Congress of the Republic of Guatemala

The Congress of the Republic (Spanish: Congreso de la República) is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Guatemala. The Guatemalan Congress is made up of 160 deputies who are elected by direct universal suffrage to serve four-year terms. The electoral system is closed party list proportional representation. 31 of the deputies are elected on a nationwide list, whilst the remaining 127 deputies are elected in 22 multi-member constituencies. Each of Guatemala's 22 departments serves as a district, with the exception of the department of Guatemala containing the capital, which on account of its size is divided into two (distrito central and distrito Guatemala). Departments are allocated seats based on their population size and they are shown in the table below.

Congress of the Republic of Guatemala

Congreso de la República de Guatemala
X Legislature
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type
History
Founded11 March 1945
Leadership
Nery Ramos, Blue
since 19 January 2024
1st Vice President
Darwin Lucas Paiz, UNE
since 19 January 2024
2nd Vice President
César Amézquita, VIVA
since 14 January 2024
3rd Vice President
Nery Rodas, Cabal
since 14 January 2024
1st Secretary
Karina Paz, VOS
since 19 January 2024
Structure
Seats160 members
Political groups
Government (25)
  •   SEMILLA: 24 seats
  •   WINAQ-URNG: 1 seat

Others (135)

Elections
Closed-list proportional representation
Last election
25 June 2023
Next election
2027
Motto
God, Union, Liberty
Meeting place
Zone 1,Guatemala City
Website
www.congreso.gob.gt

Deputies by Department

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Department Deputies
Listado Nacional 31
Distrito Central 19
Alta Verapaz 9
Baja Verapaz 2
Chimaltenango 5
Chiquimula 3
El Progreso 1
Escuintla 6
Guatemala (Distrito) 11
Huehuetenango 10
Izabal 3
Jalapa 3
Jutiapa 4
Petén 4
Quetzaltenango 7
Quiché 8
Retalhuleu 3
Sacatepéquez 3
San Marcos 9
Santa Rosa 3
Sololá 3
Suchitepéquez 5
Totonicapán 4
Zacapa 2
Total 160

History

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Guatemala had a bicameral legislature in the 1845 constitution. It was replaced with the unicameral Chamber of Representatives (Spanish: Cámara de Representantes), which was in turn reformulated as the National Assembly (Spanish: Asamblea Nacional) in 1879, then the Congress of the Republic in 1945.[1]

Political culture

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It is not uncommon for deputies to change parties during the legislature's term or to secede from a party and create a new party or congressional block.

Building

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The Congress of the Republic Guatemala is located in the Legislative Palace in Guatemala city.[2]

During the protests against the budget for 2021 on 21 November 2020, protestors entered the building and set parts of it on fire.[3][4][5]

Latest election

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Result of the legislative election.
 
Party or allianceNationalDistrictTotal
seats
+/–
Votes%SeatsVotes%Seats
Vamos628,12615.066696,32515.543339+23
National Unity of Hope538,01012.905571,86712.762328–26
Semilla488,69211.725430,2979.601823+16
Cabal371,2158.903401,0358.951518New
Vision with Values288,5466.923258,6055.77811+4
ValorUnionistValor–Unionist229,8615.512124,1332.7735New
Valor197,5384.4177–2
Unionist Party22,3630.5000–3
Will, Opportunity and Solidarity186,4384.471178,7503.9934New
Todos169,1014.051198,8934.4456–1
URNG–MAIZWinaqURNG–MAIZ–Winaq133,6943.21125,0130.5601New
Winaq76,1371.7000–3
Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity87,6871.9600–3
Nosotros131,2173.151138,7423.1023New
Victory124,9463.001126,8302.8323
Bienestar Nacional112,7422.701121,4882.7134–4
Blue Party98,4872.361109,8022.4512New
Elephant Community95,4352.29190,0402.0112New
Podemos86,4752.07087,0111.9400–1
Commitment, Renewal and Order84,6672.030102,4212.2933–3
Movement for the Liberation of Peoples74,8021.79081,1421.8100–1
Humanist Party of Guatemala61,5641.48072,0591.6100–6
Change52,7541.26087,8211.9611New
National Advancement Party45,9401.10041,5940.9300–2
My Family45,4021.09044,5760.9900New
Republican Union34,9820.84034,1590.7600New
National Convergence Front28,8270.69029,3860.6600–8
Guatemalan People's Party23,8370.57012,6720.2800New
Republican Party21,6580.52020,1150.4500New
National Integration Party13,9270.33012,4160.2800New
Total4,171,345100.00324,480,917100.00128160
Source: TSE (99.13% counted, national votes) TSE

Central American Parliament

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20
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Vamos655,90617.755+2
National Unity of Hope594,91816.104–1
Semilla425,62911.523+2
Vision with Values274,1937.422+1
ValorUnionist256,2916.942+1
Todos166,5094.511
Will, Opportunity and Solidarity155,1814.201+1
Nosotros131,2843.551+1
Victory120,1063.251+1
URNG–MAIZWinaq118,9983.220–2
Bienestar Nacional108,0302.920
Elephant Community100,9322.730
Blue Party95,5402.590
Podemos86,1162.330
Commitment, Renewal and Order81,8922.220–1
Humanist Party of Guatemala70,2191.900
Change55,2761.500
My Family48,9481.320
National Advancement Party41,7121.130
Republican Union34,4150.930
National Convergence Front28,9300.780–2
Guatemalan People's Party23,4350.630
Republican Party20,6660.560
Total3,695,126100.0020
Valid votes3,695,12665.83
Invalid votes1,272,52122.67
Blank votes645,51111.50
Total votes5,613,158100.00
Source: TSE (99.10% percent counted)

See also

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Notes

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References

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  1. ^ Guatemala. Latin American series ;no. 30. 1947. hdl:2027/hvd.32044058953571.
  2. ^ "Palacio Legislativo". Congreso de la República. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  3. ^ Wirtz, Nic; Kitroeff, Natalie (21 November 2021). "Protesters in Guatemala Set Fire to Congress Building Over Spending Cuts". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  4. ^ Pérez D., Sonia (21 November 2020). "Protesters burn part of Guatemala's Congress building". ABC News. Archived from the original on 21 November 2020. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  5. ^ "Protesters set fire to Guatemalan Congress". MSN.com. AFP. 21 November 2020. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
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