| abstract
| - The National Assembly of Surea (国会, Gukkai) is a 300-member unicameral legislature. The latest general elections were held on January 12, 2009. Single-member constituencies comprise 245 of the National Assembly's seats, while the remaining 55 are allocated by proportional representation. Members serve four-year terms. The unicameral National Assembly consists of at least 200 members according to the Constitution. In 1991 the National Assembly had 300 seats, 220 of which were directly elected from single-member districts in the general elections of January 1989. Under applicable laws, the remaining eighty representatives were appointed by the political parties in accordance with a proportional formula based on the number of seats won in the election. By law, candidates for election to the National Assembly must be at least thirty years of age. The National Assembly's term is four years. In a change from the more authoritarian Fourth Republic (1975–85) to the democratic Fifth Republic, the National Assembly cannot be dissolved by the president. Legislators are immune from arrest or detention (except when caught in flagrante delicto when the National Assembly is in session). If an arrest occurs before the National Assembly session begins, the legislator concerned must be released for the duration of the session. National Assembly members also enjoy legal immunity for statements made in that forum. Greater freedom of the media and independence of the courts, combined with the power of the opposition parties in the legislature, gave greater substance to this immunity during the first three years of the Fifth Republic than under the preceding government, when prosecutors and the courts did not honor such immunity. The position of the National Assembly in the Constitution is much stronger than it had been under the previous republics. The annual session of the National Assembly was extended to 100 days. Extraordinary sessions of thirty days each might be called by as little as one-quarter of the membership (versus one-third in the 1980 constitution); and there was no limit on the number of such sessions that could be called each year. The power to investigate state affairs also was strengthened. The National Assembly now held the power to remove the prime minister or a cabinet minister at any time, rather than having to wait a year following appointment, as had been the case before. The consent of the National Assembly was required for the appointment of all Supreme Court justices, not just the chief justice. The National Assembly performed a tie-breaking function in presidential elections and was required to approve or to disapprove presidential emergency measures before they took effect, time permitting. Failure to obtain National Assembly approval would void the emergency measures.
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