House of Assembly of Swaziland

Swaziland
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politics and government of
Swaziland

The House of Assembly of Swaziland is the lower chamber of the country's bicameral Parliament.[1] The Assembly may debate and pass bills.[2]

Constitution

A maximum of 76 members are permitted by section 95 (1) of the Constitution.[2] There are currently 66. 55 members are elected from single-member constituencies corresponding to the tinkhundlas (tribal communities).[2] 14 tinkhundlas are located in Hhohho District, 11 in Lubombo District, 16 in Manzini District, and 14 in Shiselweni District. The King appoints the other ten members,[2] at least half of whom must be women.[3] The 66th member is the Speaker of the House, who is elected from outside the House.[2] If the percentage of women members falls below 30%, a maximum of four women may be elected from the administrative regions.[1]

Each member must be a citizen of Swaziland, at least 18 years old, a registered voter, and have "paid all taxes or made arrangements satisfactory to the Commissioner of Taxes".[3]

The House selects ten of the 30 members of the upper chamber, the Senate of Swaziland, the King appointing the rest.[4]

Elections

House of Assembly candidates are first nominated at the tinkhundla level. The top three finishers by secret ballot then proceed to a general election, also by secret ballot, in a first-past-the-post system of voting, where the candidate who receives the most votes is elected.[3][4] All candidates run on a non-partisan basis, as political parties are banned in the country, and serve five-year terms.[1]

Observer teams from the Commonwealth of Nations were present at the 2003, 2008 and 2013 elections.[5] The most recent election took place on 20 September 2013.[5]

The current Speaker of the House of Assembly is Prince Guduza Dlamini.[6]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "The Parliament of Swaziland". Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Legislature". Government of Swaziland.
  3. 1 2 3 "Swaziland's Constitution of 2005" (PDF). constitueproject.org.
  4. 1 2 "Swaziland: Constitution and politics". Commonwealth of Nations.
  5. 1 2 "Swaziland National Elections / 20 September 2013 / Report of the Commonwealth Observer Mission" (PDF). Commonwealth of Nations. 25 September 2013.
  6. ↑ "Mr. Prince Guduza Dlamini, MP". Commonwealth Parliamentary Association - Africa Region.
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