The Peoples United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), one of the banned political parties in Swaziland, has issued this media release regarding the banning of the Southern Africa Social Forum meeting announced by Swaziland’s unelected Acting Prime Minister Bheki Dlamini yesterday (13 October 2008).
Civil Organizations comprising Labor Unions, those under the Co-coordinating Assembly for Non-Governmental Organizations, the Church and numerous other organizations from Southern Africa and beyond have been banned from holding a meeting on issues affecting them in Swaziland this week. The meeting was scheduled to be held from the 16th to the 18th of October 2008. It is worth mentioning that this Forum was planned a long time ago and various consultations had been held with the Swazi Government to this end.
As has been the case in the past, the tinkhundla regime has always shifted the responsibility of such matters of the freedom of assembly to the royal police force. PUDEMO is aware that meetings were held with the police earlier in the year where the regime granted that the forum be held only after the national elections, to which the organizers agreed.
Today the state arrogantly rejects the forum on the grounds that it will not be in the interest of the nation, peace and security. PUDEMO is aware that the actual reasons for disallowing this meeting are that the king has called the nation to the cattle byre; that the issues to be discussed are those affecting all the poor and underprivileged in our society and those bordering on corruption and mishandling of taxpayers' resources by governments, including that of Swaziland.
This ban will not hide the dilapidating health care, lack of sanitary systems, the abject poverty against extravagance by those in authority.
We condemn this dictatorial, ruthless and senseless autocratic reaction by this regime wherein it violates both the Swazis and global community's fundamental freedoms of assembly and expression. This is testimony to what PUDEMO has been saying for long that the people of Swaziland live under a dictatorship through the absolute monarch, lacking good governance under the peoples' will.
The Swazi people have sought for dialogue, peaceful transition and have gone through the courts of law to no success. We call on the international community to assess as to who the aggressor is here; what options are there for the poor , starving and oppressed people who seek a forum to share with others the current situations and possible resolutions to them.
PUDEMO calls for the members of the civil society to take drastic steps towards solidarity with the oppressed, poor and starving, implementations of socio-economic sanctions against the Swazi leadership.
For more information contact:
Mario Masuku –PUDEMO President:+268 608 3338
Or
Sphasha Dlamini- PUDEMO Secretary General: +268 608 9783
See also
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