Congress of the Union explained

General Congress of the
United Mexican States
Native Name:Spanish; Castilian: Congreso General de los<br/>Estados Unidos Mexicanos
Legislature:LXV Legislature
Coa Pic:Seal of the Government of Mexico (linear).svg
Coa Alt:Seal of the Congress
House Type:Bicameral
Houses:Senate of the Republic
Chamber of Deputies
Leader1 Type: 
Leader1:Ana Lilia Rivera
Party1:(MORENA)
Leader2 Type:President of the
Party2:(PRI)
Members:628
(500 Deputies)
(128 Senators)
House1:Senate
House2:Chamber of Deputies
Structure1:Senado de México (2018-2024).svg
Structure1 Res:250px
Structure2:Mexico Chamber of Deputies 2021.svg
Structure2 Res:250px
Political Groups1:Government

Opposition

Political Groups2:Government

Opposition

Salary:$500,000 pesos (Senator)[1] [2]
$150,139 pesos (Deputy)[3] [4]
Last Election1:
Last Election2:
Next Election1:
Next Election2:
Motto:La Patria Es Primero
Session Room:NewSenateBldgMexicoCity.jpg
Session Res:240px
Meeting Place:Senate Building
Mexico City
Session Room2:San lazaro.jpg
Session Res2:240px
Meeting Place2:San Lázaro Building
Mexico City
Website:Senate website
Chamber of Deputies website
Constitution:Mexican Constitution of 1917
Rules:"Organic Law of the General Congress of the United Mexican States" (Spanish)
Rules for the Interior Government of the General Congress of the United Mexican States" (Spanish)

The Congress of the Union (Spanish; Castilian: Congreso de la Unión, pronounced as /es/), formally known as the General Congress of the United Mexican States (Congreso General de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos), is the legislature of the federal government of Mexico. It consists of two chambers: the Senate of the Republic and the Chamber of Deputies. Its 628 members (128 senators and 500 deputies) meet in Mexico City.

Structure

See main article: Senate of the Republic (Mexico) and Chamber of Deputies (Mexico).

See also: Elections in Mexico. The Congress is a bicameral body, consisting of two chambers: the Senate of the Republic and the Chamber of Deputies. Its structure and responsibilities are defined in the Third Title, Second Chapter, Articles 50 to 79 of the 1917 Constitution. The upper chamber is the Senate, Cámara de Senadores or Senado. It comprises 128 seats: 96 members are elected by plurality vote, with three members being elected in each state (two seats are awarded to the winning party or coalition and one to the first runner-up); the other 32 members are elected by proportional representation in a single country-wide constituency. Senators serve six-year terms.

The lower house is the Chamber of Deputies, or Cámara de Diputados. It has 500 seats; 300 members are elected by plurality vote and the other 200 members are elected according to proportional representation (PR), through a system of regional lists (one for each of the five constituencies established for the election by law).[5] Deputies serve three-year terms.

The 200 PR seats are distributed generally without taking into account the 300 plurality seats (parallel voting). Since 1996, however, a party cannot get more seats overall than 8% above its result for the PR seats (a party must win 42% of the votes for the PR seats to achieve an overall majority).

There are two exceptions to that rule. A party can lose only PR seats by that rule (not plurality seats). Also, a party cannot get more than 300 seats overall (even if it has more than 52% of the votes for the PR seats).

Powers

The powers invested in Congress are defined in article 73 of the Constitution. Among its powers, Congress can admit new States into the Union, alter the allocation of powers granted to the federal government, lay and collect taxes, declare war (upon request of the Government), provide for and maintain the Union's armed forces, and coordinate economic activities.

Article 74, 75 and 76 of the Constitution state that each Chamber can address specific matters. In fact, some powers are reserved either to the Chamber of Deputies or to the Chamber of Senators, making the Congress of the Union an example of imperfect bicameralism. For example, the former can approve the federal budget submitted by the Government, while the latter has the power to analyze the foreign policy of the Government, approve or dismiss the Presidential nominations of the Attorney General, Supreme Court Justices, diplomatic agents, general consuls, and senior civil and military officials.

Permanent Committee

The Spanish; Castilian: Comisión Permanente del Congreso de la Unión, translated variously as the Permanent Committee or Standing Committee, is a body of 19 deputies and 18 senators that is responsible for tasks relating to the Congress when it is in recess.

Term

It is conventional to refer to each Legislature by the Roman numeral of its term. Thus, the current Congress (whose term lasts from 2021 to 2024) is known as the "LXV Legislature"; the previous Congress (whose term lasted from 2018 to 2021) was the "LXIV Legislature", and so forth. The I Legislature of Congress was the one that met right after the Constituent Congress that enacted the 1857 Constitution.

Early in the 20th century, the revolutionary leader Francisco I. Madero popularized the slogan Sufragio Efectivo – no Reelección ("Effective suffrage, no reelection"). In keeping with that long-held principle, and until 2014, the 1917 Constitution stated that "Deputies and Senators could not be reelected for the next immediate term".[6]

Reelection

See also: Sexenio (Mexico).

