Swaziland’s Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) says
there are 600,000 people in the kingdom eligible to vote in this year’s
national election.
At the last election in 2008 there were estimated to be
only 400,000 people eligible to register, and of these, only 350,778 actually did
so.
So, it raises a question that the EBC must answer with
some urgency – where have the extra 200,000 people come from? The overall
population of Swaziland has remained constant during this period at about 1.1
million people.
Swaziland is a kingdom riddled with corruption at all
levels from the tiniest rural area to the largest cities and no one should
believe anything they are told by the government or its agencies without
evidence being provided.
If King Mswati III, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan
Africa’s last absolute monarch, claims after the election that more than
350,778 people voted this time we should be very suspicious indeed.
At the very least, the EBC should undertake to make the
voters’ rolls open to public scrutiny, prior to the start of the primary
elections. The credibility of the whole election is at stake if people cannot be
certain the voters’ list is genuine.
Already, after only one week the electoral registration
process is in chaos. Across the kingdom, people have being turning up to
register at 400 registration centres only to be turned away. Excuses given to
them range from computer equipment is not working to polling clerks have not
been adequately trained to perform their duties.
According to one local media report, fewer than 20,000
people managed to register to vote over the first three days of registration.
The election is already causing controversy. A campaign
to boycott the election because political parties are banned from taking part
and because the Parliament that is selected has no real powers is gaining
momentum.
The election is only to select 55 members of the House of
Assembly. A further 10 members are appointed by the king. No members of the
Senate House are elected by the people.
Of its 30 members, 20 are chosen by the king and 10 are
elected by members of the House of Assembly.
See also
SWAZI ELECTION ‘WILL BE A FRAUD’
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