CHAPTER 5
THE LOWER HOUSE
Article 37 — Constitutional Role of the Lower House
The Lower House is the chamber of popular representation and is the primary chamber for legislation, government formation, budget approval, and political oversight.
The Lower House shall: a) adopt laws; b) approve the state budget and reports on its execution; c) form the Government in accordance with this Constitution; d) exercise political oversight over the Government and central executive bodies; e) initiate constitutional responsibility procedures against the Speaker, members of the Government, heads of independent constitutional bodies, and other senior state officials as provided by this Constitution; f) ratify international treaties where required by this Constitution; g) exercise all other powers established by the Constitution.
Article 38 — Electoral Districts of the Lower House
The Lower House shall be elected by universal, equal, direct, and secret suffrage in twenty (20) electoral districts.
Electoral districts correspond to the territorial units of the Republic: a) one district for each of the seventeen (17) counties; b) one district for each of the three (3) cities of republican significance.
District boundaries are defined by the constitutional territorial structure of the Republic and may not be altered except by constitutional amendment.
All one hundred fifty (150) seats shall be allocated among the twenty districts by the Independent Electoral Authority applying the Sainte-Laguë method to the population of each district. The guaranteed minimums in paragraph 4a operate as a floor only: the Sainte-Laguë method, not the minimums, determines the actual seat count of each district.
4a. Guaranteed minimums (floor only, not the allocation formula): a) each county district: three (3) seats; b) each city of republican significance district: two (2) seats.
4b. If a district’s Sainte-Laguë result falls below its guaranteed minimum, that district receives the minimum and the remaining seats are reallocated among the other districts by the same method, until all one hundred fifty (150) seats are allocated.
Population-based seat allocation shall be recalculated by the Independent Electoral Authority within ninety days of the publication of each national census and shall take effect at the first general election following recalculation. Results shall be published and are subject to judicial review.
Seat allocation may not be manipulated to benefit or disadvantage any political party, candidate, group, region, or community.
Article 39 — Electoral System for the Lower House
Within each electoral district, seats shall be allocated among political parties by proportional representation using the Sainte-Laguë method or an equivalent proportional method established by constitutional law.
A party must receive at least three percent (3%) of valid votes cast nationally to be eligible for seat allocation in any district.
Elections to the Lower House shall use open party lists. Each voter casts one ballot consisting of: a) a vote for a political party; and b) a preference vote for one candidate on that party’s district list.
Seats won by a party in a district shall be filled by its candidates in order of preference votes received. A candidate with no preference votes retains the position assigned by the party on its list.
Electoral law shall ensure that the proportional system remains genuinely representative and may not be altered to frustrate political pluralism or artificially inflate parliamentary majorities.
Voters shall cast ballots in a manner that ensures: a) free choice between parties and candidates; b) knowledge, before the election, of the Prime Ministerial candidate proclaimed by each party in accordance with Article 40; c) equal weight of each valid vote; d) secrecy, verifiability, and auditability of the vote, including in electronic voting systems.
Article 40 — Prime Ministerial Candidate Declaration Before Elections
Every political party participating in Lower House elections shall proclaim, before the beginning of the official campaign period, its candidate for Prime Minister.
A party may proclaim only one Prime Ministerial candidate.
The proclaimed candidate must satisfy all constitutional requirements for appointment to the office of Prime Minister.
A party may not change its proclaimed Prime Ministerial candidate after the official campaign begins, except in cases of death, permanent incapacity, judicial disqualification, or voluntary withdrawal, as established by constitutional law.
Any change under paragraph 4 shall be publicly announced within twenty-four hours and reviewed by the Independent Electoral Authority, which shall confirm the new candidate’s constitutional eligibility before the change takes effect.
A party that fails to proclaim a Prime Ministerial candidate before the deadline established by constitutional law shall be ineligible to participate in government formation under Chapter 8 of this Constitution, even if it wins seats in the Lower House. Its deputies shall retain their mandates and legislative rights unaffected.
Article 41 — Eligibility for the Lower House
A citizen of the Republic may be elected to the Lower House if that person: a) has attained twenty-five (25) years of age; b) possesses full political rights; c) has not been finally convicted of grave crimes incompatible with public office, as defined by constitutional law, except where such conviction has been expunged; d) is not serving as a judge, prosecutor, active-duty military officer, active intelligence officer, or police commander at the time of candidacy, and shall resign from any such position before taking the oath of office.
Additional eligibility requirements may be established only by constitutional law and may not be discriminatory or unreasonable.
Article 42 — First Sitting of the Lower House
The first sitting of the newly elected Lower House shall be convened not later than fifteen days after the official certification of election results.
The first sitting shall: a) validate mandates; b) elect the Speaker of the Lower House and other officers; c) establish committees; d) initiate the procedure of government formation under this Constitution.
Until the election of a Speaker, the first sitting shall be chaired by the eldest deputy present, unless constitutional law provides another neutral procedure.
If convening within fifteen days is impossible due to circumstances beyond the control of Parliament, the Independent Electoral Authority shall set the earliest practicable date, which shall not exceed thirty days from the official certification of election results. Any such extension shall be publicly announced and is subject to judicial review.
Article 43 — Speaker of the Lower House
The Lower House shall elect from among its members a Speaker by absolute majority of its constitutional membership — seventy-six (76) of one hundred fifty (150) deputies.
The Speaker: a) presides over sittings of the Lower House; b) ensures observance of the Constitution, parliamentary rules, and rights of deputies; c) certifies adopted texts; d) performs the ceremonial functions of Head of State in accordance with this Constitution.
The Speaker shall act impartially in the exercise of parliamentary and ceremonial duties.
The Speaker serves for the duration of the parliamentary term and may be re-elected. The Speaker may be removed by the Lower House by a vote of the absolute majority of its constitutional membership — seventy-six (76) of one hundred fifty (150) deputies.
The Lower House shall elect a Deputy Speaker from among its members by absolute majority — seventy-six (76) of one hundred fifty (150) deputies — at the first sitting. The Deputy Speaker assists the Speaker and exercises all parliamentary and head-of-state functions of the Speaker when the Speaker is temporarily absent, incapacitated, or the office is vacant. The Deputy Speaker may be removed by the same procedure as the Speaker.
Article 43a — Functions of the Speaker as Head of State in International Affairs
The Speaker of the Lower House acts as Head of State of the Republic in all ceremonial, representative, and constitutional functions not expressly assigned to another institution by this Constitution.
In the capacity of Head of State, the Speaker shall: a) represent the Republic in its international relations in a ceremonial capacity; b) sign and officially promulgate international treaties after their ratification by Parliament; c) receive diplomatic representatives of foreign states and international organizations and accredit them to the Republic; d) issue credentials to diplomatic representatives of the Republic appointed by the Government; e) formally proclaim a state of emergency declared by the Emergency Committee and approved by Parliament in accordance with Articles 130–132 of this Constitution, solely in response to armed aggression against the Republic; the Republic may not declare or initiate war against another state; f) issue state acts of a constitutional or ceremonial nature assigned to the Head of State by constitutional law.
The Speaker shall exercise these functions in conformity with the foreign policy of the Government as authorized by Parliament and shall not use them to conduct substantive foreign policy, conclude treaties without parliamentary ratification, or act contrary to the constitutional order.
Where the Speaker is temporarily incapacitated or the office is vacant, the functions of Head of State shall be exercised by the Deputy Speaker elected by the Lower House, or, where both offices are simultaneously vacant, by the person designated by constitutional law.