Politics of Swaziland

Swaziland

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Swaziland

King Mswati III Prime Minister Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini Parliament Senate House of Assembly Political parties Elections: 2003, 2008 Districts Tinkhundla Foreign relations

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Swaziland is governed under a form of constitutional monarchy, in which political power is shared by the king and parliament. Swaziland today is foremost ruled by a monarch, although for all of its administrative history prior to British colonization in 1903, it might have more properly been called a diarchy.

Monarchy

According to current Swazi law and custom, the monarch holds supreme executive, legislative, and judicial powers. History is short, however, and in Swaziland's case is punctuated with a 65 year reign (including a 23 year regency) of Sobhuza II of Swaziland. The Ngwenyama (King, lion, representing the hardness as expressed in thunder^{[clarification needed]}) is a hereditary leader, rules the country, with the assistance of a council of ministers and a national legislature. The Ndlovukati (Senior Queen, preferentially the mother of the king, she-elephant, representing softness as in water^{[clarification needed]}) is in charge of national rituals, and acts as regent if her counterpart Ngwenyama dies and the heir has not performed royal adulthood rituals or is indisposed. If the king's mother is no longer living, one of the king's wives may act as Ndlovukati. In Sobhuza II's case, his grandmother theNdlovukati Labotsibeni Mdluli was regent from his choice as infant heir in 1899 following the death of his father Bhunu until his accession to full authority in 1922, when his mother Lomawa Ndwandwe became the ndlovukati. Later in his long reign three other women became senior queen, when an ndlovukati" died, another was appointed from among his senior wives.

The king and the senior queen rule together in theory, and did so in practice up until the reign of Sobhuza II, making the term "monarchy" somewhat misleading historically. Before colonization the senior queen acted as a check and counterweight to the king's power, both through her direct control of some military forces and her control of rainmaking medicines and rites and of key aspects of the Ncwala national ritual that annually binds the fate of the king and the nation together. British policy and the strength of Sobhuza II's personality shifted power decisively toward the king and away from the senior queen during his long reign.

During a period of intense succession struggles following the death of Sobhuza II, the Ndlovukati was assisted by Prince Sozisa Dlamini, the holder of a novel office, the Authorised Person, in-Libandla, and then was deposed and the mother of the heir, now King Mswati III was made ndlovukati prior to his full accession. Subsequently the constitution was revised to provide that where the Regent and the Authorised Person are not in agreement on any matter, the matter shall be referred to Bantfwabenkhosi (princes) and chiefs.

The King, according to the new constitution, is also Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces. He and in-Libandla have legal immunity.

Male succession

Succession is chosen in relation to the status of the potential king's mother. Ndlovukazi is chosen by the Royal Council after the King's death, she will be from an unrelated family. Within the aristocracy, the first wife is never the main wife — a second wife who has a higher pedigree will take precedence. The Royal family line, the Dlamini's, never intermarry; the King is always a Dlamini, the Queen Mother is never a Dlamini. The king is not followed by blood brothers. He is "Nkosi Dlamini" and is expected to unify his position by choosing wives from all sectors of the community. The balance of power lies between the King and the Queen Mother. The Royal Council plays a key role in the selection of the successor to the throne. Much of this tradition remains secret (or undetermined) — but it is rumoured that the new king must be single, and is usually a minor. His wives are important.

Polygyny

A Swazi king's first two wives are chosen for him by the national councillors. These two have special functions in rituals and their sons can never claim kingship. The first wife must be a member of the Matsebula clan, the second of the Motsa clan. According to tradition, he can only marry his fiancées after they have fallen pregnant, proving they can bear heirs. Until then, they are Liphovela.

King Mswati III is often criticized for living so lavishly in a nation that is afflicted by one of the world's highest HIV infection rates. His fleet of luxury cars, and the millions spent towards refurbishing his numerous wives' luxury mansions, are at odds with the approximately 34 percent of the nation that stand unemployed, nearly 70 percent of which live on less than a dollar a day, and with around 49 percent of adults who suffer from HIV.

Executive branch

Main office holders

Office	Name	Party	Since
King	Mswati III		25 April 1986
Prime Minister	Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini		16 October 2008

In general practice, however, the monarch's power is delegated through a dualistic system: modern, statutory bodies, like the cabinet, and less formal traditional government structures. At present, parliament consists of a 82-seat House of Assembly (55 members are elected through popular vote; the Attorney General as an ex-officio member; 10 are appointed by the king and four women elected from each one of the administrative regions) and 30-seat Senate (10 members are appointed by the House of Assembly, and 20 are appointed by the king, whom at least the half must be women). The king must approve legislation passed by parliament before it becomes law. The prime minister, who is head of government is appointed by the king from among the members of the House on recommendations of the King's Advisory Council and the cabinet, which is recommended by the prime minister and approved by the king, exercises executive authority.

