Politics makes a tentative comeback

While a new royalist party was being launched at a gala event attended by the rich and powerful, the Swazi police were using tear-gas and rubber bullets to break up a rally by an opposition party, demanding a constitutional monarchy. Sive Siyinqaba ("the nation is a fortress") described itself as a "cultural organisation" when it was formed in 1996, complying with a ban on political parties. But with the signing of a new constitution by King Mswati III earlier this year, which some analysts believe indirectly legalises political organisations, Sive Siyinqaba has been reborn as a party, and is eyeing the 2008 parliamentary elections. "Let us fight for a change that is Swazi-driven, keeping in mind our culture and uniqueness as a nation," said party chairman and former senator Isaac Shabangu. Sive Siyinqaba's membership includes government officials, current members of parliament and individuals from the royal family. As a "cultural organisation" it has stoutly defended the power wielded by King Mswati, sub-Saharan Africa's last executive monarch. In the new constitution, the Bill of Rights permits freedom of assembly and speech - important advances that analysts suggest provide a legal basis for political parties to operate. However, the Times of Swaziland quoted a police official as justifying the break-up of a march at the weekend by the pro-democracy Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO) on the grounds that political parties remained banned. SWAYOCO, the youth wing of the opposition Peoples United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), attempted to march through Msunduza, a rundown informal settlement on the hill above the capital, Mbabane. Swazi press reports described the "bashing" of demonstrators by riot police as they pursued the mostly youthful protesters among shanty dwellings. One marcher was shot in the arm with a rubber bullet. A Royal Swaziland Police Force spokesman said in a statement, "Police were only present to ensure law and order prevailed during the march but, to their surprise, the marchers provoked them to extreme limits until they [police] decided to suspend the whole march, using minimum force available, that being teargas and warning shots." SWAYOCO officials said they were also considering standing in the 2008 parliamentary elections, and more marches would take place to promote their message of political change.