Eswatini

House of Assembly Senate

Senate

Political system
Monarchy
Structure of parliament
Bicameral
IPU membership
Yes
»

About parliament

Basic information such as the official name of parliament and details of its structure and leadership. Also includes the current breakdown of MPs by sex and age, and provisions for quotas and reserved seats.

Parliament name
Libandla (Parliament)
Chamber name
Senate
Structure & status of parliament
Upper chamber
Parliamentary term (years)
5

IPU membership

Affiliation periods
from 2016
IPU Geopolitical Group/s
African Group

Speaker

Official title
President of the Senate
Speaker
Lindiwe Dlamini (Female)
Date of birth: 1965
Term
23 Oct 2018
Additional information

Elected on 23 Oct. 2018, re-elected on 6 Nov. 2023.

Speaker terms

Click for historical data

Secretary general

Official title
Clerk to Parliament
Secretary General
Benedict Xaba (Male)
Term
No information available
Official title
Acting Clerk-at-the-Table of the Senate
Secretary General
Bhukumusa Cusana Shongwe (Male)
Term
No information available

Members

Statutory number of members
30

Notes:

The Senate shall comprise not more than 31 members.

Indirectly elected: elected by the House of Assembly, at least half of whom shall be women.

Appointed: appointed by the Head of State, at least eight of whom shall be women.

Principal mode of designation of members
Appointed
Indirectly elected members
10
Appointed members
20
Current number of members
30
Men
16
Women
14
Percentage of women
46.7%
Statutory number of members per country 
104
Population (in thousands)
Click for historical data
Inhabitants per parliamentarian
11,920

Age

Data on the age of parliamentarians is collected at the start of the legislature, following the most recent elections. This data is not updated during the legislature, except when parliament notifies the IPU of a change in the youngest or oldest member.

Average age of all members
Click for historical data
Number of members, by age (2023-11)
Breakdown of members by age and gender
18 - 20 21 - 30 31 - 40 41 - 45 46 - 50 51 - 60 61 - 70 71 - 80 81 - 90 91 and over Totals per gender
Male 0 0 1 2 4 5 4 1 0 0 17
Female 0 0 3 0 1 6 3 0 0 0 13
Totals per age interval 0 0 4 2 5 11 7 1 0 0 30
Total <= 45: 6 Total >= 46: 24
Percentage of members, by age
Age at the last election or renewal Overall Male Female
Percentage of MPs 30 years of age or younger
0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Percentage of MPs 40 years of age or younger
16.1% 6% 9.7%
Percentage of MPs 45 years of age or younger
22.6% 13% 9.7%

Reserved seats and quotas

There are reserved seats in parliament for certain groups
Yes
Women
10
Electoral quota for women
Yes

Notes: At least 5 of the 10 Senators elected by the House of Assembly must be women. Additionally, among the 20 Senators appointed by the King, at least 8 must be women.

Sources:

Article 94 clauses (2) and (3) of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Swaziland* Act 2005.

*The country name was modified from Swaziland to Eswatini, effective May 2018.

Youth quota
No information available

Links to additional information

Parliamentary website
List of members
Rules of procedure/Standing Orders
No information available
Constitution

Historical data for IPU membership

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Historical data for IPU membership
Year IPU membership
2020-09
List of values for 2020-09
No
2019-04
List of values for 2019-04
No
2018-06
List of values for 2018-06
No