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The Federal Parliamentary Assembly ( am, የፌዴራል ፓርላማ ምክር ቤት, Ye-Fēdēralawī Parilama Mikir Bēt) is Ethiopia's federal legislature. It consists of two chambers: *The
House of Federation The House of Federation () is the upper house of the bicameral Federal Parliamentary Assembly, the parliament of Ethiopia. It has 112 members. Each Nation, Nationality and People shall be represented in the House of the Federation by at leas ...
(
upper chamber An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restri ...
) *The
House of Peoples' Representatives The House of Peoples' Representatives is the lower house of the Ethiopian Federal Parliamentary Assembly. Located in the capital Addis Ababa, the House has 547 members. All are elected in theory for five-year term in single-seat constituencies. ...
( lower chamber) Created with the adoption of the Ethiopian Constitution of 1995, the Parliament replaced the
National Shengo The National Shengo (, ) was the legislature of the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (PDRE) from 1987 to 1991. Overview The Shengo was established on 22 February 1987, three weeks after a national referendum approved a new constituti ...
as the legislative branch of the
Ethiopian government The government of Ethiopia () is the federal government of Ethiopia. It is structured in a framework of a federal parliamentary republic, whereby the prime minister is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the governmen ...
.


History


Under the 1931 constitution

Imperial Parliament of Ethiopia The Imperial Parliament of Ethiopia () was the bicameral legislature of the Ethiopian Empire from 1931 to 1974. It consisted of the lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, and the upper house, Senate. The legislature was established in the 1931 C ...
was first convened by Emperor Haile Selassie in 1931, although it was largely an advisory and feudal body, and was consolidated under the 1931 constitution. The bi-cameral, equal-numbered parliament consisted of the upper Senate (composed largely of nobility, the aristocracy, ministers, Distinguished Veterans and military commanders) and the lower Chamber of Deputies (constituting members chosen by the Emperor, the nobility and the aristocrats). It was interrupted by the Italian invasion in 1936, and did not meet again until after 1941. By 1955, elders in the districts largely elected the landed aristocrats to the Senate.


Under the 1955 constitution

The 1955 constitution introduced new arrangements to the parliament, including the election of members to the Chamber of Deputies as well as the growth of the lower house to 250 members as opposed to the 125 members of the Senate by 1974. However, deputies largely consisted of feudal lords, rich merchants and high-level members of the civil service. Real power remained in the hands of the Emperor. The parliament would meet in five sessions from 1955 to 1974.


Under the Derg and PDRE

When the monarchy was overthrown, parliament was replaced with a transitional assembly of 60 select members from government institutions and provinces from 1974 to 1975, after which the government largely operated by decree through the military junta headed by
Mengistu Haile Mariam Mengistu Haile Mariam ( am, መንግሥቱ ኀይለ ማሪያም, pronunciation: ; born 21 May 1937) is an Ethiopian politician and former army officer who was the head of state of Ethiopia from 1977 to 1991 and General Secretary of the Work ...
. The period without some semblance of a legislature ended in 1987, when the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia was established under a new constitution drafted by Mengistu and the Workers' Party of Ethiopia (WPE). The new Constitution established an 835-member legislature, the
National Shengo The National Shengo (, ) was the legislature of the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (PDRE) from 1987 to 1991. Overview The Shengo was established on 22 February 1987, three weeks after a national referendum approved a new constituti ...
(National Council), as the highest organ of state power. Its members were elected to five-year terms. Executive power was vested in a
president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
, elected by the Shengo for a five-year term, and a cabinet also appointed by the Shengo. The president was chairman of the Council of State, which acted for the legislature between sessions. Actual power, however, rested in the WPE (and particularly with Mengistu), defined as the leading force of state and society. The National Shengo, while nominally vested with great lawmaking powers, actually did little more than
rubber-stamp A rubber stamp is an image or pattern that has been carved, molded, laser engraved or vulcanized onto a sheet of rubber. Rubber stamping, also called stamping, is a craft in which some type of ink made of dye or pigment is applied to rubber ...
decisions made by Mengistu and the WPE.


Under the FDRE

Following Mengistu's overthrow in 1991, the Shengo was abolished, and a period of transition lasted until 1995, when a new legislature was inaugurated under the new constitution.


See also

*
Politics of Ethiopia The politics of Ethiopia are the activities associated with the governance of Ethiopia. The government is structured as a federal parliamentary republic with both a President and Prime Minister. The government is multicameralism with a house of ...
*
List of legislatures by country This is a list of legislatures by country. A " legislature" is the generic name for the national parliaments and congresses that act as a plenary general assembly of representatives and that have the power to legislate. All entities included ...


References


Further reading

*Dagnachew Befekadu and Habtamu Nini Abino
"Presentation on the Parliamentary System of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia"
Association of secretaries General of Parliament website


External links


House of People's RepresentativesHouse of Federation
{{Africa legislatures 1995 establishments in Ethiopia Ethiopia Government of Ethiopia Ethiopia Ethiopia