Political system
Presidential system
Structure of parliament
Bicameral
IPU membership
Yes

About parliament

Basic information such as the official name of parliament and details of its structure and leadership. Also includes the current breakdown of MPs by sex and age, and provisions for quotas and reserved seats.

Parliament name
Congreso (Congress)
Chamber name
Senado de la República (Senate)
Structure & status of parliament
Upper chamber
Parliamentary term (years)
4

IPU membership

Affiliation periods
from 1931 to 1934
from 1973 to 1976
from 1979
IPU Geopolitical Group/s
Group of Latin America and the Caribbean (GRULAC)

Speaker

Official title
President of the Senate
Speaker
Efraín Cepeda Sarabia (Male)
Date of birth: 24 May 1950
Term
20 Jul 2024 to 20 Jul 2025

Speaker terms

Click for historical data

Secretary general

Official title
Secretary General
Secretary General
Gregorio Eljach Pacheco (Male)
Term
20 Jul 2014
Notes

Re-elected on 20 July 2014, 20 July 2016, 20 July 2018, 20 July 2020 and on 20 July 2022.

Members

Statutory number of members
108

Notes:

Others:

- Five members of the Comunes (formerly FARC);

- Two members of the indigenous communities

- The runner-up in the presidential election

The 2016 Peace Agreement guarantees the FARC five seats in each Chamber of Congress for the next two legislatures (2018-2022 and 2022-2026). Moreover, a new rule guarantees the presidential runner-up a seat in the Senate, while his or her running mate is guaranteed a seat in the House of Representatives for the 2018-2022 legislature. With these new measures, the number of senators has increased from 102 to 108, while that of representatives has increased from 166 to 172.

Principal mode of designation of members
Directly elected
Directly elected members
100
Other members
8
Current number of members
105
Men
72
Women
33
Percentage of women
31.4%
Statutory number of members per country 
295
Population (in thousands)
52,321
Inhabitants per parliamentarian
177,359

Age

Data on the age of parliamentarians is collected at the start of the legislature, following the most recent elections. This data is not updated during the legislature, except when parliament notifies the IPU of a change in the youngest or oldest member.

Average age of all members
48.7
(2022-07)
Youngest member
Jonathan Ferney Pulido Hernández (Male)
Youngest member (years)
30
Oldest member
Humberto De La Calle Lombana (Male)
Oldest member (years)
76
Number of members, by age (2022-07)
Breakdown of members by age and gender
18 - 20 21 - 30 31 - 40 41 - 45 46 - 50 51 - 60 61 - 70 71 - 80 81 - 90 91 and over Totals per gender
Male 0 1 18 13 11 19 7 2 0 0 71
Female 0 0 8 4 8 4 2 3 0 0 29
Totals per age interval 0 1 26 17 19 23 9 5 0 0 100
Total <= 45: 44 Total >= 46: 56
Percentage of members, by age
Age at the last election or renewal Overall Male Female
Percentage of MPs 30 years of age or younger
1.0% 1.0% 0.0%
Percentage of MPs 40 years of age or younger
27.0% 19% 8.0%
Percentage of MPs 45 years of age or younger
44.0% 32% 12.0%
Members for whom age data is not available
8
(2022-07)

Reserved seats and quotas

There are reserved seats in parliament for certain groups
Yes
Indigenous peoples
2
Electoral quota for women
Yes

Notes: For lists submitted for election of 5 or more seats, at least 30% of candidates of each gender must be included. Political parties decide themselves whether their lists shall be open or closed. Candidate lists that do not comply with the legal requirements, including the gender quota requirement, shall be rejected.

Sources:

https://www.idea.int/data-tools/data/gender-quotas-database/country?country=49

Constitution, art. 176; Electoral Law 1475 of 14 July 2011, Article 28 (1), Article 32

Youth quota
No

Links to additional information

Parliamentary website
List of members
Rules of procedure/Standing Orders
Constitution

Historical data for IPU membership

Historical data for IPU membership
Year IPU membership
2020-09
List of values for 2020-09
No
2019-04
List of values for 2019-04
No
2018-06
List of values for 2018-06
No