Senate of the Czech Republic
The Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic (Czech: Senát Parlamentu České republiky), usually referred to as Senate, is the Upper House of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. The seat of the Senate is Wallenstein Palace in Prague.
Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Leadership | |
1st Vice-President | |
Vice-President | |
Vice-President | |
Vice-President | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 81 |
 | |
Political groups | Government (9)[1]
Opposition (72)[3]
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| Elections | |
| Two-round system in Single-member constituencies | |
Last election | October 2020 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| Wallenstein Palace, Prague | |
| Website | |
| www.senat.cz | |
Structure
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| This article is part of a series on the politics and government of the Czech Republic |
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The Senate has 81 members, chosen in single-seat constituencies through the two-round system. If no candidate receives a majority of votes in the first round, there is a second round between the two highest-placed candidates. The term of office for Senators is six years, and elections are staggered so that a third of the seats are up for election every two years. A candidate for the Senate does not need to be on a political party's ticket (unlike in the Chamber of Deputies).
The Senate has one President and four Vice-presidents.[6] Its members participate in specialised committees and commissions.[7][8] The Senate Chancellery has been created to provide professional, organisational and technical services. The Senate occupies several historical palaces in centre of Prague, in Malá Strana quarter. In 2005 its budget was 561.2 million CZK.
Powers
The Senate can delay a proposed law which was approved by the Chamber of Deputies but this veto can be overridden by an absolute majority (i.e. at least 101 of all 200 members) of the Chamber of Deputies in a repeated vote. The Senate, however, cannot be overridden when it votes on electoral law, constitutional law and on international treaties.
The Senate decides on confirmation of judges of the Constitutional Court, proposed by the President. It often uses this power to block unacceptable nominants and may propose new laws. However, the Senate does not get to vote on the country's budget or on confidence in the government, unlike the Chamber of Deputies.
The President of the Senate is the second-highest official of the Czech Republic for ceremonial purposes, after the President of the Republic, but without much real political power.
History
The Senate was established in constitutional law of the Czech National Council (ČNR) No. 1/1993 on 16 December 1992.[9] The immediate reason for its creation was a need to find a place for members of the Federal Assembly, dissolved together with Czechoslovakia. Other reasons given were the positioning of the Senate as a safety device ("pojistka") correcting laws endorsed by lower chamber and as a power balancing tool against the dominance of a single party, especially regarding constitution and electoral law. Due to opposition by the Civic Democratic Alliance (who had members in ČNR, the new lower chamber, but not in the Federal Assembly) and those politicians fearing dilution of power the Senate was not set up. The first elections were held in 1996, with voter turnout around 35% (much lower than turnout for the lower chamber). Further elections were held in accordance with the Constitution every two years after that.
The Senate has received criticism for being essentially powerless and unnecessary for a country of the size of the Czech Republic. However, the likely most prominent critic of Czech Senate, prime minister Andrej Babiš, has expressed his plan to change the electoral into Chamber of Deputies into First-past-the-post voting, something that cannot be done without consent of the Senate, plus the Czech Constitution prohibits such system for lower chamber.
Latest election results
Results of the Czech Senate election, 2018.
| Party[n 1] | First round | Second round | Seats | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Runners-up | Votes | % | Seats | Won | Not up | Total | +/– | ||
| Civic Democratic Party | 163,630 | 15.02 | 11 | 116,376 | 27.86 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 16 | +7 | |
| ANO 2011 | 147,477 | 13.54 | 10 | 57,500 | 13.75 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 0 | |
| Czech Social Democratic Party | 100,478 | 9.22 | 5 | 33,887 | 8.10 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 13 | -12 | |
| Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party | 99,383 | 9.12 | 5 | 34,833 | 8.33 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 16 | +2 | |
| Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia | 80,371 | 7.38 | 1 | 3,578 | 0.86 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | |
| Mayors and Independents | 79,025 | 7.25 | 4 | 47,317 | 11.31 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 10 | +5 | |
| Freedom and Direct Democracy | 70,110 | 6.44 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Czech Pirate Party | 66,281 | 6.08 | 3 | 17,528 | 4.20 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| TOP 09 | 41,980 | 3.85 | 2 | 22,580 | 5.40 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | +1 | |
