King Mswati III may have misled his subjects when he told
them the number of people registering to vote in Swaziland's election this
year was the highest ever.
Although more than 411,084 people out of an eligible 600,000
registered to vote at the election due to start later this month (August 2013),
it represented only 68.5 per cent of those entitled to vote. At the last
election in 2008, the percentage of eligible voters who registered was 87.6
percent.
The king, who is sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch,
was talking up the election when he dissolved the national parliament on Friday
(2 August 2013). He had summoned his subjects to the Cattle Byre at Ludzidzini
for ‘sibaya’, a people’s parliament, which he claims is the supreme policy
making body in Swaziland.
He told the crowd, ‘We have heard that registration figures are very high this time around as most Swazis want to participate in the elections. This year, when compared to other years, has the highest registration figures.’
He told the crowd, ‘We have heard that registration figures are very high this time around as most Swazis want to participate in the elections. This year, when compared to other years, has the highest registration figures.’
In 2008, the number of people registered to vote was 350,778
from a possible 400,000.
When the election came in 2008 only 189,559 people actually
voted: 47.4 percent of the 400,000 eligible.
The election is shrouded in controversy as the parliament it
selects has no power as this is vested in the king. 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. Political parties are banned from participating in the
election.
King Mswati also told the crowd at sibaya, estimated bySwazi media to number ‘close to10,000’ people, ‘Your being here is also a sign of respect. I know you are
here because you want to attend so that you hear what the King has to say to
you.’
However, he did not reveal that at the last sibaya, held in
August 2012 at which people criticised the king’s appointed government and
called for it to be sacked, attendance was 12,000, according to media reports at the time.
The first round of the election is on 24 August and the main
election is on 20 September 2013.
See also
‘VOTING REGISTRATION FIGURES FALSIFIED’
SWAZI ELECTION ‘WILL BE A FRAUD’
ELECTION CORRUPTION AT REGISTRATION
SWAZI BOGUS
ELECTION – SPONSORED BY MTN
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