House of Representatives of Liberia: Difference between revisions
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[[Category:Politics of Liberia]] |
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[[Category:National legislatures|Liberia]] |
[[Category:National legislatures|Liberia]] |
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Revision as of 22:30, 12 November 2005
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 Liberia portal |
The House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the bicameral Liberian Legislature. The country is currently in transition and legislative powers have been vested in a unicameral, 76-member National Transitional Legislative Assembly since October 2003. Legislative elections took place on 11 October 2005, and the elected members are due to take office in January 2006.
Candidate eligibility
Citizens of Liberia who have attained the age of 25 years are eligible to contest elections and become members of the House of Representatives.
Electoral system
The simple majority (or First Past the Post) voting system is used in electing members to both chambers of the Liberian Legislature. In House elections, the candidate with a plurality of votes (not necessarily an absolute majority) wins. House members serve a six-year term.
County representation
The 64 House seats are distributed among Liberia's fifteen counties based on its total number of registered voters. Each county is guaranteed by law to have at least two seats. The current seat distribution among the counties is as follows:
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2005 election results
| Party/Coalition | Total Seats (64) |
| Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) | 15 |
| Liberty Party (LP) | 09 |
| Coalition for the Transformation of Liberia (COTOL) | 08 |
| Unity Party (UP) | 08 |
| Alliance for Peace and Democracy (APD) | 05 |
| National Patriotic Party (NPP) | 04 |
| New Deal Movement (NDM) | 03 |
| All Liberia Coalition Party (ALCOP) | 02 |
| National Democratic Party of Liberia (NDPL) | 01 |
| National Reformation Party (NRP) | 01 |
| United Democratic Alliance (UDA) | 01 |
| Independents | 07 |
Leadership structure
Once the newly-elected House of Representatives is convened, its members will elect a Speaker who will be the presiding officer of the body, a Deputy Speaker, and other officers whose purpose is to the proper functioning of the House.
The Speaker, Deputy Speaker, and other officers may be removed from office by resolution of a two-thirds majority of House members.