Kenworthy News Media, 9 September
9 2019
Bheki Dlamini had to flee
his native Swaziland because he fought for democracy. Monday he voted for the
first time – in Norway, where he lives in exile, writes Kenworthy News Media.
– Casting my vote got me
thinking. This is my first ever vote and it is happening in a foreign land. In
my homeland, Swaziland, I’ve never voted – simply because we don’t have
multiparty elections. The elections in Norway serve as a source of strength in
pursuit of freedom and democracy at home, says Swazi political activist, Bheki
Dlaimini.
Political parties have been
banned in Swaziland since 1973, and Dlamini had to flee the country after
having been tortured and imprisoned by the regime for his role as a leading
activist in Swaziland’s democratic movement.
– I have engaged myself in
the fight for a free and democratic political space in Swaziland. A struggle
that has been marked by permanent scars in my body, inflicted by Swaziland’s
security forces, hence my vote here in Norway, Bheki Dlamini says.
Dlamini is humbled by the
opportunity to influence the politics of the municipality in Bergen, where he
has spent the last four years, he adds.
The election laws of Norway
allow foreigners who have lived in the country for three years to vote in local
elections, even though they have not attained Norwegian citizenship.
The largest political party
in the Norwegian parliament, the Norwegian Labour Party, Arbeiderpartiet,
criticised the absolute monarchy of Swaziland in a resolution presented at its
national congress in April.
– Eswatini (formerly
Swaziland) is one of the world’s last absolute monarchies. King Mswati has
almost absolute power. While the population of Eswatini suffers from partial
extreme poverty, the king lives an extravagant life of luxury. Swaziland
has the highest rate of HIV-Aids-infection per capita. But treating those who
are infected or preventing further spread of the disease is not a priority, a
statement from the congress read.
Royal selections
Swaziland held national elections in September of last year. Voters in Swaziland elected 59 of Swaziland’s 69 members of the country’s House of Assembly at national elections. Absolute monarch King Mswati III picks the remaining ten, as well as most of the Senate, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet. Political parties were barred from participating in the elections.
In its annual Freedom in
the World-report, independent watchdog organisation Freedom House gives
Swaziland its lowest score of seven in regard to political rights. The report
concludes that “Political dissent and civic and labor activism are subject to
harsh punishment under sedition and other laws. any criticism of Swazi culture
and traditions or defacement of national symbols—including the king’s image—can
draw fines and up to two years in prison”.
In a poll conducted in 2015
by pan-African independent research institute Afrobarometer, only a third of
the population saw Swaziland’s political system as democratic and only 28
percent were fairly or very satisfied with how democracy works in Swaziland
(down from 36 percent in 2013).
Human Rights Watch
concluded in their 2017 report that “Swaziland continued to repress political
dissent and disregard human rights and rule of law in 2017”.
Bheki Dlamini
has a degree in Public Administration at the University of Bergen. He is a
former President of the Swaziland Youth Congress and former Vice President of
the International Union of Socialist Youth. The Swazi police’s torture of him by way of “severe beatings and
suffocation torture” was mentioned in Amnesty International’s 2011 Annual
Report.
See also
Land
is Power in Swaziland: Amnesty International Report Highlights Forced Evictions
New
research on Swazi democracy
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