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Monday 18 April 2011

KING ‘SHOULD TAKE DIGNIFIED EXIT’

King Mswati and his supporters might think they have won the battle of 12 April 2011, but the last absolute monarch of Swaziland is set to lose the war.

King Mswati should fire his advisors and take full responsibility for the future fate that is going to befall the Swazi royal family, an article in the online magazine Leadership says today (18 April 2011).

By his own obstinacy and lack of insight he is on the back foot.

Emulating the failures of Ben Ali in Tunisia and Mubarak in Egypt, King Mswati committed the cardinal mistake of underestimating and misjudging the level of anger and bitterness amongst the people, especially the youth, of Swaziland. He mistakenly thought that as in the past, his storm troopers would terrorise his critics into submission, the South Africa-based magazine says.

The king should also have contemplated that his response to the demands of the pro-democracy activists would have serious international consequences. It is inconceivable that neither the king nor his advisors could be so daft as to opt for the option that would reverberate around the world.

It is difficult to imagine King Mswati surviving the international condemnation and the consequential pressure that his decision has provoked.

In dire need of foreign aid and assistance for survival the discredited Swazi government is going to find it extremely difficult if not impossible to get anyone willing to grant the required bailout- money.

King Mswati should take the olive branch extended to him by those in opposition still prepared to allow him a dignified exit.

To read the full article, click here.

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