Plurinational Legislative Assembly
Parties Deputies Senators
Revolutionary Nationalist Movement ( Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario , MNR ) 36 11
Movement for Socialism ( Movimiento al Socialismo , MAS ) 27 8
Movement of Revolutionary Left ( Movimiento Izquierda Revolucionaria , MIR ) 26 5
New Republican Force ( Nueva Fuerza Republicana , NFR ) 25 2
Nationalist Democratic Action ( Acción Democrática Nacionalista , ADN ) 4 1
Indigenous Pachakuti Movement ( Movimiento Indígena Pachakuti , MIP ) 6 0
Citizens ' Solidarity Union ( Unión Cívica Solidaridad , UCS ) 5 0
Socialist Party ( Partido Socialista , PS ) 1 0
Total 130 27
Prior Congresses -- 2002–2005 Congress
Congressional elections were held on 30 June 2002 . After the votes were counted , party strengths in Congress were as follows :
The Plurinational Legislative Assembly (Spanish: Asamblea Legislativa Plurinacional) is the national legislature of Bolivia, placed in La Paz, the country's seat of government. The assembly is bicameral, consisting of a lower house (the Chamber of Deputies or Cámara de Diputados) and an upper house (the Senate, or Cámara de Senadores). The Vice President of Bolivia also serves as the President of the Plurinational Legislative Assembly. Each house elects its own directorate: a President, first and second Vice Presidents, and three or four Secretaries (for the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, respectively). Each party is said to have a seat (Spanish: bancada) consisting of its parliamentarians. The representatives of each department comprise a brigade (brigada). Each house considers legislation in standing committees. The Senate has 36 seats. Each of the country's nine departments returns four senators elected by proportional representation (using the D'Hondt method). (From 1985 to 2009, the Senate had 27 seats: three seats per department: two from the party or formula that receives the most votes, with the third senator representing the second-placed party.) Senators are elected from party lists to serve five-year terms, and the minimum age to hold a Senate seat is 35 years. The Chamber of Deputies comprises 130 seats, elected using the additional member system: 70 deputies are elected to represent single-member electoral districts, 7 of which are Indigenous or Campesino seats elected by the usos y costumbres of minority groups, 60 are elected by proportional representation from party lists on a departmental basis.