PM IN CONTEMPT OF PARLIAMENT? – BACEDE

MBABANE – Section 71(1)(c) of House of Assembly Standing Orders states: “A member shall not speak against or reflect upon any vote of the House, except for the purpose of moving that such vote be rescinded.”

Will anyone among Members of Parliament hold this standing order against Prime Minister Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini? Or will anyone among the MPs raise, against the PM, Section 195, which reads: “Any member complaining to the House of a statement in a newspaper as a breach of privilege, shall produce a copy of the newspaper containing the statement in question and be prepared to give the name of the printer or publisher, and also submit a substantive motion declaring the person in question to have been guilty of contempt.” Well, the House of Assembly is the place to be at on Monday (tomorrow).

Decision

It will be interesting to witness first-hand what action, if any, the MPs will take against the prime minister following his decision to call a press conference to speak about and against a House resolution suspending raids and arrests conducted under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA). The House resolution was for the minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs and other stakeholders to direct the police and relevant institutions to halt the process of continued arrests for those found to be in breach of the Act, while the ministry implements contents of the motion.

The contents include amending the retroactive effect of the Act, which the MPs said is against Section 119 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Eswatini. Also, the ministry was requested to address the unwarranted seizure of property based on suspicions without ascertaining clearly the source of income of the individual in question. Another concern was the selective application of the law, which seemingly targeted a certain group of citizens without any thorough investigations and not giving suspects the right to be heard. The motion also stipulated that the law should spell out clearly the extent of forfeiture of proceeds in terms of contributions or purchases that proceeds were expended.

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