At stake in this election:

• 55 seats in the House of Assembly

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: King MSWATI III
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Absolom Themba DLAMINI
• Assembly: Swaziland has a bicameral Parliament (Libandla) consisting of the Senate with 30 seats and the House of Assembly with 65 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The King is hereditary head of state.
• Prime Minister is appointed by the monarch.
• In the Senate, 20 members are appointed by the monarch to serve 5-year terms and 10 members are elected by the Legislative Assembly to serve 5-year terms. In the House of Assembly, 10 members are appointed by the monarch to serve 4-year terms and 55 members are elected by plurality vote in single-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms.**

** Elections to the House of Assembly are contested over 2 rounds. In the first round, all candidates nominated in the district contest the election; however, due to the election law of Swaziland, candidates are prohibited from campaigning for this election. The primary election was held on August 24, 2013.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Independent(s): Non-partisans*
  Leader: N/A
  Seats won in last House of Assembly election: 55

* Political parties are illegal in Swaziland. All candidates contest the election as non-partisans.

Election Note:

• Of the 55 elected seats, 12 incumbents were reelected and 43 incumbents lost their seats and will be replaced by new representatives.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 1,403,362 (July 2013 est.)
• Registered Voters: 415,012 (August 2013 )