More than six people in ten in Swaziland say they are not satisfied
with the way democracy works in the kingdom.
This was one of the findings in a report called ‘Let the People
Have a Say’, published this week by Afrobarometer.
The research surveyed 34-countries in Africa and asked a
series of questions about what people thought about democracy and how
democratic they thought their own country was.
But, only in Swaziland were researchers were not allowed to
ask a question about whether people rejected ‘one man rule’. In its report
Afrobarometer said this was because ‘a near-absolute monarch resists
democratization’ in the kingdom.
Among the report’s main findings were that in Swaziland 46
percent of people surveyed said ‘democracy is preferable to any other
government.’
Only 35 percent of people were ‘somewhat or very satisfied’
with the way democracy worked in Swaziland.
A total of 22 percent of people said they believed
non-democratic governments can be preferable to democracies.
In Swaziland political parties are banned from taking part
in elections and political parties that campaigned for democracy in the kingdom
have been banned as terrorists. Even so, 70 percent of people strongly
disapproved of one-party rule.
Dissent in Swaziland is often put down by police and state
forces, but 86 percent of people rejected military rule for Swaziland.
Across the continent seven out of 10 Africans prefer
democracy to other political regimes.
The report raised questions about the depth of Africans’ support
for democracy, suggesting that levels of support depend on whether citizens were
experiencing democracy and whether they felt they were benefitting from it.
The report concluded the demand for, or commitment to,
democracy was much lower in countries where democracy is disputed or elections
are not held – such as Algeria, Egypt, Madagascar and Swaziland.
The report was authored by Professor Michael Bratton of Michigan State University
in the United States and Richard Houessou of the Institute for Empirical
Research in Political Economy (IREEP) in Benin.
See also
SWAZIS WANT
DEMOCRACY - SURVEY
SEVEN IN TEN SWAZIS
GO HUNGRY
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