On February 10, 2014, Article 59 of the Mexican Constitution was amended to allow reelection to the legislative bodies for the first time. Starting with the general election of 2018, deputies and senators are allowed to run for reelection.[7] Members of the Chamber of Deputies may serve up to four terms of three years each while members of the Senate may serve two terms of six years each; in total, members of both houses will be allowed to remain in office for a total of 12 years.[8]

Last election

See also: 2018 Mexican general election and LXIV Legislature of the Mexican Congress.

Senate

PartyConstituencyProportionalTotal
seats
+/–
Votes%SeatsVotes%Seats
National Regeneration Movement661,0681.18221,261,57737.501355New
National Action Party600,4231.0719,971,80417.59623 15
Institutional Revolutionary Party3,855,9846.8609,013,65815.90613 44
bgcolor=Party of the Democratic Revolution96,3930.1702,984,8615.2728 15
Citizens' Movement570,7741.0122,654,4524.6827 6
Ecologist Green Party1,198,0112.1302,528,1754.4627 3
Labor Party51,2600.0902,164,4423.8216 2
Social Encounter Party28,8780.0501,320,5592.3308New
New Alliance Party593,5071.0601,307,0152.3101 0
MORENA–PT–PES23,754,42242.2453
PAN–PRD–MC14,222,04625.2925
PRI–PVEM–PNA7,145,86912.7113
Independents1,109,1491.971,109,1491.970 0
Write-ins30,5680.0531,8200.06
Invalid/blank votes2,319,4894.122,344,3574.14
Total56,237,8411009656,691,869100321280
Registered voters/turnout89,994,03962.4989,994,03963.52
align=left colspan=10Source: INE

Of the 53 seats won by the MORENA-PT–PES alliance, 40 were taken by MORENA, 8 by the PES, and 5 by the PT

Of the 25 seats won by the PAN–PRD–MC alliance, 16 were taken by the PAN, 6 by the PRD, and 3 by the MC

Of the 13 seats won by the PRI–PVEM–PNA alliance, 7 were taken by the PRI, 5 by the PVEM, and 1 by the PNA

Chamber of Deputies

PartyDistrictProportionalTotal
seats
+/–
Votes%SeatsVotes%Seats
National Regeneration Movement709,8401.27820,972,57337.2584189 154
National Action Party697,5951.25510,096,58817.934183 25
Institutional Revolutionary Party4,351,8247.7819,310,52316.543845 158
bgcolor=Party of the Democratic Revolution124,8080.2202,967,9695.271221 35
Ecologist Green Party1,429,8022.5502,695,4054.791116 31
Citizens' Movement268,8760.4802,485,1984.411027 1
Labor Party67,4290.1202,211,7533.93461 55
New Alliance Party705,4321.2601,391,3762.4702 8
Social Encounter Party54,9060.1001,353,9412.40056 48
MORENA–PT–PES23,513,13242.01210
PAN–PRD–MC14,381,87225.7063
PRI–PVEM–PNA6,862,37212.2613
Independents539,3470.960539,3470.9600 1
Write-ins32,6250.0632,9590.06
Invalid/blank votes2,227,5733.982,242,6153.98
Total55,967,43310030056,300,2471002005000
Registered voters/turnout89,994,03962.2089,994,03963.21
Source: INE

Of the 210 seats won by the MORENA-PT–PES alliance, 97 were taken by MORENA, 57 by the PT, and 56 by the PES

Of the 63 seats won by the PAN–PRD–MC alliance, 37 were taken by the PAN, 17 by the MC, and 9 by the PRD

Of the 13 seats won by the PRI–PVEM–PNA alliance, 6 were taken by the PRI, 5 by the PVEM, and 2 by the PNA

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Manual de Percepciones de los Senadores... . 5 . Senado de la República . 19 August 2011.
  2. Web site: 2 Mil 312 Millones Para Sueldos de Senadores y Diputados en 2010. . El Siglo de Torreón . 19 August 2011 . https://archive.today/20120629080334/http://foros.elsiglodetorreon.com.mx/politica/336233-2+mil+312+millones+para+sueldos+de+senadores+y+diputados+en+2010.html . 29 June 2012 . dead .
  3. Web site: Poder Legislativo . Cámara de Diputados . 19 August 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20111203030718/http://www.diputados.gob.mx/LeyesBiblio/marjur/marco/Dip_manual_remun_28feb11.pdf . 3 December 2011 .
  4. Web site: Consejeros del InfoDF ganan más que Ebrard. . La Razón . 19 August 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170819234003/http://www.razon.com.mx/spip.php?article80027 . 19 August 2017 . dead .
  5. Web site: El proyecto - Elección 2012 México: Elecciones, Candidatos a la Presidencia, encuestas electorales . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110823081417/http://www.eleccion2012mexico.com/project-definition . 23 August 2011 . 29 August 2011.
  6. Constitution of 1917, articles 50, 59.
  7. Web site: Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos. Artículo 59.. Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas de la UNAM. 2 April 2015. es. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20031014004128/http://info4.juridicas.unam.mx/ijure/fed/9/62.htm. 14 October 2003.
  8. Web site: Becerra. Bertha. Habría reelección de diputados y senadores a partir del 2018. La Prensa. Organización Editorial Mexicana. 1 April 2015. es. 20 May 2014.