HAITI

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GENERAL INFORMATION

Parliament (generic name):

Assemblée nationale

Translated name:

National Assembly

Structure:

Bicameral

Chamber:

Sénat

Translated name:

Senate

President:

Kelly C. Bastien ( M)

Secretary General:

Jean-Elie Gilles ( M)

Members (statutory number):

directly elected

Members (current number):

Women (current number):

4 ( 13.33%)

Term:

6 years; one-third of the membership is renewed every 2 years

Last renewal dates:

7 February 2006

3 December 2006

Address:

Sénat de la République
Avenue Marie Jeanne,
Cité de l´Exposition
PORT-AU-PRINCE
HAITI (W.I)
Tel.: (509) 222 85 41 (President), (509) 222 85 43, 223 13 32 (Vice-president)
222 85 41 (Secretary General)
Fax: (509) 222 8594, 454 6724
E-mail: jefelix@senat.gouv.ht

Web site:

http://www.haitiparlement.org/

Affiliation to IPU:

Affiliation date(s):

1954 - 1960
1975 - 1986

ELECTORAL SYSTEM

Electoral Law:

2 February 2005

Last modification: November 2005

Constituencies:

10 multi-member constituencies (each with three seats) corresponding to the country's departments.

Voting System:

Absolute majority vote in two rounds, if necessary.
An absolute majority is no longer required for the second round. There are no reserved seats for women, ethnic minority, or other categories.
Each elector votes for three Senators in the constituency. For partial renewal of the Senate (one-third every two years), each elector votes for one Senator in the constituency.
Vacancies arising between general elections are filled through by-elections, unless these vacancies occur during or following the last ordinary session of the legislature.
Voting is not compulsory.

Voter requirements:

- age: 18 at the time of registration
- Haitian citizenship
- full political and civil rights
- citizens overseas cannot vote
- disqualifications: imprisonment, insanity/mental illness, conviction of a criminal offence, persons under guardianship/wards, holders of temporary entry permits, undocumented immigrants

Eligibility:

- qualified electors
- age: 30 at the time of registration
- Haitian citizenship by birth
- full possession of civil and political rights
- residence in the constituency concerned for at least two consecutive years
- ownership of real property or employment/trade in the constituency
- ineligibility: imprisonment, insanity/mental illness, conviction of a criminal offence, persons under guardianship/wards, holders of temporary entry permits, undocumented immigrants, executives and members of the Electoral Commission

Incompatibilities:

- managers of public funds, who may stand for election but are relieved of their duties if elected
- government contractors
- representatives or agents of individuals, companies or corporations that are government contractors
- delegates, deputy-delegates, judges and ministry officials who did not resign at least six months before the elections
- members of the executive branch and directors general of public administration bodies who did not resign at least one year before the elections

Candidacy requirements:

- monetary deposit of 5,000 gourdes
- one half of the deposit is reimbursed for political parties winning at least 2 per cent of the valid votes nationwide

LAST ELECTIONS

Also available: Archive of past election results for this chamber

Dates of election / renewal (from/to):

7 February 2006

3 December 2006

Purpose of elections:

The elections were the first to be held since former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted in February 2004. They were held for all seats in both chambers of the enlarged National Assembly: 99 seats in the Chamber of Deputies (up from 83); and 30 seats in the Senate (up from 27). The National Assembly stopped functioning in January 2004 when the terms of all Deputies and two-thirds of sitting Senators expired. General elections had previously taken place in May 2000.

Background and outcome of elections:

After numerous postponements, the first elections since President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted in February 2004 were held on 7 February 2006, at the same time as the presidential elections, for all seats in both chambers of the enlarged National Assembly. The former National Assembly had stopped functioning in January 2004 when the terms of all deputies and two-thirds of sitting senators expired. Since March 2004, the country had been headed by an interim government led by President Boniface Alexandre and Prime Minister Gerard Latortue.

In the last elections, which were held in 2000, the Lavalas Family Party won 72 of the 82 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and all seats in the Senate. The party was formed in 1996 by former President Aristide when he broke with the People's Struggle Party (OPL). The Organization of American States (OAS) withdrew its observers in the second round of voting in 2000, deeming that the results of the first round had been rigged in favour of the Lavalas Family Party.

