The Parliament of Zimbabwe is the

bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single grou ...

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

composed 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 ...

and the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

. The Senate is the

upper house An upper house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smalle ...

, and consists of 80 members, 60 of whom are elected by

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

from ten six-member constituencies corresponding to the country's

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

. Of the remaining 20 seats, 18 are reserved for chiefs, and two for people with

disabilities Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, se ...

. The National Assembly 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 ...

, and consists of 270 members. Of these, 210 are elected from

single-member constituencies A single-member district is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder. It contrasts with a Multiwinner voting, multi-member district, which is represented by multiple officeholders. Single-member districts are also sometimes call ...

. The remaining 60 seats are

reserved Reserved is a Polish apparel retailer headquartered in Gdańsk, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Pomerania, Poland. It was founded in 1999 and remains the largest company of the LPP (company), LPP group, which has more than 1,700 retail stores located in ...

for women, and are elected by proportional representation from ten six-member constituencies corresponding to the country's provinces. Formerly based at

Parliament House, Harare Parliament House in Harare was an active legislative building for 112 years, acting as the base of Parliament of Rhodesia and the Parliament of Zimbabwe The Parliament of Zimbabwe is the bicameral legislature of Zimbabwe composed of the Senate ...

, the parliament will move to the New Zimbabwe Parliament Building in 2022. The new building has 650 seats, which will allow the parliament to expand.

History

Historically, the first legislature in what is now Zimbabwe was the

Southern Rhodesian Legislative Council The Southern Rhodesian Legislative Council was the inaugural governing body for the British South Africa Company (BSAC) territory of Southern Rhodesia (today Zimbabwe) before its replacement by the Southern Rhodesian Legislative Assembly in 1923, w ...

, established in 1898 in what was then the

British South Africa Company The British South Africa Company (BSAC or BSACo) was chartered in 1889 following the amalgamation of Cecil Rhodes' Central Search Association and the London-based Exploring Company Ltd, which had originally competed to capitalize on the expecte ...

territory of

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kn ...

Company rule in Rhodesia The British South Africa Company's administration of what became Rhodesia was chartered in 1889 by Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, and began with the Pioneer Column's march north-east to Mashonaland in 1890. Empowered by its charter to ac ...

ended in 1923 when the territory became a

self-governing colony In the British Empire, a self-governing colony was a colony with an elected government in which elected rulers were able to make most decisions without referring to the colonial power with nominal control of the colony. This was in contrast to a ...

, and the Legislative Council was replaced by the

Southern Rhodesian Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Rhodesia was the legislature of Southern Rhodesia and then Rhodesia from 1924 to 1970. Background In 1898, the Southern Rhodesian Legislative Council, Southern Rhodesia's first elected representative body, was found ...

. In 1970, five years after the colony's

Unilateral Declaration of Independence A unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) is a formal process leading to the establishment of a new state by a subnational entity which declares itself independent and sovereign without a formal agreement with the state which it is secedi ...

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

replaced the

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multic ...

Legislative Assembly with a bicameral

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, consisting of a Senate and House of Assembly. This parliamentary structure was retained upon

's independence in 1980. Per the constitution produced by

Lancaster House Agreement The Lancaster House Agreement, signed on 21 December 1979, declared a ceasefire, ending the Rhodesian Bush War; and directly led to Rhodesia achieving internationally recognised independence as Zimbabwe. It required the full resumption of d ...

in 1979, the Senate was composed of 40 seats and the House of Assembly was composed of 100, with ten Senate seats and 20 seats in the House of Assembly reserved for

white Zimbabweans White Zimbabweans are people in Zimbabwe who are of European descent. In linguistic, cultural, and historical terms, these Zimbabweans of European ethnic origin are mostly English-speaking descendants of British settlers and a small minority ...

. The white-reserved seats were abolished in 1987, and a

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 1989 abolished the Senate and expanded the House of Assembly to 120 seats. In 2005, the Senate was reintroduced and the House of Assembly expanded. The House of Assembly was expanded once again in 2007 to 210 seats. The present parliamentary structure has been in place since the adoption of a new

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

in 2013. The Senate is presided over by its

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 ...

(see list of presidents of the Senate), who is assisted by a Deputy President. The National Assembly is presided over by a

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 ...

, who is not a Member of Parliament. The Speaker is assisted by a Deputy Speaker. The

9th Parliament of Zimbabwe The 9th Parliament of Zimbabwe is the current meeting of the Parliament of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwean Parliament, composed of the Senate of Zimbabwe, Senate and the National Assembly of Zimbabwe, National Assembly. It began meeting in Harare on 18 Sept ...

is the current Parliament since the 2018 general election. The

Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Moza ...

, the

ruling party The ruling party or governing party in a democratic parliamentary or presidential system is the political party or coalition holding a majority of elected positions in a parliament, in the case of parliamentary systems, or holding the executive ...

since Zimbabwe's independence in 1980, holds supermajorities in both chambers of Parliament. The

Movement for Democratic Change Movement for Democratic Change or MDC may refer to: * Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai (MDC–T), the former main opposition party in Zimbabwe ** Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai Congress 2006, the second MDC–T congress ...

holds most of the remaining seats, and forms the

opposition Opposition may refer to: Arts and media * ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars * The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band * ''The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Comed ...

References

External links

Zimbabwe Parliament Website
{{Authority control Government of Zimbabwe

History

See also

References

External links