Legislative branch

Parliament, the Libandla has two chambers: the House of Assembly has 82 members, 55 members elected out of candidates nominated by traditional local councils, the Attorney-General as an ex-official member, 4 women elected for each of the regions and 10 appointed members; balloting is done on a nonparty basis; candidates for election are nominated by the local council of each constituency and for each constituency the three candidates with the most votes in the first round of voting are narrowed to a single winner by a second round, and the Senate has 30 non-partisan members, 10 members elected by the House of Assembly and 20 appointed members, with at least half of them being women, as is required by law.

Political parties and elections

For other political parties see List of political parties in Swaziland. An overview on elections and election results is included in Elections in Swaziland.

Political parties are banned by the constitution promulgated on 13 October 1978; illegal parties are prohibited from holding large public gatherings. At the last elections, 18 October 2003, only non-partisans were elected. One of them is a member of the opposition Ngwane National Liberatory Congress. Most opposition politicians boycotted the elections.

Summary of the 18 October 2003 House of Assembly of Swaziland election results

Members	Seats
Independents nominated by traditional local councils	55
Attorney-General	1
women elected for each region	4
Appointed members	10
Total	82

e • d Composition of the Swaziland Senate

Members	Seats
Appointed members	20
Members elected by the House of Assembly	10
Total	30

Constitution

The 2005 constitution is currently in force.[1] The constitution of 6 September 1968 was suspended 12 April 1973 by a State of Emergency decree imposed by King Sobhuza II, the father of the current King Mswati III. The decree gave absolute power to the monarchy and banned organised political opposition to royal rule.

A new constitution was promulgated 13 October 1978, but was not formally presented to the people.

In 2001 King Mswati III appointed a committee to draft a new constitution.^[1] The draft was released for comment in May 2003, and was strongly criticised by civil society organizations in Swaziland, as well as by Amnesty International and the International Bar Association, among others.

Amnesty international listed the following criticisms of the draft constitution of 2003:

• failure to protect fully the rights to freedom of conscience, belief, expression, opinion, peaceful assembly and association;
• failure to protect fully the right to life by, for instance, allowing law enforcement officials to use lethal force in situations where there is no threat to life posed to police or others;
• failure to include economic and social rights as rights enforceable by the courts;
• only partial protection of the rights of women, with for instance girls and young women not protected against forced marriage; and
• weak actual protection for the impartiality and independence of the judiciary, particularly regarding the selection, appointment, tenure and dismissal of judges.

A new draft was placed before the largely advisory parliament on November 4, 2004.[2] The draft reportedly is substantially the same as the version issued in 2003.

Swaziland's two largest political organisations, the People's United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) and the Ngwane National Liberatory Congress (NNLC), together with labour unions, challenged the 2004 draft constitution in the Swaziland's High Court. However, in March 2005 the court upheld a ban on opposition political parties, citing the 1973 State of Emergency decree of King Sobhuza II. "It remains the duty and function of the court to uphold and apply the laws of the land, and especially so when constitutional issues are decided", the court ruled. The applicants indicated that they intended to pursue their case in the Court of Appeal.[3]

Trade unions in the country have organized repeated strikes to protest against the lack of labour and political rights and the draft constitution. This included a general strike on 25 and 26 January 2005, although reportedly not widely heeded. [4]

Administrative divisions

For local administration Swaziland is divided into four regions (Hhohho, Lubombo, Manzini, Shiselweni), each with an administrator appointed by the king. Parallel to the government structure is the traditional system consisting of the king and his advisers, traditional courts, and 55 tinkhundla (subregional districts in which traditional chiefs are grouped).

Foreign relations

Swaziland is a member of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) which the U.S. began negotiating a Free Trade Agreement with in May 2003. The other members of SACU are Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho and South Africa. Swaziland is further member of ACP, AfDB, C, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, PCA, SACU, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

External links

• Swaziland Government at the Open Directory Project
• Political analyses of the situation in Swaziland

References

1. ^ "The Final Report of the Constitutional Review Commission". 2004-10-27. http://www.ecs.co.sz/crc/crc_report.htm. Retrieved 2010-10-26.