Focus on democracy versus monarchy

Senior Prince Mguciso Dlamini, elder brother of King Mswati III, is emphatic about the kingdom's pro-democracy opposition: "They say they love the king, but they really do not," is his verdict. Given the continuing popularity of the 33 year-old monarch who has ruled Swaziland since 1986 when he turned 18, to be anti-king not only goes against popular sentiment, but can be considered close to treason. Currently, Mario Masuku, president of the People's United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), is on trial on two charges of sedition. He allegedly uttered statements calling for the downfall of King Mswati personally, and the royal system of government that has ruled Swazis for over 400 years and 13 generations of Dlamini kings. But Masuku denies saying anything against the monarch. Other leaders in the Swaziland Democratic Alliance, an umbrella organisation that encompasses labour unions and banned political parties, pledge their cultural - if not their political - allegiance to Mswati. Under a 1973 royal decree promulgated by King Mswati's father, the long-reigning King Sobhuza (1899-1982), opposition political parties are illegal, on the grounds that they are disruptive to national unity. The ban was in part a reaction to Swazis' apparent dislike of an independence constitution, revoked at the same time, which was resented as being "imposed" by a foreign power. "The constitution was a legacy of colonialism, when Swazis were robbed of most of our land, and we were treated as second-class citizens in our own nation," explained Prince Matsebula. He, like his younger brother Prince Mguciso, serves in the Swaziland National Council that advises King Mswati on national policy. The independence constitution did provide for political parties, but the first parliamentary elections in 1967 were won in a landslide sweep by the Imbokodvo party, which was supported by royalty. Five years later, a parliamentary opposition was introduced with the election of three MPs from the nation's oldest party, the Ngwane National Liberatory Congress (NNLC), established in 1959. "The conservatives who ran Swaziland were scared to their bones of multi-partyism. With King Sobhuza, they decided in 1973 to get rid of political parties. The king assumed absolute powers," explained current NNLC president, Obed Dlamini. "Political marches and meetings were also banned. Swaziland's first army was created that year to provide muscle for the decree." Dlamini, a member of the royal family, was prime minister from 1989 until 1993. All Swazi prime ministers have been royal Dlaminis, but Obed Dlamini's administration had a markedly progressive bent that saw the end of a 60-day detention without trial law that permitted government to dispose of political dissidents at will. "There are two real opposition parties in Swaziland, the NNLC and PUDEMO," said Dlamini. After Masuku was arrested in November 2000, Dlamini feared he would be next. But the government has permitted the banned parties to function as long as their activities are restricted to issuing occasional press releases. Police invoke emergency powers to curtail street demonstrations, rallies and any type of political meeting. This has not stopped PUDEMO's rowdy youth wing, the Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO), from taking to the streets when asked to support demonstrations called by Jan Sithole, the secretary-general of the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions, which is aligned with the teachers, nurses and civil servants unions within the Swaziland Democratic Alliance. After a series of nationwide workers' stay-aways in the late 1990s, political observers felt the kingdom's opposition leadership was in the hands of Sithole and union executives. But 2001 passed quietly, with Sithole's anti-government activities restricted to overseas trips to the International Labour Organisation in Geneva, where he argued that Swaziland's human rights record on freedom of speech and assembly was a reason for international concern, and perhaps trade sanctions. It seems like a much earlier era when the combined action of labour unions and opposition parties against government in 2000 culminated in demonstrations where Masuku allegedly called for Swazis to bring down the royal government through revolutionary means. Today, Masuku's defence attorneys argue that a police translation of the SiSwati words he spoke at the time is inaccurate. According to Sithole: "The objective of the Swaziland Democratic Alliance is to retain the king, who is so important as a cultural icon and as a unifier for the nation. But we would like to see him within a democratic framework, as a constitutional monarch." A hardcore cadre of about 100 Masuku supporters, along with some labour leaders, have shown up for the five days of his sedition trial before proceedings were suspended pending the appointment of a new presiding judge. To deter demonstrations, police set up roadblocks on highways leading to Mbabane, and quizzed travellers about their business in the capital city. A street survey this week by the independent Times of Swaziland found little sympathy for Masuku if he was found guilty of calling for violence against King Mswati. But there is no enthusiasm for a political trial, either. "You can say anything in Swaziland, and it depends not on what you say but the way you say it," said Wilma Simelane, a worker at a dry cleaners in Matsapha. It is impossible to determine the following of the banned political parties. "Every member is breaking the law by joining the party, so we have to be discreet," said Obed Dlamini. "Despite the state of emergency, our paid party membership stands exactly at 2,500," Dlamini claimed. But IRIN was not allowed to see the membership rolls. "Greater numbers will come when the head of state (King Mswati) relaxes the law to allow political parties. Then you will be surprised, we will produce a high membership forthwith." But opposition groups are faced with a catch-22. Dlamini and other pro-democracy activists have called for government to allow political activity before opposition groups truly become active. But if these groups do not show initiative and agitate for political change, the royal decree banning their activities will remain either in its present state or enshrined in a new constitution that has been proposed by King Mswati's controversial Constitutional Review Commission. The political status of any nation is forever fluid, shifting in the tide of events, but at present Swaziland's political opposition is failing to move the tradition-minded majority of Swazis away from a belief that national identity may disappear if the king's powers are compromised.