EBC MORE THAN READY FOR SECONDARY ELECTIONS - KING
LOZITHA – The Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) is more than ready to conduct the Secondary Elections next week Friday, His Majesty King Mswati III has said.
The King said this when receiving letters of credence from the Ambassador of the Republic of China on Taiwan to Swaziland Thomas Chen and Italian Ambassador to Swaziland Roberto Vellano at Lozitha Palace yesterday.
“I am pleased to tell you that you came in the country while there are so many activities taking place and one of them is the national elections where the country elects a new government.”
“Next week the country will be conducting the Secondary Elections, which is the final phase of the process. We are pleased to tell you that the Secondary Elections follow the Primary Elections which went extremely well as they were peaceful and the turnout was encouraging,” the King said.
He said the participation of people during the elections was very vital because it means they are able to shape the country’s future choosing a new government.
“We hope that the Secondary Elections will also go ahead well and peacefully as the EBC Commissioner has notified me that they are well prepared. He assured me that there will be no problems during the Secondary Elections next week as they were able to learn from the Primary Elections that were held in August 24, 2013,” the King said.
Previously, EBC Chairman Chief Gija confessed to the King that they were not fully prepared to conduct the Primary Elections. This was evident as a number of chiefdoms wrote letters of complaints to the EBC demanding that the process be restarted as there were some alleged problems that occured during the process.
On another note, the King assured the two ambassadors that they would get all the support that they would need while executing their duties in the country so that they could achieve the main goal of transforming the lives of the people.
He also said he hoped that they would make sure that they keep the good working relationships between the countries and make sure that they bear the expected fruit of economic development, which was the main challenge faced by African countries, including Swaziland.