| Senator 21 | 33,860 | 3.11 | 3 | 24,250 | 5.80 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 | ||
| Marek Hilšer for Senate | 15,045 | 1.38 | 1 | 11,903 | 2.85 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | +1 | |
| Freeholder Party of the Czech Republic | 12,265 | 1.13 | 1 | 7,176 | 1.72 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| For Health | 11,180 | 1.03 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Realists | 8,407 | 0.77 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Party of Common Sense | 7,186 | 0.66 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Ostravak | 6,178 | 0.57 | 0 | 4,906 | 1.17 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Movement for Prague 11 | 4,980 | 0.46 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| New Future for Liberec Region | 4,744 | 0.44 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| SNK European Democrats | 4,446 | 0.41 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Czech National Social Party | 4,438 | 0.41 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Pévéčko | 3,425 | 0.31 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Czech Sovereignty | 3,300 | 0.30 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Party of Civic Rights | 3,286 | 0.30 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Party of Free Citizens | 2,884 | 0.26 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Moravian Country Movement | 2,641 | 0.24 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Ordinary Citizens | 2,010 | 0.18 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Green Party | 1,818 | 0.17 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | 1 | 1 | -1 | |
| Moravian and Silesian Pirate Party | 1,789 | 0.16 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Moravané | 1,484 | 0.14 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Koruna Česká | 1,443 | 0.13 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Patriots of the Czech Republic | 1,369 | 0.13 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| NE-VOLIM | 1,346 | 0.12 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Order of Nation | 1,172 | 0.11 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| INDEPENDENTS | 1,061 | 0.10 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Club of Committed Non-Party Members | 1,001 | 0.09 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Alternative for Czechia 2017 | 794 | 0.07 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Party of State of Direct Democracy | 499 | 0.05 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Citizens of the Czech Republic | 491 | 0.05 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Alliance of National Forces | 390 | 0.04 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Enough is Enough | 258 | 0.02 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Roma Democratic Party | 216 | 0.02 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Nation Together | 41 | 0.00 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Independents | 95,507 | 8.76 | 4 | 35,938 | 8.59 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 6 | +4 | |
| Invalid/blank votes | 46,573 | – | – | 2,151 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Total | 1,136,262 | 100 | 50 | 419,923 | 100 | 24 | 27 | 54 | 81 | 0 | |
| Registered voters/turnout | 2,743,745 | 41.41 | – | 2,547,488 | 16.48 | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Source: VOLBY.CZ | |||||||||||
Current composition of the Senate
| Party | Seats | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 [lower-alpha 1] | 2018 | 2020 | TOTAL | ||||||
| Mayors and Independents | 3 | 5 | 11 | 19 / 81 | |||||
| Civic Democratic Party | 3 | 10 | 5 | 18 / 81 | |||||
| Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party | 7 | 2 | 3 | 12 / 81 | |||||
| ANO 2011 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 / 81 | |||||
| TOP 09 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 / 81 | |||||
| Czech Social Democratic Party | 2 | 1 | — | 3 / 81 | |||||
| Senator 21 | — | 1 | 2 | 3 / 81 | |||||
| Czech Pirate Party | — | 1 | 1 | 2 / 81 | |||||
| Green Party | 1 | — | — | 1 / 81 | |||||
| Svobodní | — | — | 1 | 1 / 81 | |||||
| Severočeši.cz | 1 | — | — | 1 / 81 | |||||
| Ostravak Movement | — | 1 | — | 1 / 81 | |||||
| Hradec Králové Democratic Club | — | — | 1 | 1 / 81 | |||||
| Movement for Prague 11 | 1 | — | — | 1 / 81 | |||||
| Marek Hilšer for Senate | — | 1 | — | 1 / 81 | |||||
| United Democrats — Association of Independents | 1 | — | — | 1 / 81 | |||||
| Citizens Together — Independents | 1 | — | — | 1 / 81 | |||||
| Citizens Patriots | 1 | — | — | 1 / 81 | |||||
| Independents | 1 | 3 | — | 4 / 81 | |||||
| Total | 27 | 27 | 27 | 81 | |||||
Sources: Senate,
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See also
Notes
- Name of "nominating party" (navrhující strana).
References
- https://www.senat.cz/senatori/zasporadek.php?lng=cz&ke_dni=18.11.2020&O=13
- https://www.senat.cz/organy/index.php?lng=cz&par_2=471
- https://www.senat.cz/senatori/zasporadek.php?lng=cz&ke_dni=18.11.2020&O=13
- https://tomasgolan.cz/vstup-do-ods/
- https://www.senat.cz/senatori/index.php?lng=cz&ke_dni=18.11.2020&O=13&par_3=307
- Senators Senate website
- Senate Committees Senat website
- Senate Commissions Senate website
- Ústavní zmìny v dobì od pádu komunismu Bulletin Scientia Politica (in Czech)