SOME MPS REJECT CALL TO BOYCOTT PARLY TODAY

MBABANE – Some Members of Parliament (MPs) have refused to heed a call to boycott today’s Parliament sitting.

Following calls by people believed to be constituents, for MPs to boycott the House of Assembly sitting today, the legislators have chosen to rather attend it. The calls, which were from ‘unknown’ numbers, were to the effect that the MPs should not attend the sitting in solidarity with their two colleagues who were arrested.

Messages

Some MPs are said to have received numerous text messages, to the effect that they should not attend the sitting scheduled for today. One of the text messages reads; “Lishonile Mhlonishwa. Kulandzela nali lishwa lesilibonile ngeli Sontfo ntsambama, sicela usibambise silive ungayi ePhalamende ngaLesitsatfu baze baphume labahlonishwa labali. Kusicelo in support yeba lingani bakho.” This could be translated to mean; “Evening honourable MP. Following the Sunday  evening incident, we request that you attend the Parliament sitting scheduled for tomorrow until the arrested MPs are released. This is a request in support of your colleagues.” The pair that was arrested on Sunday afternoon is Hosea MP Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Ngwempisi Constituency MP Mthandeni Dube. They have been in the forefront of the call for an  elected prime minister (PM).

Currently, a PM is appointed by His Majesty King Mswati III as mandated by the Constitution. PM Cleopas Sipho Dlamini was appointed during Sibaya on July 16. It is worth noting that the House of Assembly will meet today. The order paper for the sitting highlights that there will be a ministerial statement by the PM and tabling of the Citizens Economic Empowerment Bill, 2021. There will also be the tabling of the Report of the Select Committee on the Eswatini Contractors Association petition. There will also be a question and answer session. Meanwhile, the MPs shared that they had been getting several text messages from unknown numbers, to the effect that they should boycott today’s sitting. Lobamba Lomdzala MP Marwick Khumalo confirmed that he received numerous text messages from unknown numbers.

“I understand where they are coming from, but knowing the issues that we need to discussed tomorrow (today), I don’t want to believe even my colleagues would be happy with us boycotting the sitting,” said Khumalo. He further stated that there were issues, for instance, that the Speaker had promised to give MPs feedback on. He made an example of the issue of petitions that were stopped abruptly.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: