EMASWATI SUPPORT DEMOCRATIC EVOLUTION, NOT REVOLUTION – GOVT

MBABANE – Government says emaSwati resolved long time ago to continue advancing their democratic evolution – not revolution.

In a statement, Alpheous Nxumalo, the Government Press Secretary, said emaSwati resolved to advance it through consensus, consultation, mutual responsibility, mutual respect and mutual interest. He said while Eswatini valued the advice and perspective of its diplomatic allies within the international community, but was at the same time wary of those who might impose systems and values that could be detrimental to the sovereignty of the country.

He said the country was vigilant enough to detect and thwart systems and values that might be detrimental to the territorial integrity, peace, security and development of the country. The government press secretary mentioned that they were aware that the enemy was out there raging with anger and frustration, as emaSwati stood firm and strong behind their own homegrown Tinkhundla democratic political system, own primary and central institution of the Monarchy and the King.

He said the international and foreign exported revolutionary and subversion agenda was not gaining traction in Eswatini at all. He mentioned that millions of dollars were being transferred to waste as emaSwati pushed back on the foreign frontiers manifesting as a false domestic movement for democracy. “Emaswati resolved long time ago, that they will continue to advance their democratic ‘evolution’, not ‘revolution’; by consensus, consultation, mutual responsibility, mutual respect and mutual interest,” he said.

“While we value the advice and perspective of our friends within the international system, however, we are a nation that is still vigilant to those who might impose upon us, systems and values which might be detrimental to our sovereignty, to our territorial integrity and to our peace, security and development.” Nxumalo pointed out that the King and Her Majesty the Queen Mother and the entire institution of the Monarchy, remained a vital interest to all emaSwati “because they are an anchor and a pillar that hold Eswatini together and intact.”

He warned that anything that seemed to threaten this centre of gravity of emaswati would be treated as a threat to all emaSwati. “If I were to borrow words from the current President of Namibia who is also the chairman of the SADC Troika, I would say ‘a nation whose vital interests are under threat go to war to defend and to protect the same’,” said Nxumalo The president of Namibia is Hage Geingob.

When the principle of good neighbourliness and peaceful coexistence are not respected, he said the purpose of regional integration would collapse and the aggregation of the power of States in SADC would be undermined.
Therefore, he advised that the promotion of democracy and human rights in the region would be stalled and betrayed if States were to take hardliner positions against one another.

He also stated that nations would go back to the cold war era, a new war of ideological ascendancy, a new global turmoil if civil society organisations were being subverted and manipulated by faceless elements to be their fronts and actors. He frowned upon subversive democracy, which, he said, nations should resist. He said subversive democracy was a new brand of an unwanted political system. Subversion means overthrowing.

 “When freedom to connect and to express becomes a subversive tool to undermine human dignity and other nation’s value systems and identities, genuine support and promotion of constitutional (not subverted or ideological) democracy is under betrayal,” he said.“Slandering other nation’s institutions and values, including their ways of life is yet another form of promoting anarchy and autocracy in our space,” Nxumalo said.

The government press secretary appeal to emaSwati whom he described as a peaceful loving nation, to do all that is possible to absolutely oppose such a political strategy. He said this political strategy tended to undermine and denigrate the name of the country’s leaders and the institutions upon which emaSwati had placed so much value. The government press secretary said Eswatini’s ideological unity and cohesion behind the monarchy constituted the preservation of its national identity as a united family nation sustained by inherent cultural and divine guidance that were anchored in respect and honour of authority and power.

The mass democratic movement (MDM) in Eswatini has been calling for political reforms. Some groups within the MDM are calling for the consideration of multiparty democracy, while commentators on social media appeared to be lacking a fundamental political question. Eswatini made a submission to the SADC Extraordinary Summit held in Namibia on January 31, 2023.

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