SD is democratic!

Dear Editor,
 
I wrote this knowing with full confidence that in Swaziland I have the right to freedom of speech. And no, I’m not a spit shining groveler but an ordinary citizen like yourself who loves his country. 

For some time now people have labelled His Majesty the King of Swaziland an ‘absolute monarch’ and this term has made the king seen as a dictator. Anything that looks bad in Swaziland has been connected to the king and the Tinkhundla system.

The international media have for many years appeared to be on one side, being that of the multiparty political associations in the kingdom. Which I find very biased and undemocratic.
Why do the international media and community take one side? Why can’t these organisations take time to listen to both sides and also read the Constitution of Swaziland ?

Last but not least, why can’t they take time to see for themselves who the majority of Swazi citizens really support? Does the majority of Swazi citizens support the banned political parties or do they support the current Tinkhundla system?
What is sad about this is that the international media has focused too much on the minority, which are the banned political parties and by focusing on them puts aside the majority which supports the current system.

They make it seem as if all the people of Swaziland want change when in actual fact it is not the case but instead the people who want change are the minority progressives. These progressives by the way have not spent time finding out the views of the majority at grass roots level, which raises the question of whether they have majority support as they claim.

At least the leadership under the Tinkhundla system has spent a great deal of time over the years through its commissions finding out the views of the citizens at grass roots level. 

Let’s see what the term absolute monarch means. According to dictionary.com, this term means and I quote: ‘a ruler who governs alone and is not restrained by laws, a constitution, or custom’. Now if we take a look at our king, there are clauses in the constitution which prevent him from doing as he pleases.

There are also rules and regulations under the Swazi law and custom which also do like wise. So is that absolute to you? My answer is NO.
Another important note is that the king does not rule alone, he is a joint head of state with the queen mother Indlovukazi Ntombi Tfwala and he makes decisions in council.

Let us look at some chapters and sections in the constitution which indicate that the king isn’t an absolute monarch and I will begin by quoting sections which talk about the judicature. Chapter 9 of the Swazi Constitution in section 139 states: ‘Justice shall be administered in the name of the Crown by the Judiciary which shall be independent and subject only to this Constitution’.

Now let us look back at section 139 just a portion of it where it says, (Judiciary which shall be INDEPENDENT and SUBJECT only to this CONSTITUTION), the same constitution which was approved by a majority of Swazi Citizens.
Ask yourselves; is the judiciary subject to the king or does it say subject to the constitution? And does it say that the judiciary is not independent? Remember that the judiciary has to be independent so that the rule of Law shall not be broken. Chapter 9 again section 142 of the constitution, states: ‘In the exercise of the judicial power of Swaziland, the Judiciary, in both its judicial and administrative functions, including financial administration, shall be independent and subject only to this Constitution, and shall not be subject to the control or direction of any person or authority’.

Look back again at a portion of this clause: (Shall not be SUBJECT to the CONTROL or DIRECTION of any person or AUTHORITY). I believe you’re all beginning to see my point now. Does this so far sound like a state ruled by an absolute leader (dictator)? Obviously the answer is no.

Moving along, Swaziland is a democratic state. It may not seem like the case to western nations and other democratic regions but we do have our own democracy and have the right as a sovereign nation to exercise this kind of democracy called the Tinkhundla system.

Other countries should not have an input in our system except for the Swazis themselves, these countries should just respect our system and if they have opinions about it, then that’s ok but these opinions should not give them the right to have an input as if they are Swazi citizens. Any country has the right to make up its own system of democracy as long as the majority of people within that particular country have the support for that system which is the case in the Kingdom of Swaziland .

His Excellency Ambassador Mabude of the Republic of South Africa once said and I quote: “democracy indeed existed; anyone who disputed this fact was wasting their time. Democracy is there, he said, explaining that there were various types of democracy all aimed at enhancing the area of personal freedom. He said countries practiced their own form of democracy. Mabude said those who said democracy did not exist were totally off side”. This statement was made on April 27, 2007 ,   as part of an article referring to Swaziland ’s democracy.

Our head of state isn’t elected; however the citizens of Swaziland still reserve the right to representation. Chapter 8, part 1 (b) of the Swazi Constitution talks about the representation of the people. I won’t go in detail but I will mention the sections which make up part of our democracy. Section 85 (right to representation), section 86 (right to vote at elections), section 87 (representation of women), section 88 (election by secret ballot), just to name a few. Is this how a country with an absolute leader (dictator) functions? Referring to section 87, women are fully represented and hold positions of high authority in Swaziland .

This is evident within the judicial system, legislature,executive and traditional institutions too.
Please keep in mind that the purpose of this text, is to do away with the mentality that our head of state is an absolute leader (dictator), which has created an image of a country that has been ravaged by a totalitarian, communist or fascist system. If we look back in history, people in a totalitarian country were always monitored even in their places of privacy and the same in communist and fascist countries. They did not have the freedom of assembly and if they did, it was only in the interest for these systems I have just mentioned.

If this is the case in Swaziland , then the people of Swaziland would not have the right to representation, our judicial system would not be independent and our constitution would not allow freedom of assembly.
When I say freedom of assembly, I am referring to the unions of Swaziland who reserve the right to assemble every year on May Day and express whatever issues they have against the government or strike and send petitions to the government, the students of the university of Swaziland who also strike if they are not happy, the civil servants who strike demanding salary increments, the banned political parties who block border posts and disrupt the day’s import and export in protest, just to name a few.

To all Swazis, I humbly urge you all to come together and protect your king and the monarchy as a whole.
tarnish
Do not be fooled by the international media and the international community that are determined to tarnish Swaziland , His Majesty and monarchy nor should you feel suppressed by them. On a clear note, it is not the whole international community that is suppressing change in Swaziland , other parts of the world appreciate our current system and our monarchy especially for what it has done in trying to fight poverty, HIV, bringing in investments, the new constitution and so on.

As for the banned political parties, I humbly urge you to always tell the truth outside of Swaziland and if you are about democracy, then in a democratic manner, accept and respect the majority which supports the current rule instead of making up lies claiming that the entire Swazi nation wants change, it is usually minds of dictatorship that do such things through false propaganda and that’s not democracy.
Your lies have contributed in making the outside media focus on you (banned political parties) and claiming that his majesty is a dictator. I rest my case for now, thank you for your time.

Anonymous