Assembly of the Republic (Mozambique)

This article is about the parliament of Mozambique. For other uses, see Assembly of the Republic (disambiguation).

The Assembly of the Republic (Portuguese: Assembleia da República) is the unicameral legislative body of the Republic of Mozambique, established in 1977.

Assembly of the Republic Assembleia da República
Type
Type	Unicameral
History
Founded	1977[1]
Leadership
President of the Assembly	Margarida Talapa, FRELIMO since 13 January 2025
Structure
Seats	250
Political groups	Government (171)   FRELIMO (171) Opposition (79)   PODEMOS (43)   RENAMO (28)   MDM (8)
Elections
Voting system	Party-list proportional representation D'Hondt method with 5% threshold
Last election	9 October 2024
Next election	2029
Meeting place
Palácio da Assembleia da República Maputo, Mozambique
Website
www.parlamento.mz

The current parliament has 250 members, who are directly elected through a system of party-list proportional representation and serve five-year terms. Parties must receive at least five percent of the vote nationally to gain parliamentary representation. The 250 members of the Assembly of the Republic are elected by proportional representation in eleven multi-member constituencies based on the country's ten provinces and the capital region, with district magnitude ranging from 14 to 45, and through first-past-the-post voting in two single-member constituencies representing Mozambican citizens in Africa and Europe. Seats in the multi-member constituencies are allocated using the d'Hondt method, with an electoral threshold of 5%

Parliamentary debates and business are conducted entirely in Portuguese. Three parties are represented in the parliament: FRELIMO, RENAMO and the Democratic Movement of Mozambique. After the 2014 election, RENAMO MPs have refused to take office, since the party considered the electoral act had been fraudulent, but they resumed their duties in February 2015.^[2]

Presidents of the Assembly

The President of the Assembly is the second-highest figure in the state hierarchy of Mozambique, and will replace the President of Mozambique in case of incapacity.^[3] The permanent position of President of the Assembly was only established in 1986. Previously the position was filled by the President of the People's Republic of Mozambique.^[4]

Name	Took office	Left office	Notes
Samora Machel	1977	1986	Ex officio
Marcelino dos Santos	1986	1994	[5]
Eduardo Mulémbwè	1994	2009	[5]
Verónica Macamo	12 January 2010	13 January 2020	[6]
Esperança Bias	13 January 2020	13 January 2025	[6]
Margarida Talapa	13 January 2025	Incumbent	[6]

Latest election

Main article: 2024 Mozambican general election § Assembly

Party		Seats	+/–
	FRELIMO	171	-13
	PODEMOS	43	New
	RENAMO	28	–32
	Democratic Movement of Mozambique	8	+2
Total		250	0
Source: Club of Mozambique

Historical composition

PODEMOS   FRELIMO   MDM   RENAMO   RENAMO–UE   UD
1977	226
1986	249
1994	129 112 9
1999	133 117
2004	160 90
2009	191 8 51
2014	144 17 89
2019	184 6 60
2024	43 171 8 28

See also

• History of Mozambique
• Legislative Branch
• List of national legislatures