Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic

Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic Senát Parlamentu České republiky
Type
Type	Upper house
Leadership
President	Milan Štěch, ČSSD Since 24 November 2010
1st Vice-President	Miluše Horská, KDU-ČSL Since 16 November 2016
Vice-President	Ivo Bárek, ČSSD Since 19 November 2014
Vice-President	Jaroslav Kubera, ODS Since 19 November 2016
Vice-President	Jiří Šesták, STAN Since 19 November 2016
Structure
Seats	81
Political groups	SOURCE      ČSSD (25)      KDU-ČSL (16)      STAN (11)      ODS (10)      ANO (7)      Non-Inscrits (11)      vacant (1)
Elections
Voting system	Two-round system
Last election	7–8 October 2016 14–15 October 2016
Meeting place
Wallenstein Palace, Prague
Website
www.senat.cz

The Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic (Czech: Senát Parlamentu České republiky), usually referred to as Senát, is the upper chamber of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. The seat of the Senate is Wallenstein Palace in Prague.

Structure

Wallenstein Palace in Prague, the main building of the Senate

The Senate has 81 members, elected for six years, every two years one third of them, in one-seat constituencies through two rounds majority system (the second round is between two candidates with highest number of votes from the first round – if no candidate obtains 50+% majority in the first round). A candidate for the Senate does not need to be on a political party's ticket (unlike the lower chamber).

The senate has one President and four Vice-Presidents.^[1] Its members participate in specialised committees and commissions.^[2][3]

The Senate Chancellery has been created to provide professional, organisational and technical services. The Senate occupies several historical palaces in centre of Prague, in Malá Strana quarter.^[4] In 2005 its budget was 561.2 million CZK.

Powers

The Senate can delay a proposed law which was approved by the Chamber of Deputies but this veto can be overridden by an absolute majority (i.e. at least 101 of all 200 members) of the Chamber of Deputies in a repeated vote. The Senate however cannot be overridden when it votes on constitutional law and on international treaties.

Senate decides on confirmation of judges of the Constitutional Court, proposed by the President, right it often uses to block unacceptable nominees, and may propose new laws. However, the Senate does not get to vote on the country budget and on confidence in the government, unlike the Chamber of Deputies.

The President (Speaker or Chairperson) of the Senate is the second-highest official of the Czech Republic for ceremonial purposes, after the President of the Republic, but without much real power.

History

The Senate was established in constitutional law of the Czech National Council (ČNR) No. 1/1993 on 16 December 1992.^[5] The immediate reason for its creation was a need to find a place for members of the Federal Assembly, dissolved together with Czechoslovakia. Other reasons given were the positioning of the Senate as a safety device ("pojistka") correcting laws endorsed by lower chamber and as a power balancing tool against the dominance of a single party.

Due to opposition by the Civic Democratic Alliance (who had members in ČNR, the new lower chamber, but not in the Federal Assembly) and those politicians fearing dilution of power the Senate was not set up. The first elections were held in 1996, with voter turnout around 35% (much lower than turnout for the lower chamber). Further elections were held in accordance with the Constitution every two years after that.

The Senate has received criticism for being essentially powerless and unnecessary for a country of the size of the Czech Republic.

