Following speculation that King Mswati III had interfered
in the election of Speaker of the House of Assembly in Swaziland, his
supposed preferred candidate Themba Msibi has announced he will run for
the office.
Swaziland’s Parliament was thrown into confusion on Thursday
(17 October 2013) when Ndvuna Dlamini, the Clerk to Parliament, adjourned the
election for House Speaker without a vote being taken.
This led to an
accusation by pro-democracy campaigners, the Swaziland Solidarity Network
(SSN), that this was done to allow Themba Msibi to become House
Speaker, even though he was not standing.
The next day Msibi announced he would
run for the office. Meanwhile, two other candidates, the well-known dissident
writer Mfomfo Nkhambule Patrick ‘Pha’ Motsa said they
would withdraw from the contest.
This leaves the election as a straight run off
between the outgoing Speaker Prince Guduza and Msibi.
The SSN reported Guduza had been the
parliamentarians’ first choice, but King Mswati, who rules Swaziland as
sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, objected.
In a statement, SSN said, ‘He [the king] has also issued his
famous threat that should Msibi not be elected as Speaker, he will not open
parliament next year. He has done this in the past when Marwick Khumalo was
elected Speaker.’
See also
CONFUSION AS SPEAKER NOT ELECTED
DISSIDENT STANDS AS HOUSE SPEAKER
No comments:
Post a Comment