SWAZILAND ELECTION DAY UPDATE

The Swaziland Elections 2008 blogsite has been updated over the past two days to include (among many other items) coverage of election day last Friday (19 September 2008).

International media took a lot of interest in the events, concentrating on the undemocratic nature of the elections (all political parties are banned, the parliament has no real power and King Mswati III chooses the Prime Minister and Cabinet).

To see how the major news organisations reported the election day click on the links below.

Associated Press

Reuters

AFP

BBC

AL JAZEERA

Swaziland’s Weekend Observer (20 September 2008) tried to be more upbeat about the election. This is to be expected of the newspaper that is in effect owned by King Mswati III and supports the status quo in the kingdom.

Even so, it reported a number of malpractices at the election, including an accusation of bribery and rows over the last minute change of venues of polling stations and vote rigging.

Weekend Observer

See also

ELECTIONS

SWAZILAND ELECTIONS 2008 BLOGSITE