Pro-democracy groups vow to block new constitution

Swaziland's human rights groups, banned political parties and labour organisations have expressed little enthusiasm for King Mswati III's announcement that a new national constitution will be in place by year's end. "We will continue to press ahead with our lawsuit in High Court to block the implementation of this constitution, because it is illegitimate," said the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) in a statement on Wednesday. The NCA is comprised of lawyers and political activists seeking a constitution that ensures genuine democracy in Swaziland, ruled by sub-Saharan Africa's last absolute monarchy. Mswati told heads of state at the Southern African Development Community summit in Mauritius this week that "Swaziland's constitution-drafting process will be completed by the end of the year, and the government is committed to transformation." Political opposition groups at home were unimpressed. They alleged that the drafting of a new constitution, begun in 1996, had dragged on past repeated deadlines to enable the royal government to postpone political change. The final constitutional document, prepared by Mswati's brothers, Prince Mangaliso and Prince David Dlamini, calls for power to remain in the hands of the king and his heirs in perpetuity, while continuing a ban on organised political opposition to royal rule. Mswati told delegates at a Commonwealth Parliamentary Assembly meeting in Swaziland this week that the Swazi parliament would formally ratify the constitution. Previously, the king had said he would personally ratify the constitution into existence. A Court of Appeal ruling that the king had no power to decree laws was struck down by government, which refused to acknowledge the decision. The court bench resigned in protest, leading to the current rule-of-law crisis. Attorney-General Phesheya Dlamini, a Mswati appointee, said parliamentary approval of the constitution was proper "under current circumstances". Political observers said Mswati's use of parliament to pass his constitution was an attempt to get around the court ruling. "This changes nothing, because parliament is a rubber stamp that approves of anything the palace sends its way," said Bongani Ndwandwe, a member of the Swaziland Youth Congress, which is also banned. In its statement the NCA said parliament should only adopt a constitution "once the people of Swaziland are free". The NCA and the Swaziland Democratic Alliance, an umbrella body of political, legal, human rights and labour groups, want a constitutional assembly whose members are democratically elected by national constituencies to draft a constitution that retains Mswati and his successors as constitutional monarchs under a democratic system of government.