DISRUPT ELECTIONS, FACE THE LAW - EBC WARNS

MBABANE – EBC Chairperson Prince Mhlabuhlangene Dlamini has warned those who intend to disrupt the upcoming elections to be ready to face the consequences and be better legally covered.  

The Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) chairperson was speaking during the official unveiling of the 2023 General Elections logo and slogan. The unveiling was held at SibaneSami Hotel yesterday. Dlamini stated that the election processes were legal. He said it was fundamentally important to underscore that every aspect of pre to post-elections was legally binding. He stated that all processes and interruptions were also legally binding in the legal enforcement. The prince said when one spoke of a political right, that same person was also speaking about a duty. In light of this, he said there was no right that did not go without responsibility or duty.

Obligation

“Every right as a matter of legal principle has a corresponding obligation, so it becomes unfortunate when people propose to exercise an incomplete right,” he said. He said people proposed to practise a certain right but failed to execute a duty corresponding to that right. The prince said people should respect other people’s rights as a matter of principle. He said when one infringed on other people’s rights, there were legal consequences. The chairperson said the legal consequences were not declared by either EBC or the government, but by the Constitution and the legal system of the country.  “For every action that is legal, there is a consequence that follows,” he said.

Dlamini said he was mentioning this in order for everyone who intended to exercise any political right, to ask themselves if, by doing so, they were honouring the corresponding duty owed to another person who possessed the same political right. He said what they were all about as EBC and the nation was strictly a constitutional legal process. He said, therefore, all the protections were attached to the enforcement of these constitutional rights, which included political rights and rights to elect and to participate in the elections. Dlamini said the right to participate in elections should not be trampled upon by anyone unless there was a constitutional excuse, not a personal one.

Enforcement

The prince said it was universal that for every legal right, there was law enforcement that conferred effects to that legal right. He said, therefore, it should not be any wonder that when there was any violation of a political or constitutional right, it would go without saying that the law enforcement mechanism that supported those rights should be effected. He said such was not peculiar to Eswatini because it was common cause that the purpose of law was to maintain law and order in society. The prince warned stakeholders, be it domestic and international community, who intended to interact in the upcoming elections, to take heed, to avoid self-fulfilling prophecy. He explained that a self-fulfilling prophecy was when one declared something and went behind the scenes to make that particular declaration come to light.  Speaking about the country’s political system, the Tinkhundla System in particular, he said every person had a right to constructively criticise the system. He said unconstructive criticism was more or less related to self-fulfilling prophecy.

He said as such, if the narrative would be that the Tinkhundla System under which the elections were conducted would be a flop by whatever reason, it should not be then that people would participate in fulfilling that prophecy. He said people should not participate in the self-fulfilling prophecy when criticising the Tinkhundla System. Dlamini said it should not be denied that when one spoke of the concept of democratic government that was not a concept native to emaSwati. He said democratic government was not a concept that came from emaSwati’s inheritance. He said it should be learnt and the principles that governed it were fixed, stating that it needed to be learnt, unlike things that were native to emaSwati.

Important

The chairman mentioned that it was very important to understand that the entire elections process was related to the establishment of a democratic government. He said it was important for emaSwati in their interactions and as well as during the voter civic education to be mindful of the fact that there were matters that were jurisdictionally confined to elections. Dlamini said the establishment of the democratic government should be broken down into the institution (Tinkhundla System) and the people elected to function the institution. He noted that these were two different interactors and clearly there were two bases of responsibilities. He said there were those of the institution and then there were responsibilities of the individuals put in the system through elections. He said these people were the Member of Parliament (MP), indvuna yenkhundla and bucopho.

He further explained that these people were charged with responsibilities to execute in the context of the institution. Dlamini said sometimes it could be the failure of people elected or the system, notwithstanding the efficiency of the people. He said the failure of the people then necessitated the need for a voter civic education so that then the quality of people who would be voted to Parliament were the very people qualitatively able to manage the system.

Responsible

Dlamini said as responsible emaSwati interacted in a bid to refine their system, they should come clear as to which had failed; the people or the system. He said it was important to distinguish between the two, adding that the elected people had a responsibility to be accountable to their voters. The prince was speaking following the various disruptions that have been witnessed since the voter education exercise started in light of the national elections to be held mid this year. At KaLiba, officials from the EBC had to leave hurriedly after some of the youth of the area had attacked them. They had asked the EBC officials why they visited the area yet their MP, Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza, was behind bars. Also at Somntongo, there was a disruption of the voter education exercise as the residents called for the convening of a national dialogue.

PUDEMO MAINTAINS STANCE

BY MTHUNZI MDLULI

MBABANE – PUDEMO does not want Tinkhundla elections in 2023 or any other time in Eswatini, going forward.

This was stated by the People’s United Democratic Movement Secretary General (SG) Penuel Malinga during the political party’s 10th General Congress held between February 24 to 26, 2023 in Driekoppies, Mpumalanga Province, in a statement released yesterday. Malinga called upon emaSwati to prepare for a defiance campaign to stop any possibility of Tinkhundla elections until negotiations and drafting of a democratic and all inclusive Constitution was in place. “We wish to be unequivocal in calling for a genuine multiparty democratic electoral framework as the basis for the election of any government of the country,” said Malinga.

Committed

The PUDEMO SG said they were committed to continuing leading and catalysing the mass rebellion of the people across the entire country and to turn their mass power into a coherent irreversible force that was emblematic of a conscious movement for democracy and social justice. “Our people’s anger against landlessness will be collectively mobilised to become the seedbed for the total liberation of Eswatini. We are unequivocal that the land belongs to the people and we declared that,”  said the SG. Meanwhile, Malinga said they affirmed that the struggle was not a spontaneous occurrence of unexpected incidents, but a conscious process towards the building of society, based on respect for fundamental human rights and dignity.
Furthermore, Malinga said the congress delegated all structures of PUDEMO to embark on a massive recruitment drive so that this movement of the people could exist in all villages, townships, cities, factories, educational institutions and its members must actively lead popular people’s struggles for freedom.

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