Times Of Swaziland: KING AND INDLOVUKAZI CAN VOTE IN ELECTIONS

KING AND INDLOVUKAZI CAN VOTE IN ELECTIONS
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Mfanukhona Nkambule on 21/05/2023 16:18:00


MBABANE – Have you ever asked yourself this question: “What could possibly
stop His Majesty the King and Her Majesty Indlovukazi from registering for
elections and voting?”
Since the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) is currently taking
questions about the elections as part of its ongoing civic and voter education
exercise, it elected, this time, to respond to queries from the Times SUNDAY.
The question goes: “Does the country have a law in its statutes that prevents
the King and Indlovukazi from voting?” Consensus was reached by all the
experts interviewed that there is no such law. Prince Mhlabuhlangene, the
Chairman of the EBC and lawyer by profession, first said: “You are asking a
very interesting question that I, in turn, have asked myself.” In his
knowledge, he said there was no legislation ‘precluding Their Majesties from
registering and voting under the existing laws of the country’.
Sipho Gumedze, a well-respected attorney in constitutional law and human rights,
concurred with the EBC chairman that there was no law barring the King and
Indlovukazi from voting.
Back to the prince, he said: “By virtue of fitting the eligibility criteria,
being natural persons, or nationals above 18 years of age, while they are not
legal subjects of the realm or territory called Eswatini, through being the
sovereigns, they are, if I may say, the ‘first citizens’ or natural
nationals of our statehood, by virtue of being the nationals in whom the
Monarchical Sovereignty of the kingdom and country vests.”
natural law
He said the country’s authorities fully possessed the requirements in common
law for a ‘possessor of legal rights’, be they legal rights in terms of
natural law or legal rights in accordance with positive law. The EBC chairman
said positive law was largely made up of statute law that regulated the election
registration and voting in question. As such, according to the law of persons
under common law, he said the King and Her Majesty have the legal capacity
should they choose to register and/or vote in the country. “However, what I
presume accommodates for this political legal right of the sovereign is the
constitutional and statutory law grant of the power to appoint the 10 members of
Parliament and the 20 in the senate. I should, however, declare that, this
latter point is my own personal constitutional law opinion,” Prince
Mhlabuhlangene said.
He further stated: “This to me is the trade off or offering in lieu of the
sovereign exercising their legal right to register and vote in the elections.”
But, in more correct constitutional law language, he explained that it would
seem that this right of the sovereign was regulated by convention, not to
exercise it, notwithstanding the fact that they possess it fully. Sipho Gumedze,
the Human Rights and Constitutional Lawyer, said it should not be politically or
legally correct for the King and Queen Mother to vote or register for the
elections. He said he was aware that there was actually no law barring them from
exercising this right.
direct voting
Since the King is a hereditary Head of State, Gumedze advised that his
participation in direct voting might influence public perception, with people
being influenced to pose questions on where he would register for the election.
“Public interest can be generated as to where the King would vote – is he
going to vote at Mayiwane because he has a residence at Buhleni or Lugongolweni
because of the Mpumalanga Royal Residence?” he wondered and further opined:
“Others will say he will vote at Mbabane West as Nkoyoyo Palace falls under
that constituency or at Ludzeludze since Ngabezweni falls under it; and there
are some people who may say he must vote under Lobamba because of Ludzidzini
Royal Residence.” He was in doubts that the King would want to throw the
people into a state of confusion and unnecessary perception about the centre
under which he might choose to vote.
Percy Simelane, the Director of Communications at the King’s Office, said he
believed the King and the Queen Mother, as parents-in-chief in this country,
would want to see all their ‘candidate-children’ voted for by them. But, he
said, the election laws dictated that only once could a person vote. “So, for
fairness sake, the King and Queen Mother are morally better out of
vote-casting,” Simelane said. A well-respected liSwati said there was to be
nothing untoward for the King or Indlovukazi to lead by example by registering
for the election. Preferring to address the issue on condition of anonymity, he
said the King is the defender of the Constitution, which prescribes the
election. He said there was to be nothing wrong with him choosing one voting
centre because he also elected to align with Inyatsi regiment. He said the other
regiments did not complain about the King being a member of the regiment.
vote
“He can cast his vote under Mbabane West or Motshane and exercise his right in
another centre in the next election. There is nothing wrong here,” he said. In
terms of Section 106 of the Constitution, another liSwati mentioned that the
King is, by extension, the supreme MP. He based his theory on Section 106 (a),
which provides that the supreme legislative authority of Eswatini vests in the
King-in-Parliament. Section 106 (b) states that the “King and Parliament may
make laws for the peace, order and good government of Swaziland (Eswatini).”
If Their Majesties were to put up a legal argument over their right to vote,
experts said they could invoke Section 20 (2), which reads: “For the avoidance
of any doubt, a person shall not be discriminated against on the grounds of
gender, race, colour, ethnic origin, tribe, birth, creed or religion, or social
or economic standing, political opinion, age or disability.”
The well-respected liSwati argued: “Their social standing and birth
shouldn’t preclude them from voting. They cannot be voted to Parliament
because of the Head of State’s status as the King-in-Parliament.” It is not
clear whether Kings in other countries cast their votes.
However, Morocco’s King Mohammed VI voted in a polling station in Rabat on the
Friday of July 1, 2011. The King voted in the referendum on the new Constitution
he had proposed.
The Constitution gave more powers to Parliament and the prime minister.
Presidents in other countries do vote. In the year 2000, the late Zulu King
Zwelithini publicly declared that he would not vote in the local government
election to prevent disparity among his people. His former Spokesperson, TC
Mamela, said the King had not voted in the last election or any of the previous
elections. He said the King was concerned that he had subjects in all political
parties.
eligibility
The King’s five wives would also not vote by virtue of being members of the
royal family. In Britain during the general election in 2017, there were
discussions on the eligibility of the then Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, to vote.
An article by Newsweek stated that there was nothing in written British law
barring the Monarch from voting in an election. “But, as the Brits might say,
it just isn’t done,” the publication wrote. Although the Monarch is not
prohibited by law, the UK Parliament website says: “It is considered
unconstitutional for the Monarch to vote in an election.” Meanwhile in
Eswatini, it is not clear if Princess Sikhanyiso, the Minister of Information,
Communication and Technology, will vote.