la consists of the Senate (30 seats;
10 members appointed by the House of Assembly and 20 appointed by
the monarch; to serve five-year terms) and the House of Assembly (65
seats; 10 members appointed by the monarch and 55 elected by popular
vote; to serve five-year terms)
elections: House of Assembly - last held 19 September 2008 (next to
be held in 2013)
election results: House of Assembly - balloting is done on a
nonparty basis; candidates for election are nominated by the local
council of each constituency and for each constituency the three
candidates with the most votes in the first round of voting are
narrowed to a single winner by a second round

Judicial branch:

High Court; Supreme Court; judges for both courts are appointed by
the monarch

Political parties and leaders:

the status of political parties, previously banned, is unclear under
the new (2006) Constitution and currently being debated - the
following are considered political associations; African United
Democratic Party or AUDP [Stanley MAUNDZISA, president]; Imbokodvo
National Movement or INM; Ngwane National Liberatory Congress or
NNLC [Obed DLAMINI, president]; People's United Democratic Movement
or PUDEMO [Mario MASUKU, president]

Political pressure groups and leaders:

Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions; Swaziland and Solidarity
Network or SSN

International organization participation:

ACP, AfDB, AU, C, COMESA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD,
IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU,
ITUC, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, PCA, SACU, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO,
UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation in the US:

chief of mission: Ambassador Ephraim Mandla HLOPHE
chancery: 1712 New Hampshire Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20009
telephone: [1] (202) 234-5002
FAX: [1] (202) 234-8254

Diplomatic representation from the US:

chief of mission: Ambassador Maurice S. PARKER
embassy: 2350 Mbabane Place, Mbabane
mailing address: P. O. Box 199, Mbabane
telephone: [268] 404-2445
FAX: [268] 404-2059

Flag description:

three horizontal bands of blue (top), red (triple width), and blue;
the red band is edged in yellow; centered in the red band is a large
black and white shield covering two spears and a staff decorated
with feather tassels, all placed horizontally

Economy
Swaziland

Economy - overview:

In this small, landlocked economy, subsistence agricultu