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VOTERS POWER TO RECALL MPS HOT TOPIC

24/04/2023 08:28:00 Nhlanganiso Mkhonta

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MBABANE – The power to recall underperforming Members of Parliament (MPs) and calls for a national dialogue before elections took centre stage during the EBC civic and voter education exercise at Mpolojeni.

Yesterday, Mpolonjeni residents under Motshane Inkhundla met with the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) team at their umphakatsi. The EBC had come to Mpolonjeni for the civic and voter education exercise, which is currently underway in the different communities around the country, ahead of the general elections. The EBC officials deployed at Mpolonjeni Umphakatsi were led by Masiko Dlamini and Cebisile Madonsela. Dlamini took the residents through the piece of legislation which formed the EBC, while Madonsela, educated them about the stages of elections until the last stage. The opportunity for the residents to pose questions and make recommendations was then opened. The first to make submissions on the power to recall underperforming MPs was George Hleta.

Hleta mentioned that for so many years, emaSwati had been electing people to represent them in Parliament but the same elected MPs tended to neglect the voters as soon as they won the elections and never returned. He said the MPs, as soon as they got elected, relocated to the suburbs and would only be seen when it was elections time again. Hleta blamed the EBC for not reprimanding them for neglecting the voters. He also accused the EBC of pushing the agenda of the status quo as the commission was allegedly not addressing the issues affecting the people on the ground. He said such issues included the deaths of June/July 2021 unrest. Hleta said those deaths were unnecessary, such that it was discouraging him to even register for the elections.

Nhlanhla Zwane shared the same sentiments with Hleta, that the EBC should be given the powers together with the people to recall underperforming MPs. He said EBC should not just end by facilitating the elections, but also play an oversight role in the work of the MPs. Zwane, who is also the Secretary General (SG) of the Mangololo Movement Eswatini, said the EBC should, after elections, have regular interactions with the people to find out if their elected MPs were delivering as per their mandate or not. He said if the feedback from the people was to the effect that the MPs were not delivering, the EBC should then go to Parliament to recall those underperforming MPs.

Tinkhundla

He explained that it was worth noting that Tinkhundla system was a perfect system, it just needed bodies like the EBC to play an oversight role. He said the establishment of Tinkhundla was a recommendation of EBC as stated in the Constitution in Section 79 and 80. Zwane also opined that there should be amendments in the Constitution in order to change the number of terms each MP should have in Parliament, just like it was for the prime minister and the ministers. He also spoke about the budget for the various tinkhundla. He said the budget should not just come from government but the constituents should be consulted first in order for them to make an input as to how much they needed in each inkhundla.

Meanwhile, other Mpolonjeni residents pleaded with the EBC to find ways to extend the duration of the civic and voter education exercise in the communities other than the one day per umphakatsi. A resident, who identified himself as Maphalala, said there was a need for the electorate, to be educated at length about the elections. Maphalala said as voters, they needed to be educated on the type of person they should elect in order to elect people who would deliver. He said the electorate also needed to be educated on what they should do or say in Parliament to avoid being arrested just like the two incarcerated MPs.

Maphalala also touched on the calls for dialogue before elections. He said the country’s authorities should convene the dialogue in order to iron out any differences before going to the polls. Another resident, who identified himself as Vilakati, asked the EBC officials about the safety of the electorate given the prevailing political impasse in the country. He also asked the reason why the dialogue was not concerned. Make Nkambule opined that there was a need for the electorate to be educated at length about the Constitution in order for them to know what was expected of them.

Meanwhile, Chief Zembe Dvuba of Mpolonjeni encouraged his subjects to register and further participate in the elections in numbers. He encouraged his subjects to vote, perhaps Motshane MP might come from their umphakatsi this time around. In response to the submissions of the residents, EBC’s Masiko Dlamini said they were taking the recommendations into consideration.

legislation

On the power to recall underperforming MPs, Dlamini said there was a need for a piece of legislation to that effect. He said as EBC, they were told about it and as such the commission would have to look for ways of implementing such. He said there was once an attempt to take the matter to Parliament, even though it was rejected. It is worth noting that recently, MPs argued that coming up with a law that provided for the recall of underperforming legislators was unfeasible and unsound. They questioned what would happen to the appointed parliamentarians as well as how their performance would be assessed.

According to the provisions of the Constitution, 59 MPs are elected while 10 MPs and 20 senators are appointed by the head of State. The legislators were responding to a statement from the EBC Chairperson, Mhlabuhlangene Dlamini, who said there was a need for the country’s political system to allow voters the power to recall their underperforming representatives from Parliament. The EBC chairperson noted that it was a weakness that under the country’s election system, there was no available controlled and balanced mechanism by which voters were able to hold their elected politicians accountable. The legislators were of the view that such legislation would be unfair to elected MPs, while favouring appointed MPs as the electorate would have no power to recall them. They argued that service delivery was a collective effort, while insisting that local government should also be held accountable and not just legislators.