Palau has a bicameral legislature, the Palau National Congress (Palauan: Olbiil era Kelulau), consisting of the House of Delegates and the Senate of Palau, which both sit at the capitol complex in Ngerulmud, Melekeok State. The House of Delegates has 16 members, each serving four-year terms in single-seat constituencies. The Senate has 13 members, also serving four-year terms in multi-seat constituencies. In the last elections, held in 2020, only non-partisans were elected; no political parties exist.
Palau National Congress Olbiil era Kelulau | |
|---|---|
| 11th Olbiil Era Kelulau | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Houses | Senate House of Delegates |
| History | |
| Founded | First Government Est. 1955 Gained Independence on 1 October 1994 |
| Leadership | |
President of the Senate | |
Speaker of the House | |
Chief of Staff | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 29 members (13 and 16) |
 | |
Senate political groups | Independent: 13 seats |
 | |
House of Delegates political groups | Independent: 16 seats |
| Elections | |
| single-seat constituency | |
| multi-seat constituency | |
Last Senate election | 5 November 2024 |
Last House of Delegates election | 5 November 2024 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| Olbiil era Kelulau building in the capitol complex, Ngerulmud | |
| Website | |
| www.palauoek.com [obsolete] | |
The congress is called Olbiil Era Kelulau (OEK) in Palauan or “House of Whispered Decisions".[1] When it was founded, there were 18 senators. That number of them was changed in 1984 to 14. The number of senators changed again in 2000, when it was reduced drastically to 9. In 2008, it was raised once again, to 13.[2]
In 2018, the Senate President was Hokkons Baules, and Speaker was Sabino Anastacio.[3]
List of elections
edit- 1980 Palauan general election
- 1984 Palauan general election
- 1988 Palauan general election
- 1992 Palauan general election
- 1996 Palauan general election
- 2000 Palauan general election
- 2004 Palauan general election
- 2008 Palauan general election
- 2012 Palauan general election
- 2016 Palauan general election
- 2020 Palauan general election
- 2024 Palauan general election
Palau Congressional Library
editHoused at the Palau National Congress, the Palau Congressional Library was founded on August 18, 1981. Headed as of 1996 by Congressional Librarian Harry Besebes, it has a 3000 item collection, with annual accessions of 350. The library employs 2 staff members, both professional librarians.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "LibGuides: Laws of South Pacific Island Nations: Palau". law-hawaii.libguides.com. University of Hawaiʻi School of Law Library. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
- ^ Welcome to the Palau National Congress Website! Archived 2020-01-03 at the Wayback Machine, Republic of Palau
- ^ July 31, 2018 Palau's National Congress leaders vocal about their support for China, Island Times
External links
edit
 | This legislature-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This article about Palau is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |