The

Parliament of Eswatini The Parliament of Eswatini ''(Swazi: Libandla)'' consists of two chambers: *The Senate (Upper Chamber) (Indlu yeTimphunga) *The House of Assembly (Lower Chamber) The Houses of Parliament are located in Lobamba. See also * Politics of Eswatini ...

(or Libandla) is bicameral, consisting of a

lower chamber A lower house is one of two chambers of a 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 come to wield more power or oth ...

(the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible gove ...

) and an upper one (the Senate). Some of the members of both chambers are elected, while the rest are appointed by the King of Eswatini. Election is by secret ballot in a first-past-the-post system of voting. Members of both chambers serve for five-year terms. All candidates run on a non-partisan basis, as political parties are banned.

Selection process

The Assembly has 66 members, of which 55 are elected from single-member

constituencies An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

corresponding to the '' tinkhundlas'' (tribal communities). 14 ''tinkhundlas'' are located in

Hhohho District Hhohho () is a region of Eswatini, located in the north western part of the country. Hhohho was named after the capital of King Mswati II, who expanded the Swazi territory to the north and west, taking in the districts of Barberton, Nelspruit, ...

, 11 in

Lubombo District Lubombo is a region of Eswatini, located in the east of the country. It has an area of 5,849.11 km² and a population of 212,531 (2017). Its administrative center is Siteki. It borders all three other regions: Hhohho to the north, Manzini ...

, 16 in

Manzini District Manzini is a region of Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland), located in the center-west of the country. It has an area of 4,093.59 km² and a population of 355,945 (2017). Its administrative center is Manzini. It borders all three other r ...

, and 14 in

Shiselweni District Shiselweni is a region of Eswatini, located in the south of the country. It has an area of 3,786.71 km² and a population of 204,111 (2017). Its administrative center is Nhlangano. It borders Lubombo in the northeast and Manzini Region in ...

. Candidates are first nominated at the ''tinkhundla'' level. The top three finishers then proceed to a general election, where the candidate who receives the most votes is elected. The

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

appoints the other ten members, at least half of whom must be women. The 66th member is the Speaker of the House, who is elected from outside the House. If the percentage of women members falls below 30%, a maximum of four women may be elected from the administrative regions. The House selects ten of the 30 members of the Senate, and the King appoints the rest. Of these, at least five of the ten and at least eight of the 20 must be women. However, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union database, in 2008, there were 12 women senators instead of the minimum stipulated 13, and in 2013, there were only ten.

Qualifications and disqualifications

Each Member of Parliament must be at least 18 years old, a citizen, a registered voter, and have "paid all taxes or made arrangements satisfactory to the Commissioner of Taxes". Disqualifications are: being insolvent under any law without having been "rehabilitated", being of unsound mind, sentenced to death or more than six months in prison for a crime in Eswatini, a member of the country's armed forces or holding or acting in a public office without being granted a leave of absence to serve in the Senate, unqualified to be a voter, otherwise disqualified by law, found incompetent to hold public office, connected to a firm with a government contract and having not made the proper disclosures regarding the contract, or holding or acting in any office connected with the conduct of any election or the compilation or revision of any electoral register.

Oversight

The Elections and Boundaries Commission is an independent authority consisting of a chairperson, a deputy chairperson and three others whose duties include overseeing voter registration, ensuring fair and free elections and reviewing and determining ''tinkhundla'' boundaries. Members are appointed for a single term not exceeding 12 years.

Past elections

Eswatini held general elections in 2018. In September 2013, Gelane Zwane ran unopposed and was elected President of the Senate for the third consecutive time. Ngomuyayona Gamedze was chosen as Deputy President, also for the third consecutive time. Six of King

Mswati III Mswati III (born Makhosetive; 19 April 1968) is the king ( Swazi: Ngwenyama, Ingwenyama yemaSwati) of Eswatini and head of the Swazi royal family. He was born in Manzini in the Protectorate of Swaziland to King Sobhuza II and one of his young ...

's selections were members of his family. The current

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

of the House of Assembly is Prince Guduza Dlamini. Past elections have lacked transparency. The full results of both the 2018 and 2013 elections were never published.

External links

Adam Carr's Election Archive

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elections In Eswatini