Composition of the National Assembly

The National Assembly is made up of 280 members, as well as the presiding officer, known as the Speaker, who is elected at the Assembly's first sitting. A Member of the National Assembly who is elected as Speaker ceases to be a Member of the National Assembly, and the vacant seat must be filled in accordance with the Electoral Law.

74% of members selected for the National Assembly were either elected for the first time, or did not sit in the previous Parliament.

On 3 October 2023, a letter was sent to the Speaker of Parliament by Sengezo Tshabangu, who claimed to be the interim Secretary General of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), stating that fifteen members (nine constituency MPs, five Women's Quota and one Youth Quota) of the National Assembly from the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) had ceased to be party members and therefore lost their membership of the National Assembly.^[1] The letter contained spelling mistakes, most notably spelling the word 'ceased' as 'seized'. The leader of the CCC, Nelson Chamisa subsequently wrote to the Speaker to inform him that the CCC did not have an 'interim Secretary General' position within their party and that only he was able to recall members. ^[2] The Speaker subsequently acted on Tshabangu's letter and declared the seats of the supposedly-recalled MPs vacant on 10 October 2023 and notified the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission in line with the Consitution to prepare by-elections for the relevant constituencies. These by-elections are due to be held on 9 December 2023.^[3]

On 7 November 2023, a further letter was sent to the Speaker of Parliament and the President of the Senate by Tshabangu. In this letter, he recalled a further six constituency MPs and 6 Women's Quota MPs, as well as five Senators.^[4] Their seats were declared vacant by the Speaker and President respectively on 14 November 2023. On the same day, the High Court ruled that any further recalls could not be acted upon by Parliament until legal challenges had completed. The Speaker, however, determined that the seats had been vacated when the letter was written - i.e. 7 November - and so remained vacant in spite of the Court order on 14 November. ^[5]

More information Members, Elected in September 2023 ...

Members
		Elected in September 2023				Current
Constituency Maps
Assembly composition
Party		Common	Women	Youth	Total	Common	Women	Youth	Total	Change
	ZANU–PF	136	33	7	176	152	33	7	192	16
	CCC	73	27	3	103	58	21	3	82	21
Total		209	60	10	279	210	54	10	274	5
	Vacant	1	0	0	1	0	6	0	6	5
	Speaker	1				1
Government majority		73				110				37

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Elected Constituency Members

210 members of the National Assembly are elected by secret ballot from the 210 constituencies into which Zimbabwe is divided.^[6] The following members were elected during the General Election in September 2023.

Women's Quota

An additional 60 women members, six from each of the provinces into which Zimbabwe is divided, are elected under a party-list system of proportional representation which is based on the votes cast for candidates representing political parties in each of the provinces in the general election for constituency members in the provinces.^[9]

Youth Quota

Beginning with the 2023 general election, a further 10 seats are reserved for youth members, that is, persons aged from 21 – 35 years of age, one from each of the provinces into which Zimbabwe is divided, elected under a party-list system of proportional representation which is based on the votes cast for candidates representing political parties in a general election for constituency members in the provinces.^[10]

Composition of the Senate

The Senate is made up of 80 members, as well as the presiding officer, known as the President of the Senate, who is elected at the Senate's first sitting. A Senator who is elected as President of the Senate ceases to be a Senator, and the vacant seat must be filled in accordance with the Electoral Law.

On 4 October 2023, a letter was sent to the President of the Senate by Sengezo Tshabangu, who claimed to be the interim Secretary General of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), stating that nine members of the Senate from the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) had ceased to be party members and therefore lost their membership of the Senate.^[11] The leader of the CCC, Nelson Chamisa subsequently wrote to the Speaker and the President of the Senate to inform them that the CCC did not have an 'interim Secretary General' position within their party and that only he was able to recall members. ^[12] The President subsequently acted on Tshabangu's letter and declared the seats of the supposedly-recalled Senators vacant on 10 October 2023. ^[3]

On 7 November 2023, a further letter was sent to the Speaker of Parliament and the President of the Senate by Tshabangu. In this letter, he recalled a further six constituency MPs and 6 Women's Quota MPs, as well as five Senators.^[13] Their seats were declared vacant by the Speaker and President respectively on 14 November 2023. On the same day, the High Court ruled that any further recalls could not be acted upon by Parliament until legal challenges had completed. The Speaker, however, determined that the seats had been vacated when the letter was written - i.e. 7 November - and so remained vacant in spite of the Court order on 14 November. ^[14]

More information Senate composition, Affiliation ...

Senate composition
Affiliation		Elected	Current	Change
	ZANU–PF	33	33
	CCC	27	22	5
	Chiefs	18	17	1
	Persons with disabilities	2	2
	Vacant	0	6	6
Total		80	80
	President of the Senate	1	1

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Provincial Seats

There are 60 provincial seats in the Senate. Six are elected from each of the provinces into which Zimbabwe is divided, under a party-list system of proportional representation which is based on the votes cast for candidates representing political parties in each of the provinces in the general election for Members of the National Assembly. Male and female candidates are listed alternately, with every list being headed by a female candidate.^[15]

Chiefs' seats

Chapter 6, Part 3, §120(b) and (c) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe reserves 16 seats in the Senate for Chiefs, of whom two are elected by the provincial assembly of Chiefs from each of the provinces, other than the metropolitan provinces, and two for the President and Deputy President of the National Council of Chiefs.^[18][19]

Persons with disabilities

Chapter 6, Part 3, §120(d) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe reserves two seats in the Senate for representatives of persons with disabilities.^[21] In terms of paragraph 3(3)(b) of the Seventh Schedule to the Electoral Act [Chapter 2:13], one must be male, the other must be female. These Senators are elected by the National Disability Board.^[22]

Constituency by-elections

Quota replacements

Senate replacements