The opening of the Swaziland Parliament last Friday (8 February 2008) reminded me of another ‘Black Wednesday’ that took place in 2004.
This time the army didn’t invade the University of Swaziland and nobody was seriously injured. Instead, people quietly protested against the way the ‘rule of law’ was ignored in the kingdom.
The entire Court of Appeal bench of judges had resigned in protest over interference in the judicial system by King Mswati III. The opening of Parliament had been postponed and the Parliament Speaker had resigned after he had headed a special parliamentary committee that recommended against the purchase of an E720 million (US $111 million) private jet for the king - advice that was accepted by the House of Assembly.
Some MPs had threatened to boycott the King’s speech, on Wednesday 17 March 2004 but they changed their minds after Prime Minister Themba Dlamini issued a strong warning against ‘disrespecting’ the monarch.
The news agency IRIN (17 March 2004) reported as follows:
The Swaziland Coalition of Concerned Civic Organisations, an umbrella group of labour organisations, human rights bodies and banned political parties, had called for Swazis to wear black as a symbol of protest over what they described as the palace's undermining of parliament.
The prime minister and traditional authorities warned that any person wearing black would face punishment. The national highway running one kilometer north of parliament, and connecting roads, were blocked by police, who questioned any person seen wearing a dark garment.’Have you seen inside the chamber?
'It looks like the Easter Parade,’ one MP commented to IRIN about the variety of bold colours nervous MPs chose to wear before the king. Some legislators complained to the local media that they had to mothball black suits purchased for the occasion. Swaziland's parliament is subordinate to King Mswati, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.
Although MPs are elected from 55 constituencies, augmented by 10 royal appointees, parliamentarians take an oath of allegiance to the king rather than to the people or laws of Swaziland.
See also
BLACK WEDNESDAY AT SWAZILAND UNI
opening of parliament 2008
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