A lot of hot air is being generated in Swaziland about
political parties as the kingdom gets ready for national elections later this
year.
To some people they are the Devil’s work and part of a dark
plot to destroy Swaziland and the Swazi way of life.
This is even though every parliamentary democracy in the
world has them and they would be of great benefit to Swaziland if they were
allowed to operate properly.
There is nothing sinister about political parties, or
‘multi-parties’ as the Swazi media often call them. A political party is simply
a collection of people who come together because they have roughly the same set
of views and opinions.
But, they don’t just meet for a ‘talking shop’: they aim to
get political power. In a democracy this is done by getting people to elect
your party into government.
In a parliamentary democracy you can have as many political
parties as you want. But people would also be able to stand for election as
individuals if they wished to and there is nothing to stop them being elected
if enough voters wanted it.
After an election, the leader of the political party that
wins the majority of seats in parliament becomes prime minister and appoints
the government. If no single party wins a majority, two or more parties in
parliament would usually join together to form a coalition government.
Whether there is a majority or a coalition government, there
would also be at least one party in parliament that was the ‘opposition’ to the
government. This means that there is
always an alternative government available to the one in power. If the people
don’t like the one in power, they can vote it out at the next election and put another
party in government.
A major benefit of political parties for Swaziland is that
parties not only allow people to select alternative governments, they allow
people to discuss alternative policies.
There are so many problems in Swaziland at present that a
succession of governments – which have been selected by King Mswati III and not
elected by the people - have been unable to solve them. And, because political
parties don’t exist, no alternative policies have been brought forward. Governments have clearly failed on poverty
alleviation, corruption in every fabric of Swazi public life, jobs creation,
attracting foreign investment into Swaziland, the HIV pandemic and so on.
Since political parties were banned in 1973 by King Sobhuza II’s
Royal Proclamation, there has been no way for people to create and debate
different policies or strategies for Swaziland: and then to choose the path
that the kingdom ought to follow.
The present Swazi Government is led by Barnabas Dlamini, the
Prime Minister who was elected by nobody, but instead was appointed incontravention of the 2005 Swaziland Constitution by King Mswati, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan
Africa’s last absolute monarch.
Dlamini was not elected for the policies he would pursue
while in office. He therefore has no mandate from the people to do anything.
Take the example of the present economic crisis in
Swaziland. In October 2010, Dlamini took to the International Monetary Fund(IMF) a Fiscal Adjustment Roadmap (FAR)
of financial measures to try to save the economy. For the past three years the
IMF’s view of what should be the kingdom’s economic policy has dominated public
life.
But, there has been no debate with the Swazi people about
what the kingdom’s economic policies should be and therefore no alternative
policy that people can agree on has been put forward.
If Swaziland had political parties that alternative would
already be published and with the consent of the people could be implemented in
the future.
Political parties also allow leaders to come through. People
can develop their leadership skills within political parties and while part of
the parliamentary ‘opposition’, prior to taking office in government.
One great weakness of Swaziland politics at present is the
very low calibre of most people in parliament. Many have minimal education and
few obvious skills. If political parties existed they could attract people of
high calibre who knew that they had the opportunity of contributing to the
future of Swaziland. Few present day members of the Swazi House of Assembly or Senate
could honestly say that about themselves.
In the case of Swaziland where there is no democracy at
present, we cannot have political parties without changes to the political
system. To begin with all seats to the House of Assembly and the Senate must be
open to election with none in the patronage of King Mswati, as now.
Second, the Swaziland Constitution must be respected. If political parties are to operate properly we must have these:
freedom of organisation; freedom of speech and assembly; provision of a fair
and peaceful competition; everyone to be included in the electoral process; media
access and fair reporting and transparent and accountable financing of political parties.
Opponents of political parties in Swaziland often
misunderstand an important point: just because political parties are allowed to
exist that does not mean that people cannot stand for election to parliament as
individuals. It follows that if the voters prefer individuals over political
parties they will vote for them.
If there really is the love of the present system among
Swazi people, as opponents of change say, political parties will wither and die
through lack of support.
But, if the opponents are wrong and the Swazi people embrace
the political parties, the benefit to them and the kingdom as a whole would be
tremendous.
‘THE FAILURE OF SWAZI POLITICS’
EU TELLS KING
‘FREE PARTIES’
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