Senate of Chile
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The Senate of the Republic of Chile is the upper house of Chile's bicameral Congress, as established in the current constitution.
The Senate comprises several categories of members:
- Thirty-eight directly elected senators, chosen by universal popular suffrage vote in 19 senatorial circumscriptions. These serve eight-year terms, with half of them being replaced every fourth year.
- Nine institutional senators: two former supreme court justices and one former comptroller general, appointed by the Supreme Court; former commanders-in-chief of the army, air force, navy, and carabineros, appointed by the National Security Council; one former university rector and one former cabinet minister, appointed by the President of the Republic. Like the popularly elected senators, these too serve eight-year terms.
- All former Presidents of the Republic who held office for at least six years are awarded senate seats for life.
The Senate is located in the Chile Congress building, which was built during the last years of the Pinochet regime and stands in the port city of Valparaíso. This new bulding replaced the old National Congress, located in downtown of capital Santiago.
External link
- Senate of Chile Official web site (http://www.senado.cl/)