Times of Swaziland
31 July 2008
NNLC’s petition to king
By ARTHUR MORDAUNT
MBABANE – The Ngwane National Liberatory Congress (NNLC) will today deliver a petition to the King’s Office protesting the forthcoming elections.
The petition follows failure by government through the Justice and Constitutional Affairs Ministry to act on an earlier petition the political movement had sent to the ministry. In it, they had outlined several concerns regarding the electoral process in the country.
One such issue was allowing political parties to contest Parliamentary seats. This could be done, they suggested, through enacting an enabling legislation that would allow political formations to be active players in the Swazi political landscape. They further suggested that the elections should be postponed pending the enactment of the law.
The Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) has already announced the election date. Currently, although the national constitution allows freedom of assembly, political parties are still banned. People are only elected into Parliament through individual merit.
The NNLC has also written a letter to the Prime Minister, Themba Dlamini, informing him of their decision to see the king.
"The NNLC made a petition to the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs dated April 11, 2008 and we never got any recognition or reply on the issues up to today. Instead of concentrating on the 40/40 celebration, please inform His Majesty that the NNLC shall be delivering a petition to him as head of state on July 31, 2008 at the King’s Office given your government to engage and address us," the letter states.
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