Chamber of Deputies of Tunisia
Encyclopedia
The Chamber of Deputies ( Majlis al-Nuwaab) is the lower chamber of the Parliament of Tunisia
Parliament of Tunisia
The Parliament of Tunisia is made up of two houses:*The upper chamber, the Chamber of Councillors*The lower chamber, the Chamber of Deputies...

, the bicameral
Bicameralism
In the government, bicameralism is the practice of having two legislative or parliamentary chambers. Thus, a bicameral parliament or bicameral legislature is a legislature which consists of two chambers or houses....

 legislative branch
Legislature
A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...

 of the government of Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...

. It has 189 seats and members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms. 20% of the seats are reserved for the opposition. Elections are held in the last 30 days of each five-year term. To be eligible for office, one must be a voter with a Tunisian mother or father and be at least 23 years old the day candidacy is announced. Elections were most recently held in October 2009.

Under the Constitution of Tunisia
Constitution of Tunisia
The Constitution of Tunisia is the supreme law of the Tunisian Republic. The Constitution is the framework for the organization of the Tunisian government and for the relationship of the federal government with the governates, citizens, and all people within Tunisia...

, the Chamber of Deputies theoretically has great lawmaking powers, and even has the right to censure
Motion of no confidence
A motion of no confidence is a parliamentary motion whose passing would demonstrate to the head of state that the elected parliament no longer has confidence in the appointed government.-Overview:Typically, when a parliament passes a vote of no...

 the government by a two-thirds majority. In practice, the body has been dominated by the Democratic Constitutional Rally (formerly the Neo-Destour Party and Socialist Destour Party) since independence, and there was little opposition to executive decisions until the overthrow of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali is a Tunisian political figure who was the second President of Tunisia from 1987 to 2011. Ben Ali was appointed Prime Minister in October 1987, and he assumed the Presidency on 7 November 1987 in a bloodless coup d'état that ousted President Habib Bourguiba, who was...

in 2011. During the last few years of Ben Ali's tenure, the chamber took an increased role in debating national policy, but all legislation still originated with the president.

Elections held on October 24, 2004 and October 25, 2009, resulted in substantial majorities for the Democratic Constitutional Rally. The 2009 election yielded the following results:
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