Parliament consists of the national assembly and the senate. Senators are elected for nine-year terms from each department by an electoral college composed of the deputies, district council members, and municipal council members from the department. Parliament is solely responsible for legislation regarding civil, fiscal, and penal law, electoral law, civil liberties, the budget, and amnesty and labor laws. The president has power of appointment of the prime minister, the executive ministers, high civil servants, and judges. The president presides over the council of ministers, is the commander in chief of the armed forces, and has power to dissolve the national assembly.
Further subdivisions are districts, cantons, and communes.
The communes, however, are more powerful because they are responsible for municipal services and are represented in the national government by the mayor. Listing from Electric Library , a pay service. Copyright 2001 Infonautics Corporation . All rights reserved. Hauspie Speech Products N.V. All rights reserved.