The High Court in Swaziland
/ Eswatini has confirmed that political parties will not be allowed to contest
the national election.
It said the kingdom’s
Supreme Court had ruled on the matter in 2009 and nothing had changed since.
The Swaziland Democratic
Party (SWADEPA) had asked that it be allowed to contest the election that is
presently taking place in Swaziland where King Mswati III rules as one of the
world’s last absolute monarchs. The case was heard on Friday (20 July 2018).
According to the Swaziland
Constitution that came into
effect in 2006 under the tinkhundla system of government people may only stand
for election as individuals However, the constitution also allows for freedom
of association which can be interpreted as permission to form political
parties.
In 2009, the Supreme
Court ruled that excluding
political parties from the electoral process did not constitute a violation of
freedom of association as guaranteed by article 25 of the Swaziland
constitution.
The judges said people
could be members of a political party and they could stand as individuals and
then once elected link up as a group. Justice Thomas Masuku in a dissenting
judgement said the idea that it was possible to get elected as an individual
basis and then link up with others who share similar views was a bit like a boy
who intends to enrol in a school which is exclusively a girls’ school.
‘To avoid being detected at
admission, and in violation of the school requirements, he titivates himself,
paints his hair and does all necessary preparations to be regarded and
perceived as a girl, with hope that once inside, he will show his true colours
and identity.’
At the time the International
Commission of Jurists (ICJ) said the Swaziland Supreme
Court failed to uphold fundamental rights which were constitutionally
guaranteed.
ICJ
in a statement said the Swazi
Supreme Court’s ‘restrictive approach seriously violates the freedom of
association and restrains the scope of freedom of expression and the right to
participate in public affairs.
‘As an essential component
of the right protected under article 25 of the Swaziland Bill of Rights, the
freedom to form and join political parties is protected by article 10 of the
African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and article 22 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Swaziland is a
State Party.’
In that respect, ‘Swaziland
courts have an obligation to give full effect to the rights and freedoms
guaranteed in those instruments.’
The ICJ is not the only
internationally-respected organisation to call for political parties to be made
legal. For years observers have said that Swaziland elections which are held
every five years are not free and fair because political parties cannot take
part.
After the last election in
2013 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.’
The Swazi people have no
say in who their leaders are. In the past they were only allowed to select 55
of the 65 members of the House of Assembly, the other 10 are appointed by the
King. From this year they can choose an additional four members. 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.
See also
CHORUS
AGAINST UNDEMOCRATIC ELECTION GROWS
ELECTION
WILL ENTRENCH KING’S POWER
https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2018/06/election-will-entrench-kings-power.html
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