Argentine Senate

Argentine National Senate
Argentine National Senate; Senado de la Nación Argentina
Type
Type	Upper house
Leadership
Vice President of Argentina	Amado Boudou, PJ-FPV; since 10 Dec 2011
Provisional President	Beatriz Rojkés de Alperovich, PJ-FPV; since 30 Nov 2011
Majority Leader	Miguel Ángel Pichetto, PJ-FPV; since 10 Dec 2001
Minority Leader	Gerardo Morales, UCR; since 10 Dec 2005
Members	72 (list)
Political groups	PJ - FPV (30); UCR (17); Federal Peronism (14); Progressive Ample Front (4); Córdoba Civic Front (2); New Encounter (2); Civic Coalition (2); Civic Front for Santiago (1); Neuquén People's Movement (1)
Elections
Last election	28 June 2009
Meeting place
	Senate Chamber, Argentine Congress; Buenos Aires, Argentina
Website
	http://www.senado.gov.ar

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The floor of the Argentine Senate

The Argentine Senate is the upper house of the Argentine National Congress. It has 72 senators: three for each province and three for the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. The number of senators per province was raised from two to three following the 1994 amendment of the Argentine Constitution, and the change took effect since the May 14, 1995, general elections.

Senators are elected by direct election on a provincial basis, with the party with the most votes being awarded two of the province's senate seats and the second-place party receiving the third seat. Currently one-third of the members are elected every two years to a six-year term: in other words, one-third of the provinces hold senatorial elections every two years. There are no restrictions on repeated re-election. The Senate is presided over by the Vice-President of the Republic, who has the casting vote in the event of ties.

[edit] Requirements

According to Section 55 of the Argentine Constitution, candidates for the Argentine Senate must

be at least 30 years old
have been a citizen of Argentina for six years
be native to the province of his office, or have been a resident of that province for two years.

[edit] Composition

See List of current members of the Argentine Senate

Party blocs	Seats	Party blocs	Seats
Senate of Argentina (as of March 2010) ^[1]
PJ - Front for Victory (FPV)	30	Radical Civic Union (UCR)	14
Córdoba Civic Front	2	Civic and Social Front of Catamarca	2
PJ 8th October	2	PJ of San Luis	2
New Encounter	2	PJ of La Pampa	2
PJ Santa Fe Federal	2	Civic Coalition	2
Rionegrino Encounter	1	Liberal Party of Corrientes	1
Neuquén People's Movement	1	Front for Everyone	1
PJ Federalism and Freedom	1	Production and Labour	1
		Salta Renewal Party	1
Civic Front for Santiago	1	PJ Labor and Dignity	1
Socialist Party	1	Generation for a National Encounter	1

72 members

The pro-government Front of Victory block and allies have 38 votes (a gain of 3); FPV allies include the Civic Front for Santiago, New Encounter, Neuquén People's Movement, and the Salta Renewal Party. The various opposition blocks have 34 votes in all.

[edit] Senate leadership

The titular President of the Senate is the Vice President of Argentina. Day to day leadership of the Senate is exercised by the Provisional President.

Current leadership positions include:

Title	Officeholder	Party	Province
President of the Senate	Amado Boudou	FPV	Buenos Aires Province
Provisional President	Beatriz Rojkés de Alperovich	FPV	Tucumán
First Vice-President	Gerardo Morales	UCR	Jujuy
Second Vice-President	Juan Carlos Romero	Front for Victory	Salta
Third Vice-President	Roberto Basualdo	Federal Commitment	San Juan
Parliamentary Secretary	Juan Estrada
Administrative Secretary	José Zabaleta
Majority Leader	Miguel Ángel Pichetto	Front for Victory	Río Negro (Argentina)
Minority Leader	Gerardo Morales	UCR	Jujuy