A campaign of
misinformation has begun in Swaziland to convince people that it is a
democratic kingdom when it is not.
King Mswati III, who rules
as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, has urged people to vote at next
year’s national election to pick their own leader.
The King’s message was
delivered by Chief Gija Dlamini, Chairperson of the Elections and Boundaries
Commission.
The Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by the King, reported
Dlamini saying on behalf of the King, ‘If any Swazi fails to register to vote
for the upcoming 2018 national elections then they are abandoning their basic
right of choosing their own leader, thus hurting the whole Kingdom in the
process because they would be silencing their own voice because voting unites
the kingdom and gives all people a voice and a chance to be counted, but most
fundamentally of all, Swazis through voting, have the right to choose who they
feel will lead them to the future.’
Dlamini made the comments
at a consultative meeting on civic education for traditional leaders at Pigg’s
Peakon 2 February 2017.
However, he misled his
audience because in Swaziland political parties are not allowed to contest
elections and groups that advocate for democracy in the kingdom are banned
under The
Suppression of Terrorism Act.
The Swazi people have no
say in who their leaders are. They are only allowed to select 55 of the 65
members of the House of Assembly, the other 10 are appointed by the King. None
of the 30 members of the Swaziland Senate are elected by the people; the King
appoints 20 members and the other 10 are appointed by the House of Assembly.
The King choses the Prime
Minister and cabinet members. Only a man with the surname Dlamini
can, by tradition, be appointed as Prime Minister. The
King is a Dlamini.
He also choses senior civil
servants and top judges. The elections have no real purpose other
than to give King Mswati a fig leaf of democracy. The King is in control of
Swaziland ahead of the 2018 election and he will be in control after it,
regardless of which individuals the people vote into the House of Assembly.
The Swazi Parliament has no powers. King Mswati can,
and does, overrule decisions he does not like. This was the case in October
2012 when the king refused
to accept a vote of no confidence passed by the House of
Assembly on his government, even though he was obliged by the constitution
to do so.
Elections are held every five years in Swaziland.
After the last one in 2013 a number of groups who had been official observers
of the process reported the election was not free and fair.
The official report of the Commonwealth
Observer Mission called for a review of the kingdom’s constitution. It 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’.
They called for King
Mswati’s powers to be reduced. ‘The presence of the monarch in everyday
political life inevitably associates the institution of monarchy with politics,
a situation that runs counter to the development that the re-establishment of
the Parliament and the devolution of executive authority into the hands of
elected officials.’
The report 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.’
The African
Union (AU) also urged Swaziland to review the Constitution, especially in
the areas of ‘freedoms of conscience, expression, peaceful assembly,
association and movement as well as international principles for free and fair
elections and participation in electoral process.’
The
AU called on Swaziland to implement the African Commission’s Resolution
on
Swaziland in 2012 that called on the Government, ‘to respect, protect and
fulfil the rights to freedom of expression, freedom of association and freedom
of assembly.’
See also
FALSE
CLAIM OVER SWAZI DEMOCRACY
THE
CASE FOR POLITICAL PARTIES
SWAZI
ELECTION ‘WILL BE A FRAUD’
http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/02/swazi-election-will-be-fraud.html
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