;"| | Jesús Germán Faría Tortosa | PSUV |
| Standing Committee on Energy and Petroleum | style="background:Template:Party color;"| | Ángel Luis Rodríguez Gamboa | PSUV |
| Standing Committee on the Security and Defense of the Nation | style="background:Template:Party color;"| | Jesús Rafael Suárez Chourio | PSUV |
| Standing Committee on Comprehensive Social Development | style="background:Template:Party color;"| | Rodolfo Antonio Crespo Grismaldo | PSUV |
| Standing Committee on the Development of Communes | style="background:Template:Party color;"| | Blanca Rosa Eekhout Gómez | PSUV |
Latest election
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Allocation of Seats per State (2021–2026)
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Historical composition of the National Assembly
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See also
- List of legislatures by country
- Politics of Venezuela
- Venezuelan Chamber of Deputies: lower house of Venezuela (1961–99)
- Senate of Venezuela: upper house of Venezuela (1961–99)
References
Further reading
External links
- Template:Usurped (unofficial English translation)
- Template:In lang National Assembly website
- Template:In lang Constitución de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela (html)
- Template:In lang Constitución de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela (pdf)
- Template:In lang 1961 Constitution amended as of 1983
Template:Venezuela topics Template:SouthAmerican legislatures Template:Legislatures of the Americas Template:National unicameral legislatures Template:Coord