TOTAL ABUSE OF POWER BY SWAZI PM

The following is a letter to the editor of the Times Sunday (15 February 2009) from the Swaziland National Progressive Party commenting on the statement from Barnabas Dlamini, Swaziland’s illegally-appointed Prime Minister that people who criticise the speech made by King Mswati III at the state opening of parliament earlier this month (February 2009) could be charged sedition.

PM’s attitude must be condemned

Dear Sir,

The Swaziland National Progressive Party (SNPP) condemns the attitude of the Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini to intimidate people who want or intend to applaud or criticize King Mswati III’s speech which he delivered on February 7, 2009.

By threatening the critics of the speech with treason, high treason and sedition charges is total abuse of power by the PM and also gross violation of rights by his government.

The SNPP would like to warn the PM not to plunge the country into political chaos.

The SNPP would like to put it clear that His Majesty’s speech was defeated by the PM’s government because the constitution is well clear on free primary education and therefore when the king said no free education it was just a contradiction.

The constitution of any country is a supreme law and therefore no-one had a right to twist or change a constitution without consultation. The king must be careful that the country is not taken back to the November 28 statement by the same PM, who also caused the judges of the Appeal Court to resign.

The Attorney General should with immediate effect advise the government of Swaziland against violating the constitution.

The constitution should not only protect the government and the Head of State, but should protect all the citizens.

Therefore citizens have all the rights to condemn any speech made publicly by the Head of State because they pay taxes towards the government. The PM, by issuing such statement of intimidation, was silencing the progressives who had a different version about the Tinkhundla system. The SNPP is confident that SADC and the AU will one day address the political problem engulfing Swaziland. Swaziland has always acted as a pioneer in solving other nations’ problems but fails to solve hers.

Yours Faithfully

Magadeywile Mdluli

SNPP President