| Parliament name (generic / translated) |
Congresso nacional / National Congress |
| Structure of parliament |
Bicameral |
| Chamber name (generic / translated) |
Senado Federal / Federal Senate |
| Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) |
Cámara dos Deputados / Chamber of Deputies
|
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
1 October 2006 |
| Purpose of elections |
Elections were held for one-third (27) of the 81 seats in the Senate on the normal expiry of the members' term of office. |
On 1 October 2006
parliamentary elections were held for all 513 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and for 27 seats in the Senate
concurrently with presidential elections.
At the last elections in October 2002
no single party won a majority in either chamber. The leftist Workers' Party (PT) became the largest party in the Chamber of Deputies
closely followed by the Liberal Front Party (PFL)
the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) and the Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB).
The 2002 presidential elections were won by Mr. Luiz Inácio 'Lula' da Silva (PT). A broad alliance of political parties was formed in support of the government's programme
although the composition of this alliance varied during the legislature. In June 2005
the government was weakened by corruption scandals involving campaign donations by the PT to coalition partners. President da Silva
who had been elected on an anti-corruption platform
publicly apologized to his fellow citizens in August 2005.
In the 2006 election campaign
President da Silva argued that his government had helped millions of poor Brazilians to join the middle class
and insisted on the necessary co-existence of social and economic policy. The main opposition parties
the PSDB and the PFL
formed an electoral coalition. The PSDB camp presented more liberal policies that included the promotion of free trade agreements
in particular with the United States. The PFL did not field a presidential candidate
while the PSDB endorsed the former governor of Sao Paulo
Mr. Geraldo Alckmin
who pledged to enhance the country's economy by fighting corruption.
More than 5
000 candidates ran for the Chamber of Deputies
while 220 contested the senatorial seats. About 83 per cent of 125 million voters turned out at the polls.
The PMDB became the largest party in the Chamber of Deputies
winning 89 seats
followed by the PT with 83 and the PSDB with 66 seats. The PFL lost 33 seats
retaining 65. It nevertheless remained the largest party in the Senate
winning six seats in the 2006 partial elections
to control 18 seats in total.
President da Silva was re-elected with more than 60 per cent of the votes in a run-off election on 29 October. On 30 November
the PMDB leader
Mr. José Renan Vasconcelos Calheiros
announced that his party would support the President in his second term. President da Silva was sworn in for a second term on 2 January 2007.
The newly elected Congress held its first session on 1 February 2007 and elected Mr. Arlindo Chignalia Júnior (PT) as Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies
while Mr. José Renan Vasconcelos Calheiros (PMDB) was re-elected as Speaker of the Senate.
Note:
The Brazilian Progressive Party (PPB) was renamed the Progressive Party (PP) in 2003. |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 1 October 2006 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
125'827'119
104'778'757 (83.27%)
20'394'952
84'383'805 |
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of votes |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Candidates |
Votes |
|
|
% |
|
|
| Liberal Front Party (PFL) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Workers' Party (PT) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Democratic Labour Party (PDT) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Brazilian Labour Party (PTB) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Liberal Party (PL) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Communist Party of Brazil (PC do B) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Brazilian Republican Party (PRB) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Progressive Party (PP) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Brazilian Labour Renewal Party (PRTB) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Popular Socialist Party (PPS) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
Seats in 2006 |
|
|
|
| Liberal Front Party (PFL) |
18
|
6 |
|
|
|
| Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB) |
15
|
5 |
|
|
|
| Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) |
15
|
4 |
|
|
|
| Workers' Party (PT) |
11
|
2 |
|
|
|
| Democratic Labour Party (PDT) |
5
|
1 |
|
|
|
| Brazilian Labour Party (PTB) |
4
|
3 |
|
|
|
| Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) |
3
|
1 |
|
|
|
| Liberal Party (PL) |
3
|
1 |
|
|
|
| Communist Party of Brazil (PC do B) |
2
|
1 |
|
|
|
| Brazilian Republican Party (PRB) |
2
|
0 |
|
|
|
| Progressive Party (PP) |
1
|
1 |
|
|
|
| Brazilian Labour Renewal Party (PRTB) |
1
|
1 |
|
|
|
| Popular Socialist Party (PPS) |
1
|
1 |
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
23
4
14.81%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
|
|
| Comments |
Sources:
http://www.tse.gov.br/
http://www.senado.gov.br/
Note for Senate on PARLINE
Four women were elected to the 27 seats at stake in the 2006 elections
bringing the number of women senators to 10 out of a total of 81. Source: http://www.senado.gov.br/ |
Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module
