Congress of the Republic of Guatemala

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 160 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 Guatemala'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.

Congress of the Republic of Guatemala Congreso de la República de Guatemala
X Legislature
Type
Type	Unicameral
History
Founded	11 March 1945
Leadership
President	Nery Ramos, Blue since 19 January 2024
1st Vice President	Darwin Lucas Paiz, UNE since 19 January 2024
2nd Vice President	César Amézquita, VIVA since 14 January 2024
3rd Vice President	Nery Rodas, Cabal since 14 January 2024
1st Secretary	Karina Paz, VOS since 19 January 2024
Structure
Seats	160 members
Political groups	Government (25)   SEMILLA: 24 seats   WINAQ-URNG: 1 seat Others (135)   VAMOS: 40 seats   UNE: 27 seats   CABAL: 18 seats   VALOR: 11 seats   VIVA: 9 seats   TODOS: 6 seats   PPN: 5 seats   VOS: 4 seats   BIEN: 4 seats   CREO: 3 seats   VICTORIA: 3 seats   UNIONISTA: 2 seats   ELEFANTE: 1 seat   Cambio: 1 seat   AZUL: 1 seat
Elections
Voting system	Closed-list proportional representation
Last election	25 June 2023
Next election	2027
Motto
God, Union, Liberty
Meeting place
Zone 1,Guatemala City
Website
www.congreso.gob.gt

Deputies by Department

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	160

History

Guatemala had a bicameral legislature in the 1845 constitution. It was replaced with the unicameral Chamber of Representatives (Spanish: Cámara de Representantes), which was in turn reformulated as the National Assembly (Spanish: Asamblea Nacional) in 1879, then the Congress of the Republic in 1945.^[1]

Political culture

It is not uncommon for deputies to change parties during the legislature's term or to secede from a party and create a new party or congressional block.

Building

The Congress of the Republic Guatemala is located in the Legislative Palace in Guatemala city.^[2]

During the protests against the budget for 2021 on 21 November 2020, protestors entered the building and set parts of it on fire.^[3][4][5]

Latest election

Main article: 2023 Guatemalan general election

Result of the legislative election.

Party or alliance				National			District			Total seats	+/–
				Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Vamos			628,126	15.06	6	696,325	15.54	33	39	+23
	National Unity of Hope			538,010	12.90	5	571,867	12.76	23	28	–26
	Semilla			488,692	11.72	5	430,297	9.60	18	23	+16
	Cabal			371,215	8.90	3	401,035	8.95	15	18	New
	Vision with Values			288,546	6.92	3	258,605	5.77	8	11	+4
	Valor–Unionist		Valor–Unionist	229,861	5.51	2	124,133	2.77	3	5	New
			Valor			–	197,538	4.41	7	7	–2
			Unionist Party			–	22,363	0.50	0	0	–3
	Will, Opportunity and Solidarity			186,438	4.47	1	178,750	3.99	3	4	New
	Todos			169,101	4.05	1	198,893	4.44	5	6	–1
	URNG–MAIZ–Winaq		URNG–MAIZ–Winaq	133,694	3.21	1	25,013	0.56	0	1	New
			Winaq			–	76,137	1.70	0	0	–3
			Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity			–	87,687	1.96	0	0	–3
	Nosotros			131,217	3.15	1	138,742	3.10	2	3	New
	Victory			124,946	3.00	1	126,830	2.83	2	3	–
	Bienestar Nacional			112,742	2.70	1	121,488	2.71	3	4	–4
	Blue Party			98,487	2.36	1	109,802	2.45	1	2	New
	Elephant Community			95,435	2.29	1	90,040	2.01	1	2	New
	Podemos			86,475	2.07	0	87,011	1.94	0	0	–1
	Commitment, Renewal and Order			84,667	2.03	0	102,421	2.29	3	3	–3
	Movement for the Liberation of Peoples			74,802	1.79	0	81,142	1.81	0	0	–1
	Humanist Party of Guatemala			61,564	1.48	0	72,059	1.61	0	0	–6
	Change			52,754	1.26	0	87,821	1.96	1	1	New
	National Advancement Party			45,940	1.10	0	41,594	0.93	0	0	–2
	My Family			45,402	1.09	0	44,576	0.99	0	0	New
	Republican Union			34,982	0.84	0	34,159	0.76	0	0	New
	National Convergence Front			28,827	0.69	0	29,386	0.66	0	0	–8
	Guatemalan People's Party			23,837	0.57	0	12,672	0.28	0	0	New
	Republican Party			21,658	0.52	0	20,115	0.45	0	0	New
	National Integration Party			13,927	0.33	0	12,416	0.28	0	0	New
Total				4,171,345	100.00	32	4,480,917	100.00	128	160	–
Source: TSE (99.13% counted, national votes) TSE

Central American Parliament

20
Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Vamos	655,906	17.75	5	+2
	National Unity of Hope	594,918	16.10	4	–1
	Semilla	425,629	11.52	3	+2
	Vision with Values	274,193	7.42	2	+1
	Valor–Unionist	256,291	6.94	2	+1
	Todos	166,509	4.51	1	–
	Will, Opportunity and Solidarity	155,181	4.20	1	+1
	Nosotros	131,284	3.55	1	+1
	Victory	120,106	3.25	1	+1
	URNG–MAIZ–Winaq	118,998	3.22	0	–2
	Bienestar Nacional	108,030	2.92	0	–
	Elephant Community	100,932	2.73	0	–
	Blue Party	95,540	2.59	0	–
	Podemos	86,116	2.33	0	–
	Commitment, Renewal and Order	81,892	2.22	0	–1
	Humanist Party of Guatemala	70,219	1.90	0	–
	Change	55,276	1.50	0	–
	My Family	48,948	1.32	0	–
	National Advancement Party	41,712	1.13	0	–
	Republican Union	34,415	0.93	0	–
	National Convergence Front	28,930	0.78	0	–2
	Guatemalan People's Party	23,435	0.63	0	–
	Republican Party	20,666	0.56	0	–
Total		3,695,126	100.00	20	–
Valid votes		3,695,126	65.83
Invalid votes		1,272,521	22.67
Blank votes		645,511	11.50
Total votes		5,613,158	100.00
Source: TSE (99.10% percent counted)

See also

• Politics of Guatemala
• List of legislatures by country

Notes

References

1. Guatemala. Latin American series ;no. 30. 1947. hdl:2027/hvd.32044058953571.
2. "Palacio Legislativo". Congreso de la República. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
3. Wirtz, Nic; Kitroeff, Natalie (21 November 2021). "Protesters in Guatemala Set Fire to Congress Building Over Spending Cuts". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
4. Pérez D., Sonia (21 November 2020). "Protesters burn part of Guatemala's Congress building". ABC News. Archived from the original on 21 November 2020. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
5. "Protesters set fire to Guatemalan Congress". MSN.com. AFP. 21 November 2020. Retrieved 28 November 2021.

External links

• Official website