POLL BLASTS SWAZILAND PROGRESS

Swaziland has not made good progress over the 40 years since independence from Britain, according to a poll conducted by King Mswati III’s own newspaper.

In a poll conducted by the Swazi Observer, 95 percent of those taking part said No to the following question. ‘After 40 Years Of Political And Economic Independence, Do You Think There Has Been A Good Progress Over The Past 4 Decades?’

The poll was conducted over the course of a week on the Observer’s website. 1,692 people took part.

The scale of the dissatisfaction must come as an embarrassment to the newspaper since it is in effect owned by Swaziland’s absolute ruler, King Mswati III and the editorial policy of the paper is to ‘talk up’ Swaziland.

There is more embarrassment on the way. To this week’s poll question, ‘Do You Think This Year's Elections Are Free And Fair? 87 percent of respondents have voted No. The poll closes on Monday 15 September 2008.