Political parties

 Summary of the 10–11 and 17–18 October 2014 Czech Senate election results

Party First round Second round Seats Votes % Votes % Won Total +/– Czech Social Democratic Party 226,239 22.04 165,629 34.95 10 -13 ANO 2011 180,136 17.55 71,739 15.14 4 +4 Civic Democratic Party 110,485 10.76 44,264 9.34 1 -2 Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia 99,973 9.74 – – 0 -1 TOP+STAN 87,143 8.49 30,476 6.43 0 Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party 84,328 8.21 77,103 16.27 4 +4 KDU-CSL–Green Party 34,765 3.39 32,854 6.93 3 +3 Party of Civic Rights 22,080 2.15 11,971 2.53 1 +1 Mayors and Independents 15,576 1.52 11,099 2.34 1 +1 Party of Free Citizens 14,508 1.41 – – 0 Freeholder Party of the Czech Republic 14,071 1.37 11,660 2.46 1 +1 Dawn of Direct Democracy 13,331 1.30 – – 0 New Republika 9,107 0.89 – – 0 New Civic Democratic Party–KC 7,783 0.76 8,885 1.87 1 +1 KDU-CSL–Z21 7,704 0.75 – – 0 Green Party 6,670 0.65 – – 0 Mayors for the Liberec Region 6,633 0.65 8,246 1.74 1 +1 KDU–SZ–HNHR–B10 5,779 0.56 – – 0 Czech Pirate Party 5,454 0.53 – – 0 TOP 09 4,994 0.49 – – 0 Ostravak 4,605 0.45 – – 0 NEZAVISLI 4,390 0.43 – – 0 Czech Pirate Party–Green Party 4,231 0.41 – – 0 Mayors for Citizens 4,080 0.40 – – 0 City for You 3,945 0.38 – – 0 Our City F-M 3,356 0.33 – – 0 NEZAVISLI/Democrats 3,267 0.32 – – 0 Club of Committed Non-Party Members 2,738 0.27 – – 0 Dawn of Direct Democracy–Hora 2014 2,387 0.23 – – 0 O.K. strana 2,270 0.22 – – 0 KOZY 2,186 0.21 – – 0 Tories 1,917 0.19 – – 0 HDP 1,742 0.17 – – 0 United Democrats–Association of Independents 1,534 0.15 – – 0 No Brussels 1,476 0.14 – – 0 DOMOV 1,172 0.11 – – 0 For Sport and Health 1,104 0.11 – – 0 Conservative Alliance 2014 1,055 0.10 – – 0 VIZE 2014 819 0.08 – – 0 Ostrava Forum 779 0.08 – – 0 APPlzen.cz 702 0.07 – – 0 ANEO 639 0.06 – – 0 SVAZ 564 0.05 – – 0 SNK European Democrats 560 0.05 – – 0 MDS–ZH 508 0.05 – – 0 Rozumni 474 0.05 – – 0 DOMA 459 0.04 – – 0 OCR 457 0.04 – – 0 Moravané–LEV 21 450 0.04 – – 0 ABS 347 0.03 – – 0 SP 249 0.02 – – 0 CS 166 0.02 – – 0 Independents 15,228 1.48 – – 0 0 Invalid/blank votes 53,933 – 2,176 – – – – Total 1,080,548 100 476,102 100 27 81 – Registered voters/turnout 2,853,106 37.87 – – – Source: Volby.cz History Composition of the Senate of the Czech Republic Party Seats 2008 2010 2011 by 2012 TOTAL Czech Social Democratic Party 22 12 1 13 48 Civic Democratic Party 3 8 — 4 15 TOP 09 – Mayors and Independents — 2 — 2 4 Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party — 2 — 2 4 Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia 1 — — 1 2 NorthBohemians.cz — 2 — — 2 Czech Pirate Party — — — 1 1 Green Party — — — 1 1 Ostravak Movement — — — 1 1 Independents — 1 — 2 3 Total 26 27 1 27 81 Source: Senate Constituencies in which the election was held: 2008: 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 33, 36, 39 42, 45, 48, 51, 54, 57, 60, 63, 66, 69, 72, 75, 78, 81 2010: 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31, 34, 37, 40, 43, 46, 49, 52, 55, 58, 61, 64, 67, 70, 73, 76, 79 2011 by-election: 30 2012: 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 26, 29, 32, 35, 38, 41, 44, 47, 50, 53, 56, 59, 62, 65, 68, 71, 74, 77, 80 Senators and members of the Cabinet Members of the Senate of the Czech Republic include these: Milada Emmerová - former Minister of Health Milan Štěch Josef Řihák Jaromír Štětina Daniela Filipiová - former Minister of Health Libor Michálek Jiří Dienstbier Jr. Přemysl Sobotka Jaromír Jermář Jozef Regec František Bublan Jiří Čunek Zdeněk Škromach Tomio Okamura See also List of Presidents of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic References Senators Senate website Senate Committees Senat website Senate Commissions Senate website Seat of the Senate Senate website Ústavní zmìny v dobì od pádu komunismu Bulletin Scientia Politica (Czech) External links Official website History and perspective of bicameral system in the Czech Republic Coordinates: 50°05′24″N 14°24′19″E / 50.09000°N 14.40528°E