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King opens parliament amid controversy

[Swaziland] King Mswati III. UN DPI
The draft constitution gives King Mswati absolute power
King Mswati opened parliament on Wednesday by announcing R120 million (US $18 million) in spending on humananitarian programmes, but avoided commenting directly on the controversy surrounding the resignation of the Speaker and the country's "rule of law" crisis. "The nation knows that the administration of our justice system has been facing some challenges this past year," said Mswati, referring to the resignation of the Court of Appeal bench in protest over palace interference in the judicial system. "I have been assured that the minister of justice has engaged stakeholders on this issue, and await their views on the way forward." Mswati did not mention his postponement of the opening of parliament, or last week's resignation of the house speaker, Marwick Khumalo, who had headed a special parliamentary committee that recommended against the purchase of a R720 million (US $111 million) private jet for the king - advice that was accepted by the House of Assembly. Though still an MP, Khumalo absented himself on Wednesday to attend a meeting of the Pan African Parliament in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. MPs loyal to Khumalo, who had threatened to boycott the king's speech, changed their minds after Prime Minister Themba Dlamini issued a strong warning against "disrespecting" the monarch. The Swaziland Coalition of Concerned Civic Organisations, an umbrella group of labour organisations, human rights bodies and banned political parties, had called for Swazis to wear black as a symbol of protest over what they described as the palace's undermining of parliament. The prime minister and traditional authorities warned that any person wearing black would face punishment. The national highway running one kilometer north of parliament, and connecting roads, were blocked by police, who questioned any person seen wearing a dark garment. "Have you seen inside the chamber? It looks like the Easter Parade," one MP commented to IRIN about the variety of bold colours nervous MPs chose to wear before the king. Some legislators complained to the local media that they had to mothball black suits purchased for the occasion. Swaziland's parliament is subordinate to King Mswati, sub-Saharan Africa's last absolute monarch. Although MPs are elected from 55 constituencies, augmented by 10 royal appointees, parliamentarians take an oath of allegiance to the king rather than to the people or laws of Swaziland. In his speech Mswati gave top priority to thanking God for this summer's rains, but later acknowledged his kingdom was in its fourth year of drought. The king told parliamentarians he had granted R50 million (US $7.6 million) of government money to the National Disaster Relief Fund to spend on food assistance. AIDS, bad weather, poor land management policies and poverty have conspired to slash food production in the the agriculture-dependent country. In addition to the food relief allocation, Mswati told MPs he was ordering R30 million (US $4.6 million) to be used for a regional development fund, R20 million (US $3 million) to pay for school fees for impoverished children, and a further R20 million for a fund to provide specialised medical care to indigent patients.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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