It was business as usual for politics in Swaziland in
November 2013. King Mswati III, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s
last absolute monarch appointed his government in this month, following the
bogus national election that took place in September. More than half of the new Cabinet ministers in the Swaziland Government
were not elected by the people. Out of 19 ministers King Mswati III personally appointed 11 to the House of Assembly or to
the Senate.
At the national
elections the people were only permitted to select 55 members of the 65-seat
House of Assembly. The King chose the other 10. Political parties were banned
from taking part in the election. The King also chose 20 of the 30-strong
Senate House. The other 10 were elected by members of the House of Assembly.
None were elected by the people.
Prior to
appointing his cabinet, King Mswati demonstrated his complete control of
politics in the kingdom. All the top parliamentary office holders in Swaziland were filled by people he
appointed and none were elected by the people. They were the Prime Minister, the Speaker of the House of Assembly, the
President and Deputy President of Senate.
So, it was
business as usual for politics in Swaziland. Human rights violations continued
unabated. Police, acting without a warrant or court order raided a showing of
the newly-released film The King and the People. The film, which is being shown
on screens all over the world, criticises the Swazi state for, among other
things, the violence it uses against its own people when they demand their
rights.
As if on cue,
elsewhere, armed Swazi police invaded the University of Swaziland to attack
students with whips and teargas in their dormitories. Students were campaigning
for better conditions and against the holding of examinations. Armed police
guarded examination venues for a week as the disputed examinations went ahead.
These are some
of the highlights of life in Swaziland in November 2013 brought together in the
latest volume of compilations from the Swazi Media Commentary blogsite. It
is available free of charge at scribd
dot com. Swazi Media Commentary has no physical base and is completely
independent of any political faction and receives no income from any individual
or organisation. People who contribute ideas or write for it do so as
volunteers and receive no payment.
Swazi Media Commentary is published online – updated most days –
bringing information, comment and analysis in support of democracy in the
kingdom.
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