The House of Assembly was established in 1967 when the Legislative Council was disbanded and bicameral legislature was established in the new constitution.[4]
Constitution
A maximum of seventy-six members are permitted by section 95 (1) of the Constitution.[3] There are currently sixty-six. Fifty-five members are elected from single-member constituencies corresponding to the tinkhundlas (tribal communities).[3] Fourteen tinkhundlas are in Hhohho District, eleven in Lubombo District, sixteen in Manzini District, and fourteen in Shiselweni District. The King appoints the other ten members,[3] at least half of whom must be women.[5] The sixty-sixth member is the Speaker of the House, who is elected from outside the House.[3] If the percentage of women members falls below 30%, a maximum of four women may be elected from the administrative regions.[2]
Each member must be a citizen of Eswatini, at least 18 years old, a registered voter, and have "paid all taxes or made arrangements satisfactory to the Commissioner of Taxes".[5]
Candidates are first nominated at the tinkhundla level and chosen by secret ballot by the traditional chiefs. The top three finishers then proceed to a general election, also by secret ballot, in a first-past-the-post system of voting. Here, the candidate who receives the most votes from the population in each constituency is elected.[5][6] All candidates run on a non-partisan basis, as political parties are banned in the country, and serve five-year terms.[2]
