The members of the Chamber of Deputies are elected for a
term of four years, also by the electoral colleges, which at the same
time designate alternates for the several members.
Congress meets each year in regular session on the anniversary of
Dominican independence, February 27, and its session is limited to
ninety days, which may, however, be extended sixty days more. Since
there are no provincial legislatures the powers of the Congress, set
forth in the Constitution, are sweeping. They include the right to
legislate in general for every part of the Republic, to approve or
reject treaties and to try the president, cabinet members and supreme
court judges on impeachment charges.
In practice the elections for deputies have been as perfunctory as
those for president, though there were occasional contests. The
character and attitude of Congress has varied with the character and
condition of the presidents. During the incumbency of strong leaders,
such as Santana, Baez and Heureaux, the Congress was little more than
the tool of the executive, but when the personality of the president
was not so overwhelming or when many of the deputies were followers of
a rival chieftain, as in the administrations of Jimenez and Morales,
an independent and sometimes a nagging spirit has been manifested.
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