More than 50 political parties were registered for the parliamentary elections in 2006. The leading party was Mr. René Préval's Front for Hope (Lespwa), which was created by former members of the Lavalas Family Party. Mr. Préval, a former President (1996-2001) and long-time ally of Mr. Aristide, was a leading candidate in the presidential elections. He pledged to re-establish security and create jobs. The Lavalas Family Party was said to be a possible ally for Lespwa, whose main rivals were the Haitian Social-Democratic Fusion Party of Mr. Serge Gilles, the Democratic Alliance Party (Alyans) of former mayor of Port-au-Prince Mr. Evans Paul, and Mr. Paul Deniss OPL. All three had reportedly supported the removal of President Aristide from power in 2004.

Violence has been rife in this country of 8.5 million habitants, more than half of whom live on less than one dollar per day. Most political parties pledged to deal with security problems and promised to develop the country. The international community saw the elections as a first step towards the restoration of democracy. The then United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said they were an opportunity to move towards a future of peace and stability.

The elections were held in the presence of over 9,000 United Nations personnel, including some 7,000 troops and 1,700 police officers. They were monitored by more than 200 international observers.

In the first round, held on 7 February 2006, about 60 per cent of roughly 3.5 million registered voters turned out for the polls. Voting was hampered by late poll openings, delays in distributing ballots and a shortage of election workers. Four people were reportedly killed on polling day in crowd crushes. Only two candidates for the Chamber of Deputies obtained the majority needed to win a seat.

In the presidential elections, Mr. Préval came in first with 48.8 per cent, short of the 50 per cent needed to be declared winner at the first round. After the vote, he claimed that the elections had been marred by massive fraud, and insisted that some 85,000 blank votes should be excluded from the official count. The discovery of voting bags and marked ballots in a garbage dump triggered a series of street protests by Mr. Préval's supporters. The United Nations Mission in Haiti spoke of an "apparent grave breach of the electoral process". Following these protests, the interim government and the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) agreed to discard the blank votes, giving Mr. Préval 51.15 per cent of the votes, enough to be elected as the country's new president at the first round.

Run-offs for the parliamentary elections, originally scheduled for 19 March, were held on 21 April. Only 28.31 per cent of registered voters turned out.

Lespwa won the largest number of seats in both chambers, but failed to win an absolute majority.

After the election, two major parliamentary blocs were formed in the Chamber of Deputies: one comprised the Haitian Social-Democratic Fusion Party, Alyans and the OPL; the other, the Group of 30, consisted of Lespwa, the Lavalas Family Party and a number of small parties. A further 10 deputies from minority parties formed another loose parliamentary bloc.

At the first meeting of the new Parliament, held on 9 May 2006, 27 of 30 senators and 82 of 99 deputies were sworn in. On 10 May 2006, the lower house elected Mr. Pierre Eric Jean-Jacques of Lespwa as Speaker. The following day, the Senate elected Mr. Joseph Lambert of the same party as its Speaker.
On 14 May 2006, Mr. René Préval was sworn in as the country's new President, officially ending Haiti's two-year political transition.

The election of six additional deputies was subsequently confirmed, leaving eleven seats in the Chamber of Deputies and three seats in the Senate vacant. Elections for these seats were finally held on 3 December 2006, at the same time as local elections. Lespwa remained the largest party in both chambers.

STATISTICS


Round no 1 (7 February 2006): Election results

Number of registered electors		3'533'430
Voters		60%
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes


Round no 2 (21 April 2006): Election results

Number of registered electors		3'533'430
Voters		28.31%
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes

Round no 1: Distribution of votes

Political Group

Candidates

Votes

% of votes

Round no 2: Distribution of votes

Political Group

Candidates

Votes

% of votes

Front for Hope (Lespwa)

Haitian Social-Democratic Fusion Party

People's Struggle Party (OPL)

Lavalas Family Party

Latibonit Ann Aksyon (LAAA)

Bridge Party

Union

Democratic Alliance Party (ALYANS)

Round no 1: Distribution of seats

Political Group

Total of seats

Election 03.12.2006

2nd round


Round no 2: Distribution of seats

Political Group	Total of seats	Election 03.12.2006	2nd round
Front for Hope (Lespwa)	11	0	11
Haitian Social-Democratic Fusion Party	5	2	3
People's Struggle Party (OPL)	4	0	4
Lavalas Family Party	3	0	3
Latibonit Ann Aksyon (LAAA)	2	0	2
Bridge Party	2	1	1
Union	2	0	2
Democratic Alliance Party (ALYANS)	1	0	1

Comments:

No candidate for the Senate was elected at the first round.
Elections for three seats in Nord-Est Department were held on 3 December 2006.

