He told members of the SADC Parliamentary Forum that Monarchical Democracy, an invention of the King dating back to 2013, was “a new democratic ideology that works”.
The Times of Swaziland, the only independent daily newspaper in the kingdom where media are heavily censored, reported on Thursday (2 June 2016) that a message from the King read by the Deputy Prime Minister Paul Shabangu said, ‘The ballot box is the will of the people who vote for an individual, who will provide advice and counsel to the King and country in a manner that ensures transparency and accountability.’
He did not mention that in
Swaziland political parties are banned and that the Swazi people were only
allowed to select 55 of the 65 members of the House of Assembly, with the King
appointing the others. No members of the 30-strong Swaziland Senate are elected
by the people.
The Prime Minister, his deputy
and all cabinet ministers are chosen by the King.
The remarks were given during
the official opening of the 39th Plenary Assembly Session of the Southern
Africa Development Community (SADC) Parliamentary Forum in Ezulwini.
The Times reported, “As put to the global community, the Kingdom of
Eswatini’s [Swaziland’s] position is that it believes in democracy as an idea
but not as an ideal because things that are ideal to you may not be ideal to
other people,” the King said.’
King Mswati is presently the
Deputy Chair of the SADC and will assume
the chair in August 2016. n
King Mswati invented the
concept of ‘Monarchical Democracy’ in 2013, when he said the idea came to him during
a thunderstorm. The media and his other supporters claimed it was different
from the tinkhundla system of government that already existed in the kingdom.
The King told media in Swaziland at the time this meant he
would take advice from his subjects before making decisions that affected the
kingdom.
His description of ‘Monarchical
Democracy’ was vague, but in Swaziland, people, even journalists who purport to
act on their behalf, are too scared of the King to ask him for clarification.
In fact, the ‘tinkhundla’
system of government puts all power in the hands of the monarchy. King Mswati
chooses the Prime Minister, cabinet ministers, members of the judiciary, and he
appoints all senior political posts in his kingdom.
When the King made his
announcement about ‘Monarchical Democracy’, many people hoped this would mean a
change from the present system to something approaching democracy.
But, the supine Press in Swaziland did not explain to their
readers that this was not going to happen.
Instead, it took the Reuters news agency to get at the truth. It interviewed the King and asked him outright what ‘Monarchical Democracy’ was all about and what was going to change. The King replied, ‘No change really. It's just a name so people can understand.’
Instead, it took the Reuters news agency to get at the truth. It interviewed the King and asked him outright what ‘Monarchical Democracy’ was all about and what was going to change. The King replied, ‘No change really. It's just a name so people can understand.’
It was, Reuters reported,
‘merely a name change for foreign consumption’.
The news agency reported the
King saying, ‘The world really doesn’t understand the tinkhundla system, but
everybody can understand monarchical democracy. It’s an English name. This
monarchical democracy is a marriage between the traditional monarchy and the
ballot box, all working together under the monarchy.’
So, the King confirmed in his
own words that ‘tinkhundla’ and ‘Monarchical Democracy’ were one and the same
thing.
Reuters’ report was published
worldwide, as well as on social media circulating within Swaziland. Swazi
newspaper editors read the report with everyone else.
But, even though the Reuters
report was published in September 2013, the Swazi newspapers continue with the
fiction that ‘Monarchical Democracy’ might be something new.
See also
KING ADMITS NO CHANGE ON DEMOCRACY
NEW NAME FOR NON-DEMOCRACY
GOD TELLS KING MSWATI A HOME TRUTH
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