Congress of Guatemala
Congress of the Republic of Guatemala Congreso de la República de Guatemala | |
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Type | |
Type | |
Leadership | |
1st Vice president |
Iván Arévalo Since 2016 |
2nd Vice president |
Felipe Alejos Since 2016 |
3rd Vice president |
Roberto Castañeda Since 2016 |
Structure | |
Seats | 158 members |
Congress political groups |
|
Elections | |
Congress voting system | Closed-list proportional representation |
Congress last election | Guatemalan general election, 2015 |
Meeting place | |
Guatemala City | |
Website | |
www |
This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Guatemala |
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Executive |
Legislative |
Judiciary |
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Foreign relations |
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 158 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 Guatemalas'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.
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 | 158 |
Political culture
It is not uncommon that Congress Members change parties during the legislature term, as well as Congress Members seceding from a party to create a new party or congressional block.
Latest election
In Congress, Baldizón's LIDER gained 30 seats on their previous election making them the largest party with 44 seats. Torres' UNE retained second position with 36 seats, despite losing 12. Competing in their first election, Todos captured 18 seats. PP suffered the greatest loss, losing 39 seats overall, down to 17. Morales' FCN gained 11 seats.
Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
---|---|---|---|---|
Renewed Democratic Liberty | 885,620 | 19.10 | 44 | +30 |
National Unity of Hope | 687,890 | 14.83 | 36 | −12 |
Todos | 451,768 | 9.74 | 18 | New |
Patriotic Party | 437,421 | 9.43 | 17 | −39 |
National Convergence Front | 405,922 | 8.75 | 11 | +11 |
Encuentro por Guatemala | 289,544 | 6.24 | 7 | |
CREO–Unionist Party | 264,059 | 5.69 | 5 | −8 |
National Change Union | 251,578 | 5.43 | 6 | −8 |
Winaq–URNG–MAIZ | 200,089 | 4.32 | 3 | +2 |
Convergence | 178,212 | 3.84 | 3 | New |
Vision with Values | 169,813 | 3.66 | 3 | |
National Advancement Party | 158,561 | 3.42 | 3 | +1 |
Fuerza | 95,855 | 2.07 | 2 | New |
Institutional Republican Party | 57,958 | 1.25 | 0 | −1 |
New Republic Movement | 41,734 | 0.90 | 0 | New |
Reform Movement | 36,748 | 0.79 | 0 | New |
Heart New Nation | 24,249 | 0.52 | 0 | New |
Invalid/blank votes | 738,082 | 13.73 | – | – |
Total | 5,375,103 | 100 | 158 | 0 |
Registered voters/turnout | 7,556,873 | 71.13 | – | – |
Source: TSE (98.85% of votes counted), Seats according to elPeriodico |