King Mswati III, the absolute monarch of Swaziland/
Eswatini, chose his new Prime Minister Ambrose Dlamini in violation of the
kingdom’s Constitution.
Section 67 of the Constitution says the King must appoint
the PM ‘from among members of the House [of Assembly]’ but Dlamini is not a
member. He was not elected by the people. The King also appoints ten members of
the House of Assembly but did not give Dlamini a place.
The appointment is a clear breach of the Constitution
and it highlights how the document that came into effect in 2006 is generally
meaningless. King Mswati rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute
monarch and this is allowed for in S65(4) of the Constitution which states,
‘Where the King is required by the Constitution to exercise any function after
consultation with any person or authority, the King may or may not exercise
that function following the consultation.’
Put in simple language, ‘The King is permitted to do
what he likes.’
King Mswati has a
firm grip on power in his kingdom. At the election on 21 September 2018 his
subjects were only allowed to select 59 members of the House of Assembly, the
King appointed a further 10. Political parties were banned from taking part.
None of the 30 members of the Swazi Senate are elected
by the people; the House elects 10 and the King appoints 20. After the election
the King appointed six
members of his own family to the House of Assembly and eight
to the Senate.
The King also chooses the PM, government ministers and
top civil servants and judges.
Lisa Peterson, the United States Ambassador to
Swaziland, criticised the King for not following the constitution when making
appointments after the election. In an
article that appeared in both of Swaziland’s two national daily newspapers
she wrote, ‘I am disappointed, disheartened and disturbed that parliamentary
appointments made by the Palace disregard explicit provisions of the country’s
Constitution.
‘The terms are quite simple: among the members of the House of Assembly
appointed by the King, at least half shall be women: among the 20 for the
Senate, at least eight shall be women. Out of 10 appointees to the House, only
three were women. In the Senate, only seven women were appointed. These
shortfalls show that gender equity is not a priority for the country’s most
senior officials, which means that it will not be a priority for many others in
Eswatini’s male-dominated leadership.’
She warned failure to stick by the Constitution ‘will likely’ affect the
amount of development aid Swaziland receives in future from the US.
She wrote, ‘This failure to abide by the terms of the Constitution has
an impact not only on women’s economic, political and social participation, but
on all aspects of the rule of law in this country. If senior leaders do
not need to follow the rules laid out and agreed to, why should anyone else in
the country have to abide by any rules? Failure to uphold the rule of law has
ramifications far beyond Parliament.’
‘As Eswatini faces a critical fiscal crisis, foreign investment will be
an important component of a multifaceted economic recovery and growth strategy.
Foreign investors are attracted to or deterred by a range of factors, but rule
of law is a major consideration. If the Constitution itself is treated as an
optional guide or a collection of recommendations, this provides little comfort
to investors who seek assurance that contractual matters will be addressed
transparently in accordance with the law.
‘Beyond the potential impact on foreign direct investment, violation of
the basic framework of governance will likely also have an impact on
prospective foreign assistance mechanisms from the United States.’
Richard
Rooney
See also
Swaziland King chooses new PM with no political
experience, but together they have close business ties
No comments:
Post a Comment