Soltenish Senate
Federal Senate Senato Federale | |
|---|---|
| 13th Soltenish Senate | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Founded | July 15, 1980 |
New session started | July 14, 2019 |
| Leadership | |
Prime Minister | Aurelio D'Libero (PUF) since July 29, 2019 |
Secretary of the Senate | Enzo Deloni (PUF) since July 29, 2019 |
Senate Parliamentarian | Mario Granzi (PUF) since July 29, 2019 |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 256 Senators |
 | |
Political groups |
|
| Elections | |
Last election | July 14, 2019 |
Next election | July 10, 2022 |
| Meeting place | |
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| Soltenish Capitol Free City of Carez | |
The Federal Senate (Soltenish: Senato Federale), commonly referred to as simply the Senate (Soltenish:Senato), is the unicameral parliament of Soltenia. According to the Constitution of Portugal, the parliament "is the representative assembly of all Portuguese citizens". The constitution names the assembly as one of the country's organs of supreme authority.
It is located in a historical building in Lisbon, referred to as Palácio de São Bento (Palace of Saint Benedict), the site of an old Benedictine monastery. The Palácio de São Bento has been the seat of the Portuguese parliaments since 1834 (Cortes until 1910, Congress from 1911 to 1926 and National Assembly from 1933 to 1974).
Powers and Duties
The Assembly of the Republic's powers derive from its ability to dismiss a government through a vote of no confidence, to change the country's laws, and to amend the constitution (which requires a majority of two-thirds). In addition to these key powers, the constitution grants to the Assembly extensive legislative powers and substantial control over the budget, the right to authorize the government to raise taxes and grant loans, the power to ratify treaties and other kinds of international agreements, and the duty to approve or reject decisions by the President of the Republic to declare war and make peace. The assembly also appoints many members of important state institutions, such as ten of the thirteen members of the Constitutional Court and seven of the sixteen members of the Council of State.
The constitution requires the assembly to quickly review and approve an incoming government's program. Parliamentary rules allow the assembly to call for committees of inquiry to examine the government's actions. Political opposition represented in the assembly has the power to review the cabinet's actions, even though it is unlikely that the actions can be reversed. Party groups can also call for interpellations that require debates about specific government policies.
Structure
The assembly originally consisted of 250 MPs, but the constitutional reforms of 1989 reduced its number to between 180 and 230. Members are elected by popular vote for legislative terms of four years from the country's twenty-two constituencies. There are eighteen in mainland Portugal corresponding to each district, one each for the autonomous regions of Azores (Portuguese: Açores) and Madeira, and two for Portuguese people living abroad (one covering Europe and one covering the rest of the world). Except for the constituencies for Portuguese living abroad, which are fixed at two representatives each, the number of MPs is determined by the number of voters registered in a constituency, using the D'Hondt method of proportional representation. Constituencies vary greatly in size; from as large as the district of Lisbon, which returns 48 representatives, to as small as the district of Portalegre, which elects just two.
For the 2019 legislative elections, the MPs distributed by districts were as follows: