The Central American Parliament (PARLACEN) was established by its Constitutive Treaty in October 1987. The primary objective of the institution was regional integration for the sake of mutual betterment. According to the Esquipulas Declaration of 1986, which began the process that ultimately led to the creation of the Parliament, there existed a "need to undertake efforts aimed at understanding and co-operation and to back them up with institutional machinery for strengthening dialogue, joint development, democracy and pluralism [...]." The Declaration determined that PARLACEN representatives should be selected in free, inclusive, and direct elections.

After Costa Rica failed to ratify the Constitutive Treaty, the other initial signatories approved the Protocol to the Treaty on the Establishment of the Central American Parliament and Other Political Organs, which amended the Constitutive Treaty to allow the PARLACEN to be created without ratification by Costa Rica.

The meaning of the term 'direct' in the context of elections to the PARLACEN differs in application among the member states. In El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua, voters normally select individual parties or candidates specifically for the PARLACEN in a vote that is separate from other contests. In the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Panama, the votes won by parties or candidates in the national presidential or parliamentary elections are normally applied proportionally among the parties with regard to their respective slates of nominated PARLACEN candidates. While these are considered to be direct elections as the representatives are chosen by ballot, voters in these countries do not select candidates or parties separately for the PARLACEN.

Political party primary and run-off elections are not typically held for PARLACEN contests.

Electoral framework

Pursuant to Chapter 1 Article 2 Clause a of the Constitutive Treaty, the elected members of the PARLACEN are denoted as follows: "Twenty members of parliament for each Member State. Each member shall be elected with their respective alternate, who shall replace them in case of emergency. They shall be elected for a term of five years by direct and secret universal suffrage, and may be re-elected."

Basic electoral principles are described in Article 6: "Each Member State shall elect its regular and alternate deputies to Parliament, in accordance with the applicable provisions of national legislation that regulates the election of deputies or representatives to their Congresses or Legislative Assemblies, with unavoidable observance of broad political and ideological representation, in a pluralistic democratic system that guarantees free and participatory elections, under conditions of equality for the respective political parties, all in accordance with point 4, "Free Elections", of the "Procedure to establish firm and lasting peace in Central America".

The elections must be held at least three months before the expiry of the period referred to in Article 2 of this Instrument."

The Treaty stipulated the original procedures for the first election in Chapter 7 Article 32: "The process of electing the first deputies to the Central American Parliament must be carried out in the five member countries, within a simultaneous compliance period of 6 months from the date of entry into force of this Treaty, in accordance with the electoral laws of each member State.

In those States where it is necessary to reform the national legislation for the holding of elections of deputies to the Central American Parliament, the Executive Branch will request them as soon as possible from the corresponding Legislative Branch."

The Protocol amended Article 32 as follows: "The first elections of deputies to the Central American Parliament shall take place concurrently in the member States during the 17 months following the date on which this Treaty enters into force and shall be conducted in accordance with their respective electoral laws. In the States in which the national legislation has to be amended for the purpose of electing deputies to the Central American Parliament, the executive branch shall, at the earliest possible date, request the legislative branch to make such amendments. A signatory State which deposits its instrument of ratification after the entry into force of the Treaty shall hold its election during the following 12 months."

Parliamentary terms Term Period1stOctober 1991 — October 19962ndOctober 1996 — October 20013rdOctober 2001 — October 20064thOctober 2006 — October 20115thOctober 2011 — October 20166thOctober 2016 — October 20217thOctober 2021 — October 20268thOctober 2026 — October 2031 Source: parlacen.int/historia

Electoral system by member state and election

Dominican Republic Parliament Selection Method Election Date Notes5thLinked single-vote election16 May 2010Determined by congressional election6thLinked single-vote election15 May 2016Determined by congressional election7thLinked single-vote election5 July 2020Determined by senatorial election;Originally scheduled for 17 May 20208thLinked single-vote election19 May 2024Determined by senatorial election

El Salvador Parliament Selection Method Election Date Notes1stSeparate election10 March 1991-2ndSeparate election20 March 1994-3rdSeparate election12 March 2000-4thSeparate election12 March 2006-5thSeparate election18 January 2009https://web.archive.org/web/20120801185345/http://www.tse.gob.sv/documentos/estadisticos/2009/repordipparlacenporpartido.pdf, https://www.eods.eu/library/EUEOM%20FR%20EL%20SALVADOR%202009_en%20.pdf-6thSeparate election27 March 2015https://web.archive.org/web/20250120094403/http://201.247.101.5/laip_tse/documentos/ACTESCDEFPAR2015.pdf, https://web.archive.org/web/20250222112829/https://portal.tse.gob.sv/documentos/memorias-de-elecciones/memoria-elecciones-2015.pdf-7thSeparate election28 February 2021-8thSeparate election3 March 2024-

Guatemala Parliament Selection Method Election Date Notes1stLinked single-vote election11 November 1990Determined by presidential election2ndSeparate election12 November 1995-3rdSeparate election7 November 1999-4thSeparate election9 November 2003Elections on this date were annulled and re-administered in several municipalities due to procedural irregularities4thSeparate election28 December 2003Re-administered elections5thElection CancelledElection CancelledElections scheduled for 9 September2007 were cancelled5thSeparate election11 September 2011-6thSeparate election6 September 2015-7thSeparate election16 June 2019-8thSeparate election25 June 2023-

Honduras Parliament Selection Method Election Date Notes1stLinked single-vote election26 November 1989Determined by presidential election2ndLinked single-vote election18 November 1993Determined by presidential election3rdLinked single-vote election30 November 1997Determined by presidential election4thLinked single-vote election25 November 2001Determined by presidential election4thPrior electionNo Election Scheduled Incumbent terms extended to 20115thLinked single-vote election29 November 2009Determined by presidential election6thLinked single-vote election24 November 2013Determined by presidential election7thLinked single-vote election26 November 2017Determined by presidential election8thLinked single-vote election28 November 2021Determined by presidential election9thTo Be Determined30 November 2025Upcoming

Nicaragua Parliament Selection Method Election Date Notes2ndSeparate election20 October 1996-3rdSeparate election4 November 2001-4thSeparate election5 November 2006-5thSeparate election6 November 2011-6thSeparate election6 November 2016-7thSeparate election7 November 2021-

Panama ParliamentSelection Method Election Date Notes2ndLinked single-vote election2 May 1999Determined by presidential election3rdLinked single-vote election2 May 2004Determined by presidential election4thLinked single-vote election3 May 2009Determined by presidential election5thLinked single-vote election4 May 2014Determined by presidential election6thLinked single-vote election5 May 2019Determined by presidential election7thLinked single-vote election5 May 2024Determined by presidential election

See also Central American Parliament

References