The House of Assembly of Eswatini is the lower chamber of the country's bicameral Parliament.[2] The Assembly may debate and pass bills,[3] although as the country is an absolute monarchy, the role of the legislature is mostly advisory.
House of Assembly of Eswatini | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Founded | 1967 |
| Leadership | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 76, currently 70 |
 | |
Political groups | Independents (59)
Nominated (10)
Attorney general (1) |
| Meeting place | |
| Lobamba | |
| Website | |
| web | |
History
editThe House of Assembly was established in 1967 when the Legislative Council was disbanded and bicameral legislature was established in the new constitution.[4]
Constitution
editA maximum of 76 members are permitted by section 95 (1) of the Constitution.[3] There are currently 66. Fifty-five members are elected from single-member constituencies corresponding to the tinkhundlas (tribal communities).[3] Fourteen tinkhundlas are in Hhohho District, 11 in Lubombo District, 16 in Manzini District, and 14 in Shiselweni District. The King appoints the other ten members,[3] at least half of whom must be women.[5] The 66th member is the Speaker of the House, who is elected from outside the House.[3] If the percentage of women members falls below 30%, a maximum of four women may be elected from the administrative regions.[2]
Each member must be a citizen of Eswatini, at least 18 years old, a registered voter, and have "paid all taxes or made arrangements satisfactory to the Commissioner of Taxes".[5]
The House selects ten of the 30 members of the upper chamber, the Senate of Eswatini, the King appointing the rest.[6]
Elections
editCandidates are first nominated at the tinkhundla level and chosen by secret ballot by the traditional chiefs. The top three finishers then proceed to a general election, also by secret ballot, in a first-past-the-post system of voting. Here, the candidate who receives the most votes from the population in each constituency is elected.[5][6] All candidates run on a non-partisan basis, as political parties are banned in the country, and serve five-year terms.[2]
Observer teams from the Commonwealth of Nations were present at the 2003, 2008 and 2013 elections.[7] The most recent election took place in September 2018.[7]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Dlamini, Bongiwe (6 October 2023). "Pigg's Peak MP Jabulani 'Buy Cash' Mabuza is new Speaker in the House of Assembly". Swaziland News. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
- ^ a b c "The Parliament of Swaziland". Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
- ^ a b c d e "Legislature". Government of Swaziland.
- ^ "eSwatini profile". BBC News. 3 September 2018.
- ^ a b c "Swaziland's Constitution of 2005" (PDF). constitueproject.org.
- ^ a b "Swaziland: Constitution and politics". Commonwealth of Nations. Archived from the original on 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
- ^ a b "Swaziland National Elections / 20 September 2013 / Report of the Commonwealth Observer Mission" (PDF). Commonwealth of Nations. 25 September 2013.