The Commonwealth has sent
a special envoy to Swaziland in a bid to get the absolute monarch King Mswati III
to democratise his kingdom.
The former Malawi
president Bakili Muluzi is leading a team on a visit to Swaziland from 5 to 10
July 2015.
King Mswati rules
Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. Political parties are
banned from taking part in elections and the King chooses the government and
top judges. The Suppression of Terrorism Act is used to suppress any attempt to
discuss the need for democratic change.
The Commonwealth is
pushing for the unbanning of political parties in Swaziland. It made a
recommendation for this to happen after the 2013 nation election, but it has
been ignored.
According to media reports in Malawi,
Muluzi said he would hold discussions with a wide array of stakeholders,
including the King, the King’s government ministers and civil society.
Commonwealth observers
called for the Swazi Constitution to be rewritten after they
concluded the kingdom’s national
election in September 2013 was not entirely credible.
They said members of
parliament ‘continue to have severely limited powers’ and political parties are
banned.
The
Commonwealth observers said there was ‘considerable room for improving the
democratic system’.
In a report they said the Constitution needed to be revisited with an open debate on what changes were necessary.
It added, ‘This should
ideally be carried out through a fully inclusive, consultative process with all
Swazi political organisations and civil society (if needed, with the help of
constitutional experts.’
It
said, ‘The aim is to ensure that Swaziland’s commitment to political pluralism
is unequivocal.’
See also
POLL OBSERVERS: REWRITE CONSTITUTION
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