A workshop in Swaziland on the forthcoming election
was banned because it was deemed illegal.
More than 30 young people and community leaders from
across the kingdom were turned away from the Castle Hotel in Mbabane on Friday
(16 March 2018). The workshop was reportedly supported by the Elections and
Boundaries Commission and the Swaziland National Youth Council.
The Sunday
Observer reported (18 March 2018) ‘The organisers of the event said they
had received instructions from labadzala
who could not be named that they should cancel the seminar because they had not
obtained permission for hosting it.’ Labadzala
refers to Royal elders.
Elections are due in 2018 at a date yet to be set.
King Mswati III rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.
Political parties are not allowed to contest in elections and people and groups that advocate for democratic
reform are prosecuted under the Suppression of Terrorism Act. The King chooses the Prime Minister and top
government ministers. In Swaziland, people only get to select 55 of 65 members
of the House of Assembly. The King chooses the other 10. No members of the
Swazi Senate are elected by the people; the King chooses 20 and the other 10
are elected by members of the House of Assembly.
Freedom of assembly is
severely curtailed in Swaziland, especially in the run-up to elections. In
2013, before the most recent election, armed police stopped an election
workshop organised by the Swaziland Youth Empowerment Organisation, also known
as Luvatsi, at a Pentecostal Church in Sidvokodvo. The police had no warrant or
court order, but were acting on instructions of their station commander, local
media reported.
This was not the only
example of people being prevented freely discussing issues in the
run up to the election. The NGOs Election Network which operates under the
Swazi-based Coordinating Assembly of Non-governmental Organisations (CANGO) and
which observed
the polls said in a report, ‘Civil society meetings were
crushed, including prayer meetings.’
It added, ‘With no enjoyment of the rights to access information and
also exchange information, freedom to associate, freedom of movement and
freedom of speech it has become difficult for citizens to canvass issues.’
An election rally organised by the Swaziland Youth Congress
(SWAYOCO) at Msunduza Township, Mbabane, in April 2013 was broken up by police
and organisers charged with sedition. Swazi Police Commissioner Isaac Magagula
had warned SWAYOCO in advance that his officers would stop any attempt at
meeting.
In a statement carried
by media in Swaziland the police chief said, ‘As a
police service and organ of state responsible for internal security and
maintenance of law and order, we wish to state it in no uncertain terms that
the political rally planned by SWAYOCO for April 19, 2013 will not be allowed
to take place.’
He added, ‘[I]t is unthinkable that an event whose agenda includes
sabotaging the forthcoming national elections can be allowed to take place.’
SWAYOCO is the youth wing of the People’s United Democratic Movement
(PUDEMO), the best-known opposition group in Swaziland. Both have been branded
‘terrorist’ organisations and banned by King Mswati’s government.
See also
PARTIES
STILL BANNED FROM ELECTION
COURT
FIGHT TO UN-BAN PARTIES
WHY
SWAZILAND ELECTION IS BOGUS
