National Assembly (Malawi)

Last updated
National Assembly
Coat of arms of Malawi.svg
Type
Type
History
Founded26 May 1964
New session started
June 2019
Leadership
Catherine Gotani Hara, MCP
since 19 June 2019
Structure
Seats193
Malawi Parliament 2019.svg
Political groups
Government (97) [2]
  •   MCP (59)
  •   UTM (5)
  •   Independent (33)

Opposition (96)

Length of term
5 years
Elections
First-past-the-post
Last election
21 May 2019
Meeting place
Parliament Building of Malawi.jpg
Lilongwe
Website
www.parliament.gov.mw

The National Assembly of Malawi is the supreme legislative body of the nation. It is situated on Capital Hill, Lilongwe along Presidential Way. The National Assembly alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all other political bodies in Malawi. At its head is the Speaker of the House who is elected by his or her peers. [3] Since June 19, 2019 the Speaker is Catherine Gotani Hara.

Contents

The 1994 Constitution provided for a Senate but Parliament repealed it. Malawi therefore has a unicameral legislature in practice. [3] The National Assembly has 193 Members of Parliament (MPs) who are directly elected in single-member constituencies using the simple majority (or first-past-the-post) system and serve five-year terms. [4]

Current Parliament

The current parliament was inaugurated in June 2019 after the 2019 Malawian general election. No party managed to secure a majority in the house. Peter Mutharika won the presidential election, however, due to irregularities the constitutional court ordered a re-run of the presidential elections in 2020. [5] Parliament passed the Parliamentary and Presidential Elections Act (PPEA) Amendment Bill on 24 February 2020, extended the terms of MPs and local councillors by one year to allow for harmonised presidential, parliamentary and local elections in 2025. [6]

See also

Notes

  1. The Constitution Provides for a Senate - In Practice the Senate has not yet been Established; Compare the Federation Council of Iraq. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of Malawi</span> Political system of Malawi

Politics of Malawi takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Malawi is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly. There is a cabinet of Malawi that is appointed by the President of Malawi. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The government of Malawi has been a multi-party democracy since 1994. The Economist Intelligence Unit rated Malawi a "hybrid regime" in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parliament of Canada</span> Canadian federal legislature

The Parliament of Canada is the federal legislature of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and is composed of three parts: the King, the Senate, and the House of Commons. By constitutional convention, the House of Commons is dominant, with the Senate rarely opposing its will. The Senate reviews legislation from a less partisan standpoint and may initiate certain bills. The monarch or his representative, normally the governor general, provides royal assent to make bills into law.

A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members often have a different title. The terms congressman/congresswoman or deputy are equivalent terms used in other jurisdictions. The term parliamentarian is also sometimes used for members of parliament, but this may also be used to refer to unelected government officials with specific roles in a parliament and other expert advisers on parliamentary procedure such as the Senate Parliamentarian in the United States. The term is also used to the characteristic of performing the duties of a member of a legislature, for example: "The two party leaders often disagreed on issues, but both were excellent parliamentarians and cooperated to get many good things done."

Bicameralism is a type of legislature that is 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 group. As of 2022, roughly 40% of world's national legislatures are bicameral, while unicameralism represents 60% nationally, and much more at the subnational level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Zealand Parliament</span> Supreme unicameral legislature of New Zealand

The New Zealand Parliament is the unicameral legislature of New Zealand, consisting of the King of New Zealand (King-in-Parliament) and the New Zealand House of Representatives. The King is usually represented by his governor-general. Before 1951, there was an upper chamber, the New Zealand Legislative Council. The New Zealand Parliament was established in 1854 and is one of the oldest continuously functioning legislatures in the world. It has met in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, since 1865.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Speaker (politics)</span> Presiding office holder of a legislative body

The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding office holder. The title was first used in 1377 in England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parliament of South Africa</span> Legislative body of South Africa

The Parliament of the Republic of South Africa is South Africa's legislature; under the present Constitution of South Africa, the bicameral Parliament comprises a National Assembly and a National Council of Provinces. The current twenty-seventh Parliament was first convened on 22 May 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Assembly (Venezuela)</span> Parliament of Venezuela

The National Assembly is the legislature for Venezuela that was first elected in 2000. It is a unicameral body made up of a variable number of members, who were elected by a "universal, direct, personal, and secret" vote partly by direct election in state-based voting districts, and partly on a state-based party-list proportional representation system. The number of seats is constant, each state and the Capital district elected three representatives plus the result of dividing the state population by 1.1% of the total population of the country. Three seats are reserved for representatives of Venezuela's indigenous peoples and elected separately by all citizens, not just those with indigenous backgrounds. For the 2010 to 2015 the number of seats was 165. All deputies serve five-year terms. The National Assembly meets in the Federal Legislative Palace in Venezuela's capital, Caracas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parliament of Sri Lanka</span> Supreme legislative body of Sri Lanka

The Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the supreme legislative body of Sri Lanka. It alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all other political bodies in the island. It is modeled after the British Parliament.

