The committee appointed to
pilot Swaziland’s Public Order Bill has said it would not allow political
parties to be legalised in the kingdom.
At present Swaziland is
ruled by King Mswati III who is sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. The
King appoints the Government. No members of the Swazi Senate are elected by the
people. Political parties are not allowed to contest elections and are to all
purposes banned in the kingdom.
International pressure for
Swaziland to democratise has forced the kingdom to review a number of laws. The
Public Order Bill 2016 is presently being discussed in Swaziland’s Parliament.
The Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by the King, reported
on Wednesday (7 September 2016) that the portfolio committee announced it had ‘no
intention of allowing political parties to exist’.
The committee is led by
Member of Parliament Thuli Dladla, who was not elected to the House of
Assembly, but appointed by the King.
The Observer said that the portfolio committee’s report said the
Swaziland Constitution, ‘did not provide for political parties’.
The newspaper said, ‘The
portfolio committee’s report said the constitution, instead of providing for
political parties only made reference to political associations or organisations.’
The Observer made no reference to the fact that a ‘political party’ is
a type of ‘political association’.
No comments:
Post a Comment