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The African Union (AU) has made a recommendation to the government of the Kingdom of Eswatini to review its legal framework to embrace the participation of political parties in elections.
In a statement assessing the elections held on September 29 in the country, the AU’s observer mission said that the elections were peaceful.
The elections were held following a period of mounting pressure on the monarch, King Mswati III, to adopt democratic reforms in the country that would include the unbanning of political parties.
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In July 2021, violent protests erupted in the country after three Members of Parliament -Bacede Mabuza, Mthandeni Dube and Mduduzi “Magawugawu” Simelane – publicly advocated for democratic reforms and protested against the king’s appointment of then-acting prime minister Themba Masuku, whom they said should have been elected by voters.
The parliamentarians were charged with terrorism, sedition and murder. Mabuza and Dube were found guilty of the charges. Simelane escaped and went into exile. He is believed to be in the UK and has formed the Swaziland Liberation Movement.
The protests prodded King Mswati to act harshly by unleashing police and soldiers who conducted a reign of terror and torture, which led to the maiming and killing of over 1 000 civilians. The lowest point of the king’s reaction saw the brutal assassination of human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko in January.
Maseko was the chairperson of the Multi-Stakeholders Forum, a collaboration of political parties and civil society groups working to amplify the calls for democratic reforms. He was the man who was to sit opposite the monarch to chart a way forward for the country provided that the king relented to sit on the negotiation table.
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The head of the AU election observer mission, Bankole Adeoye, said in a statement:
This may be what pro-democracy formation would like to hear following their complaints that the SADC was treating King Mswati III with kid gloves for dilly-dallying since 2021 to take part in a dialogue to discuss the country’s future.
People's United Democratic Movement president Mlungisi Makhanya said the mission's recommendation was interesting. "We welcome this recommendation, but this is what the AU has been saying since 2013 and were even scathing in the 2018 elections because they were not adhering to standards," Makhanya said.
READ: From Mpumalanga ANC exec, to councillor, to Eswatini MP?
The mission also recommended that the kingdom should embrace young people’s participation in the country’s elections and ultimately have representation in Parliament. The mission acknowledged that women were employed as polling officials, but decried the fact that their inclusion and participation in the electoral process was very low.
The country's primary elections were held on August 26.
Fifty-nine candidates contested for Members of Parliament. Another 59 candidates stood for elections as indvuna yenkhundla (constituency headsman) and 336 bucopho (community headsman) for each polling division.
King Mswati III will, at his discretion, appoint 10 additional MPs, including five women. The National Assembly has a total of 69 MPs.
