Absolute monarch in talks with banned
political parties
Kenworthy News Media, September
22, 2015
Swaziland has been an
absolute monarchy for decades, but absolute monarch King Mswati III is being
pressed by both the country’s democratic movement, the Commonwealth and the EU
to discuss democratic reforms, writes Kenworthy News Media.
“At the moment the king
regards us as people who want to destroy the country, but once we have talked
with him he will know what the people want”, says president of the People’s
United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), Mario Masuku. He is speaking of the
possibility of a meeting, talks or even negotiations between Swaziland’s
absolute monarch, King Mswati III, who has ruled Swaziland almost
single-handedly for nearly 30 years, and the country’s Democratic Movement.
The prospect of any
dialogue between PUDEMO, Swaziland’s arguably largest pro-democratic party or
movement that, like all other parties in the country, is banned, and the
absolute monarch who has banned them and who treats them as terrorists, has
been brokered by the Commonwealth. The intergovernmental organization has
previously criticized the rule of Mswati and recently sent a delegation to
Swaziland to meet with Swazi civil society.
“The Commonwealth had
said to the king that there are people who are not happy with the way the
country is governed. The king wanted to know who and why and was told that it
was members of civil society. The king then asked for a meeting that we believe
may evolve towards a dialogue of sorts”, says Mario Masuku.
Conditions for dialogue
Regardless of how and when such a meeting takes
place, PUDEMO has several demands if they are to attend.
“Every person attending
must have a right to express themselves at such a meeting. The king must commit
himself to the dialogue in the form of a declaration that cannot be renounced.
All laws that hinder progress must be removed, including the Suppressions of
Terrorism Act”, says Masuku, who is himself charged under the act for shouting
“viva PUDEMO” on May Day 2014. He could face 15 years in prison if convicted.
Other conditions are that
all political parties must be unbanned, intimidation of political activists and
human rights defenders must stop, all political exiles must be allowed to
return to Swaziland unconditionally, and the 1973 proclamation where the king’s
father assumed supreme power in Swaziland must be annulled. “These are the main
issues that need to be resolved for us to have a proper dialogue”, insists
Mario Masuku.
Nevertheless, he is
hopeful that if PUDEMO actually get to talk to the king and if there is a
“climate of open doors” and a national dialogue, then progress can be made. But
any progress will have to point towards and lead to multi-party democracy, he
says, guided by a road map and time frame for a process towards democratic
national elections in 2018.
“The end result must be
free and fair national elections, starting with talks about talks behind closed
doors. The outcome of these talks should be a national convention where all the
organisations will make up a constituent assembly. This assembly will in turn
give birth to an electoral committee, after which we will be able to hold free
and fair elections”, says Masuku.
Talks and mobilisation go hand in hand
Dialogue, talks and negotiations are just one part of PUDEMO’s strategy and
struggle for multiparty democracy in Swaziland, however, Mario Masuku says.
“Negotiations are part of
our strategy towards this end goal. But we will not abandon our mass
mobilisation, our empowerment of our members, or promoting our cause
internationally. We understand that we will only be successful if we have some
kind of leverage. The ANC’s leverage was the armed struggle, our leverage is
the masses on the ground, not guns and bombs”, he says.
He also insists that
ordinary Swazis will be a guiding force for PUDEMO if actual talks and
negotiations, that include PUDEMO and the rest of the democratic movement in
Swaziland, take place.
“The people on the ground
will let us know if these talks are a waste of time. If we are not talking
about how they will be represented in parliament and how we can help the poor,
the talks will not be a success”, he insists.
Growing pressure on the king
So why has the prospect of dialogue, and potentially emerging from such a
dialogue, talks and negotiations, come about now?
According to Mario
Masuku, the reason is a combination between internal pressure and a growing
pressure from outside Swaziland.
“There has been pressure
from the ILO, especially in regard to amending the Suppression of Terrorism Act
and other laws. There has been pressure from the EU, who are big trading
partners, give substantial amounts of money to Swaziland, and who are not happy
about the human rights situation in the country. And there has been pressure
from the USA, who withdrew Swaziland’s eligibility for the African Growth and
Opportunity Act with all the benefits that went with it for Swaziland. The
international pressure has helped and inside Swaziland there is noise too,” he
says.
Masuku believes that this
pressure has manifested itself in a pattern of progress recently that includes
the unbanning of Swaziland’s trade union congress, TUCOSWA, the release of
political prisoners Thulani Maseko and Bheki Makhubu, the sacking of corrupt
chief justice Michael Ramodibedi, and the release on bail of himself and youth
activist Maxwell Dlamini.
But king Mswati does not
seem willing to just hand over power of the country that he has ruled with
absolute power for nearly three decades. A delegation from Swaziland is
currently touring Europe to try and convince EU politicians to try and avert EU
threats of sanctions against Swaziland if the country does not reform its
political system, says Mario Masuku. And such a delegation might conceivably
also try to twist the truth about the human rights and political situation in
the country.
Land, health, education and climate
But should dialogue end up leading to talks, talks to negotiations, and
negotiations to multiparty elections that PUDEMO end up winning, what is
PUDEMO’s vision for a democratic Swaziland, what do they believe are the most
pertinent and important issues to be solved?
“The first issue is that
of land”, says Mario Masuku. “The majority of people in Swaziland live in the
rural areas without the right to the land they live on and cultivate. They are
evicted by chiefs doing the king’s bidding at will. People must own their own
land”.
“Health is equally
important. Many people in Swaziland suffer from curable diseases such as
tuberculosis. In my area there is no clinic within a radius of 10 kilometres.
You cannot live a life like this”, says Masuku.
Another important matter
is that of education, he says.
“People can’t afford
scholarships to university. And those who do manage to finish their degree find
that there are no jobs for them. We need a plan for how many teachers and
engineers we need, so that there are jobs for them when the finish their
degrees, and we need free primary education”.
Finally, Mario Masuku
mentions the environment as an important and all-encompassing issue that needs
to be resolved by a future democratic government.
“There is little being
done now on the environment. Before we start properly industrializing, we must
ensure that we consider things such as biodiversity and global warming, as
these matters are of the utmost importance for both us and future generations”,
concludes Mario Masuku.
Negotiations will be a battlefield
Before PUDEMO are able to wield any parliamentary power, there almost certainly
lies a long and difficult road of dialogue, talks and negotiations ahead of
them.
And regardless of the
pressure and subsequent progress that is being made in Swaziland towards such
dialogue with the absolute monarch, Mario Masuku is still only cautiously
optimistic.
“It is said that power
corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Well our king treasures
authority and power, as well as his immense resources, and will not easily give
them up. Any negotiations will therefore be a fierce battle, and we are yet to
see how he will react to talks of taking away the power he wields or his
private investment funds”, he says.
“And even if the king
agrees to become a constitutional monarch, he still wields a lot of power
through the traditional authorities. All these matters must be resolved before
any process towards a democratic Swaziland of the future can be set in motion”,
says Mario Masuku.