The Senate (, ) is the
upper house
An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted p ...
of
Haiti
Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...
's
bicameral
Bicameralism is a type of legislature that is divided into two separate Deliberative assembly, assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate ...
legislature
A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...
, the
Haitian Parliament
The National Assembly (, ) consists of the bicameral legislature of the Republic of Haiti, consisting of the upper house as the Senate () and the lower house as the Chamber of Deputies (Chambre des Députés). Both assemblies conduct legisl ...
. The
lower house
A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...
of the Haitian Parliament is the
Chamber of Deputies
The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures.
Description
Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...
. The Senate consists of thirty seats, with three members from each of the ten administrative
departments
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
* Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
. Prior to the creation of the department of
Nippes
Nippes (French language, French, ) or Nip (Haitian Creole) is one of the ten Departments of Haiti, departments (the highest-level political subdivisions) of Haiti located in southern Haiti. It is the most recently created department, having be ...
in 2003, there were twenty-seven seats. Senators are elected by popular vote to six-year terms, with one-third elected every two years. There are no
term limit
A term limit is a legal restriction on the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potential for monopoly, w ...
s for senators; they may be re-elected indefinitely.
After the
elections of 2000, twenty-six of the then twenty-seven seats were held by
Jean-Bertrand Aristide
Jean-Bertrand Aristide (; born 15 July 1953) is a Haitian former Salesian priest and politician who became Haiti's first democratically elected president in 1991 before being deposed in a coup d'état. As a priest, he taught liberation theo ...
's
Fanmi Lavalas
Fanmi Lavalas (; ''lavalas'' is Haitian Creole for 'avalanche' or 'flood'
) is a social-democratic political party in Haiti. Its leader is former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. It has been a powerful force in Haitian politics since 199 ...
party. The Senate was not in session following the
overthrow of Aristide's government in February 2004. An interim government was put in place following the rebellion, and the remaining senators were not recognised during that time. The Senate was re-established and elections were held on 21 April 2006. The next elections were scheduled to occur in 2008, when one-third of the Senate seats was opened.
In 2015, the Senate was reduced to only 10 members and the chamber of deputies was closed because the elections to replace one-third of the senators and all of the deputies in 2013 were delayed indefinitely causing senators and deputies to finish their term in January 2015 without any replacement. This led to a dysfunctional National assembly. In the
2015 parliamentary elections these two-thirds were filled with new elected members, completing the 30 senators.
In January 2020, the number of lawmakers retaining their Senate seats was again reduced to 10 as
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
Jovenel Moïse
Jovenel Moïse (; ; 26 June 1968 – 7 July 2021) was a Haitian politician and Businessperson, businessman who served as President of Haiti from 2017 until Assassination of Jovenel Moïse, his assassination in 2021.
Moïse assumed the preside ...
failed to hold elections in time to replace the others, whose terms expired before
his assassination. Following the expiration of the terms of these remaining senators on 10 January 2023, Haiti has not elected members of either chamber of its Parliament.
Latest election
Presidents of the Senate
''Le Président du Sénat''
See also
*
List of current members of the Parliament of Haiti
This is a list of the 149 (or, in practice, zero) members of the Haitian Parliament, 50th Parliament of Haiti. The Chamber of Deputies is currently defunct: the terms of the representatives elected in the 2015-16 Haitian parliamentary election, 2 ...
*
List of members of the Senate (Haiti)
Notes
Further reading
*
*
About parliament – Senate Inter-Parliamentary Union
{{DEFAULTSORT:Senate of Haiti
Haitian Parliament
1806 establishments in Haiti
Haiti
Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...