The House of Delegates of Palau is 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

Palau National Congress Palau has a bicameral legislature, the Palau National Congress (), consisting of the House of Delegates and the Senate of Palau, which both sit at the capitol complex in Ngerulmud, Melekeok State. The House of Delegates has 16 members, each s ...

(''Olbiil era Kelulau''), Palau'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

Senate of Palau The Senate of Palau is the upper house of the Palau National Congress (''Olbiil era Kelulau''). The Senate has 13 members serving four-year terms in multi-seat constituencies. Since January 2025, the Senate has 15 members. No political parties ...

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 ...

. The House of Delegates has 16 members, each serving four-year terms in single-seat

constituencies An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

. Each

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

represents one constituency. No political parties exist. The last election was held on 5 November 2024.

Palau Legislature 1955-1980

The High Commissioner of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands established Palau legislature, ''Olbiil era Kelulau'', in January 1955 by a charter. The legislature was composed of 28 members elected every four years. The presiding officer was initially called ''Bedul Olbiil''. The members of the legislature were organized into Liberal and Progressive parties.

Speaker of the House of Delegates

References

Palau Palau, officially the Republic of Palau, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the western Pacific Ocean. The Republic of Palau consists of approximately 340 islands and is the western part of the Caroline Islands ...

Government of Palau Palau National Congress 1980 establishments in Palau {{Palau-stub