Dissolution of a legislative assembly is the mandatory simultaneous resignation of all of its members, in anticipation that a successive legislative assembly will reconvene later with possibly different members. In a democracy, the new assembly is chosen by a general election. Dissolution is distinct on the one hand from abolition of the assembly, and on the other hand from its adjournment or prorogation, or the ending of a legislative session, any of which begins a period of inactivity after which it is anticipated that the same members will reassemble. For example, the "second session of the fifth parliament" could be followed by the "third session of the fifth parliament" after a prorogation, but the "first session of the sixth parliament" after a dissolution.

An indirect election or hierarchical voting is an election in which voters do not choose directly among candidates or parties for an office, but elect people who in turn choose candidates or parties. It is one of the oldest forms of elections and is used by many countries for heads of state, cabinets, heads of government, and/or upper houses. It is also used for some supranational legislatures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elections in Malawi</span> Political elections for public offices in Malawi

Malawi elects on the national level a head of state and government – the president – and a national assembly. The President and members of the National Assembly, elected simultaneously at a General Election, together form the Malawi Parliament owing to the presidents dual role as head of government and head of state. In practice however, the National Assembly is on par with the executive and is able to exercise oversight functions through investigations and public hearings on various matters including those involving the executive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parliament of Victoria</span> Bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Victoria

The Parliament of Victoria is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Victoria that follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system. It consists of the King, represented by the Governor of Victoria, the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council. It has a fused executive drawn from members of both chambers. The parliament meets at Parliament House in the state capital Melbourne. The current Parliament was elected on 26 November 2022, sworn in on 20 December 2022 and is the 60th parliament in Victoria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Council of Representatives of Iraq</span> Legislature of Iraq

The Council of Representatives, usually referred to simply as the Parliament is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Iraq. According to the Constitution of Iraq, it is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of the country. As of 2020, it comprises 329 seats and meets in Baghdad inside the Green Zone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Assembly (Bulgaria)</span> Legislature of Bulgaria

The National Assembly is the unicameral parliament and legislative body of the Republic of Bulgaria. The first National Assembly was established in 1879 with the Tarnovo Constitution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parliament of Barbados</span> Bicameral legislature of Barbados

The Parliament of Barbados is the national legislature of Barbados. It is accorded legislative supremacy by Chapter V of the Constitution of Barbados. The Parliament is bicameral in composition and is formally made up of two houses, an appointed Senate and an elected House of Assembly, as well as the President of Barbados who is indirectly elected by both. Both houses sit in separate chambers in the Parliament Buildings, in the national capital Bridgetown in Saint Michael.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parliament of Ghana</span> Parliament in Ghana since 1950

The Parliament of Ghana is the legislative body of the Government of Ghana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Assembly of Botswana</span> Botswanas national unicameral legislature

The National Assembly is the sole legislative body of Botswana's unicameral Parliament, of which consists of the President and the National Assembly. The House passes laws, provides ministers to form Cabinet, and supervises the work of government. It is also responsible for adopting the country's budgets. It is advised by the Ntlo ya Dikgosi, a council of tribal chiefs which is not a house of Parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Assembly (Mauritius)</span>

The National Assembly is Mauritius's unicameral legislature, which was called the Legislative Assembly until 1992, when the country became a republic. The Constitution of Mauritius provides for the parliament of Mauritius to consist of the President and the National Assembly. The parliament of Mauritius is modelled after the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy, where members of parliament are voted in at regular general elections, on the basis of a first past the post system. The working language of the National Assembly is English.

In countries with a parliamentary system of government, contempt of Parliament is the offence of obstructing the legislature in the carrying out of its functions, or of hindering any legislator in the performance of his duties.

References

  1. Article 49 of the Constitution of Malawi: "'Parliament' consists of the National Assembly, the Senate and the President as Head of State."
  2. https://t.me/africaelects/183 #Malawi: after losing 6 of the 7 recent by-elections, the DPP (centre) has lost its relative majority in the National Assembly for the first time since 2009.
  3. 1 2 http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/cafrad/unpan004840.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  4. "africanelectionsportal.org -Malawi-". africanelections.org.
  5. "How one of world's poorest countries can teach US a vital lesson – Susan Dalgety". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 2020-06-27.
  6. "Elections May 19 | The Nation Online | Malawi Daily Newspaper". The Nation Online. 25 February 2020. Retrieved 2020-06-27.

Coordinates: 13°57′08″S33°47′16″E / 13.9522°S 33.7878°E / -13.9522; 33.7878