The National Assembly of Zimbabwe, previously the House of Assembly until 2013, is the

lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

of the Parliament of Zimbabwe. It was established upon Zimbabwe's independence in 1980 as one of two chambers of parliament. Between the abolition of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

in 1989 and its reestablishment in 2005, the House of Assembly was the sole chamber of parliament. Since the 2013 election, the National Assembly has had 270 members. Of these, 210 are elected in single-member constituencies. The last 60 seats are reserved for women, and are elected by proportional representation in 10 six-seat constituencies based on the country's provinces. On election day, each voter casts a single ballot, and this is used to assign seats to the parties for both types of seat. Jacob Mudenda has been Speaker of the National Assembly since September 2013.

History

Under the 1980 Constitution, 20 of the 100 seats in the House of Assembly were reserved for the country's white minority, although whites and other ethnic minorities made up only 5% of the population at the time. These seats were abolished by

constitutional amendment A constitutional amendment is a modification of the constitution of a polity, organization or other type of entity. Amendments are often interwoven into the relevant sections of an existing constitution, directly altering the text. Conversely, t ...

in 1987. This size of 100 seats was used for two elections, the 1980 election held immediately before independence and the 1985 election. The 1990 election was the first election after the abolition of the white-reserved seats, and also expanded the House of Assembly to 120 seats, a size which was retained for the

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

and

2000 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2000. Africa * 2000 Ethiopian general election * 2000 Ghanaian presidential election * 1999–2000 Guinea-Bissau general election * 2000–01 Ivorian parliamentary election * 2000 Ivorian presiden ...

. With the 2005 election, the House of Assembly was expanded to 150 members. 120 members were directly elected in single member constituencies using the plurality (or first-past-the-post) system. The President appointed twelve additional members and eight

provincial Provincial may refer to: Government & Administration * Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country * Provincial city (disambiguation) * Provincial minister (disambiguation) * Provincial Secretary, a position in Can ...

governors who held reserved seats in the House. The remaining ten seats were held by traditional chiefs who were chosen by their peers. All members served five-year terms. Following the

2008 election This electoral calendar 2008 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2008 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, even though they are not elections. By-elections are no ...

, the House of Assembly was expanded to 210 seats and composed entirely of elected representatives.Carole Gombakomba
"Zimbabwe's Mugabe Finalizes Constitutional Amendment On Elections"
VOA News, November 1, 2007. The appointed and ''ex officio'' members were transferred to the Senate. The Seventh House of Assembly was opened on August 26, 2008. The additional system of 60 seats reserved for women was established for the 2013 election.

References

{{Authority control Government of Zimbabwe Zimbabwe

History

See also

References