Haiti's Parliament
Structure, elections, and powers of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies under the 1987 Constitution
1. Structure
Haiti's Parliament has two chambers (Article 88): the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The Chamber has 119 deputies — each electoral district elects one (Article 90); the exact number is set by electoral law. Deputies are elected for 4 years and may be re-elected without limit (Article 92). The Senate has 30 senators — 3 for each of the 10 departments (Article 94-1). Senators are elected for 6 years (Article 95), but the Senate renews by thirds: one-third (10 senators) every 2 years (Article 95-3). To be a deputy you must be at least 25 years old (Article 91); for senator, at least 30 (Article 96).
2. How They Are Elected
Deputies and senators are elected by direct citizen vote. A candidate must win an absolute majority of votes cast (Article 90-1); if no one reaches it in the first round, a runoff is held between the leading candidates. The KEP (Provisional Electoral Council) organizes the elections. To vote, every citizen must hold the CINU biometric identity card issued by ONI.
3. Powers of Each Chamber
The two chambers pass laws — legislative initiative belongs to each chamber and to the Executive (Article 111). The Prime Minister must win a confidence vote on the general policy statement by an absolute majority of both chambers (Articles 137 and 158). Every member of Parliament has the right to interpellate a member of the government (Article 129-2); if an interpellation becomes a censure vote against the government's program, the Prime Minister must resign (Articles 129-3 and 129-4). When the two chambers meet together they form the National Assembly (Article 98), which receives the president's oath, approves international treaties, declares war, and takes part in amending the Constitution (Article 98-3, Articles 282-284). The Chamber of Deputies can indict the president, Prime Minister, or judges by a 2/3 majority (Article 186), and the Senate constitutes itself as the High Court of Justice to try them (Article 185).
4. Parliament Today
No elected parliament has sat since January 2020: the terms of all deputies and two-thirds of the senators expired on January 13, 2020 because the October 2019 elections were never held, and the last 10 senators' terms ended in January 2023. Since then the country has had no elected legislative power. Legislative elections are scheduled together with the presidential election for August 30, 2026 (first round) and December 6, 2026 (runoff).
5. The Last Elected Legislature (50th, 2016-2020)
The 2015-2016 elections produced the 50th legislature. Here is the party composition of the Chamber of Deputies (119 seats) and the Senate (20 of 30 seats filled after the elections):
| Party (Chamber of Deputies) | Seats |
|---|---|
| PHTK (Pati Ayisyen Tèt Kale) | 31 |
| Vérité | 17-18 |
| KID | 10 |
| OPL | 9 |
| Fanmi Lavalas | 7 |
| Réseau National Bouclier | 7 |
| AAA (Ayiti an Aksyon) | 5 |
| Inite Patriyotik | 5 |
| Fusion | 4 |
| LAPEH | 4 |
| Renmen Ayiti | 3 |
| Platfòm Pitit Desalin | 2 |
| Other small parties (11 parties, 1-2 seats each) | 14-15 |
| TOTAL | 119 |
| Party (Senate) | Seats |
|---|---|
| PHTK | 5 |
| Vérité | 3 |
| KID | 3 |
| Other parties (OPL, Fanmi Lavalas, Bouclier, Pitit Desalin, AAA, Ligue Dessalinienne, Pont, Inite, CNPPH — 1 each) | 9 |
| TOTAL FILLED | 20 / 30 |
Data note: these figures come from the official 2015-2016 election results as reported by two independent sources; sources vary slightly on Vérité (17 or 18 seats). We do not publish a complete roster of every deputy and senator because we could not find a complete list confirmed by at least 2 independent sources — we prefer to say that honestly rather than invent data.