The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw ( lit. Assembly of the Union) is the de jure national-level bicameral legislature of Myanmar (officially known as the Republic of the Union of Myanmar) established by the 2008 National Constitution. The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw is made up of two houses, the 224-seat Amyotha Hluttaw, or "House of Nationalities", and the 440-seat Pyithu Hluttaw, or House of People's Representatives. There is no mention in the 2008 Constitution of any ‘lower’ or ‘upper’ houses: both the Pyithu Hluttaw and the Amyotha Hluttaw enjoy equal power to initiate, review, amend, and pass legislation. Each of the fourteen major administrative regions and states has its own local Hluttaw: Region Hluttaw (Region Assembly) or State Hluttaw (State Assembly). The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw is housed in a 31-building parliamentary complex. It is believed to represent the 31 planes of existence in Buddhist cosmology, located in Zeya Theddhi Ward of Naypyidaw. Members of the second Pyidaungsu Hluttaw were elected in the 8 November 2015 general election. On 16 March 2012, parliamentarians made the decision for the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw to re-join the IPU. After the coup d'état on 1 February 2021, the Assembly was dissolved by Acting President Myint Swe, who declared a one-year state of emergency and transferred all legislative powers to Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Min Aung Hlaing. History Pre-colonial era The hluttaw ( , lit. "delegation of royal [duties]") historically refers to the council of ministers in the king's court in pre-colonial Burma (Myanmar). Hluttaw's origins trace back to the Pagan era when King Htilominlo (r. 1211–1235) created a privy council of senior ministers to manage the day-to-day affairs of the government. During the Konbaung dynasty, the hluttaw was the centre of government and the kingdom's national administrative body, divided into three branches, namely fiscal, executive, and judicial (Since the colonial times, hluttaw has been used to describe a parliament or legislative body.) The Byedaik () acted as the Privy Council, maintaining the inner affairs of the royal court, whereas the Hluttaw managed the kingdom's government. The Hluttaw, as tradition, also had the duty of selecting the heir-apparent, whenever the incumbent king did not select one. In the Konbaung dynasty, the Hluttaw was in session for 6 hours daily, from 6 to 9 am, and from noon to 3 pm, attended by ministers (, Mingyi), ministers of third rank (, Wundauk), and head clerks (, Sayegyi), as well as interior ministers (, Atwin