Sources:
- Centre Haïtien d'Appui à la Démocratie et au Développement des Initiatives Parlementaires (12.06.2006)
- MINUSTAH (19.12.2006)
- http://www.cep-ht.org/
- http://www.tnh.ht/index.html
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/
- http://edition.cnn.com/

Distribution of seats according to sex:

Men:

Women:

Percent of women:

13.33

Distribution of seats according to age:

Distribution of seats according to profession:

PRESIDENCY OF THE PARLIAMENT

APPOINTMENT AND TERM OF OFFICE

Title:

President of the Senate

Term:

- duration: 2 years
- reasons for interruption of the term: resignation, death, dissolution

Appointment:

- elected by all the Senators, every 2 years at the first sitting of the ordinary session following the partial renewal (1/3) of the Senate
- following validation of mandates
- after Senators are sworn in

Eligibility:

- any Senator can be a candidate

Voting system:

- formal vote by secret ballot
- absolute majority in the first round, relative majority in the second round, in the event of a tie in the second round : the oldest Senator is elected

Procedures / results:

- the eldest Senator presides over the Senate during the voting
- the eldest Senator announces the results without any delay
- the results cannot be challenged

STATUS

Status:

- in the absence of the President, the Vice President can assume his/her role and functions

Board:

- consists of the President, a Vice President, a Queastor and two Secretaries
- should be composed in such a way to reflect the political composition of the Senate

Material facilities:

NA (no information received)

FUNCTIONS

Organization of parliamentary business:

- presides over the Conference of Presidents which, in liaison with the Government, prepares the programme and the timetable of work
- convenes sessions within the framework of the Conference of the Presidents
- establishes and modifies the agenda within the framework of the Conference of Presidents

Chairing of public sittings:

- ensures respect for provisions of the Constitution and Standing Orders
- makes announcements concerning the Senate
- takes disciplinary measures in the event of disturbance, and lifts such measures
- establishes the list of speakers, gives and withdraws permission to speak, in connection with the organisation of the debates laid down by the Conference of Presidents
- establishes the order in which amendments are taken up and selects which amendments are to be debated
- calls for a vote, decides how it is to be carried out, verifies the voting procedure and cancels a vote in the event of irregularities
- checks the quorum
- interprets the rules or other regulations governing the life of the Assembly
The Board is responsible with regard to :
* the regulation of the proceedings of the Senate

Special powers:

- sign the annual budget (jointly with the Vice President and the Queastor)
- sign (jointly with the Vice President and the Queastor) appointments and dismissals of members of the administrative staff
- the Board is responsible with regards to :
* the organisation, the running and the supervising of the department and administration staff at the Senate
- is responsible for safety, and in this capacity, can call the police in the event of disturbance in the Senate

Speaking and voting rights, other functions:

- takes part in voting, only in the event of a tie

MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT

PARLIAMENTARY MANDATE

Nature of the mandate:

NA (no information received)

Start of the mandate:

NA (no information received)

Validation of mandates:

NA (no information received)

End of the mandate:

NA (no information received)

Can MPs resign ?

Yes

NA (no information received)

Can MPs lose their mandate ?

Yes

NA (no information received)

STATUS OF PARLIAMENT MEMBERS

Rank in hierarchy:

NA (no information received)

Indemnities, facilities and services:

NA (no information received)

Obligation to declare personal assets:

Parliamentary immunity - parliamentary non-accountability:

NA (no information received)

Parliamentary immunity - parliamentary inviolability:

NA (no information received)

EXERCISE OF THE MANDATE

Training:

NA (no information received)

Participation in the work of the Parliament:

NA (no information received)

Discipline:

NA (no information received)

Code (rules) of conduct:

NA (no information received)

Relations between MPs and pressure group:

NA (no information received)

Also available: Archive of past election results for this chamber

General Information | Electoral System
Last Elections | Presidency of the Parliament | Parliamentary Mandate
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