SWAZILAND: 'REWRITE CONSTITUTION'

Swazi Media Commentary

4 November 2008

COMMENT

Swaziland should look again at its constitution, this time ensuring that there is full consultation with the people, civic society and political organisations.

This s a major recommendation from the Commonwealth Expert Team (CET) members that were official observers of the elections in Swaziland in September.

The CET said that the elections were not entirely credible because the constitution banned political parties and members of parliament had few real powers.

In its report on the election, just published, the CET says revisiting the constitution is necessary to ‘ensure that Swaziland’s commitment to political pluralism is unequivocal’.

It says that review of the constitution ‘should be carried out through a process of full consultation with Swazi political organisations and civil society (possibly with the support of constitutional experts).’

The CET went on to say that the election was not credible, even though a new constitution has been introduced in Swaziland since the last election in 2003.

The CET states, ‘Swaziland has now adopted a new Constitution, which affords the nation an opportunity to make democratic progress. The real challenge is to gain the confidence of the democratic dispensation with an entrenched bill of rights, as is expected of Swaziland in accordance with Commonwealth principles and declarations.’

It added, ‘We also noted our serious concerns on the inherent inconsistencies and contradictions, particularly as they relate to the separation of powers (or lack thereof) and the rule of law. We also expressed our deep concern for the inconsistency and contradictions as they relate to the interpretation of the fundamental right of freedom of association and assembly, where political parties are denied formal recognition, so that they do not have the right to carry out activities which political parties would normally conduct in a multi-party democracy.

‘We believe that the Monarchy and a multi-party democracy are not mutually exclusive, and that a mechanism should be found to insulate the Monarchy from the turbulence of politics.

It goes on, ‘In the modern world, which is complex and constantly evolving, a multi-party democratic system has proved to be the best one for accommodating diversity and well-treasured norms in society. Practical experience has shown that institutions which have been marginalised have suffered. Confidence in the institutional framework to promote a vibrant electorate is vital, as a conscientious, well informed electorate is critical in this day and age. In any country the prevailing political environment influences all aspects of life including social and economic conditions for its citizens. One of the major areas it affects is the constitutional and legislative framework governing electoral processes.’

According to a report from the South Africa Broadcasting Corporation, the Swazi government has declined to comment on the report until it has had a chance to study it fully.

This is a standard response from the Swazi ruling elite to any criticism it receives from the international community. In practice, the government never responds (think of all those criticisms earlier this year and last about the poor governance in Swaziland).

The government thinks it can ignore these findings. It can’t. It is up to democrats to keep pushing the point that Swaziland’s ‘unique’ democracy stands condemned and it must change.

To read the full report, click here.

See also

ELECTIONS

Link http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2008/11/swaziland-rewrite-constitution.html

COMMONWEALTH CRITICISES POLL

Commonwealth News and Information Service (London)

29 October 2008
Posted to the web 30 October 2008

Swaziland: Commonwealth Expert Team Issues Final Report On 2008 Elections

Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma today released the Final Report of the Commonwealth Expert Team which observed the 2008 National Elections in Swaziland.

Mr Sharma said: "Despite the fact that the Team found that the elections on polling day were reasonably well conducted, they raised concerns about the totality of the electoral process. The Team felt that the reasons for this lay in weaknesses in the current constitutional, legal and electoral framework. These required reforms through a process of consultation and dialogue.

"What is vital now is for the Government and all political and civil society organizations in Swaziland to work together to chart a mutually agreed path for the future development of the country, with a view to ensuring its sustainable growth and stability, in line with Commonwealth fundamental values. The Commonwealth stands ready to assist in that process", the Secretary-General added.

The Report was completed and signed by all members of the Commonwealth Expert Team, prior to their departure from Swaziland. It was presented to the Commonwealth Secretary-General by the Team leader, Dr Paul Ssemogerere, the former Deputy Prime Minister of Uganda. Before being made public, it was distributed to the Government of Swaziland, to Swazi political and civil society organisations, to the Elections and Boundaries Commission of Swaziland, and to all other Commonwealth governments.

Link http://allafrica.com/stories/200810300038.html

COMMONWEALTH OBSERVERS

Monitor Pack

18 September 2008

Press release

Commonwealth Team observes Swaziland elections

A Commonwealth Expert Team will observe the National Elections due to take place on 19 September 2008 in Swaziland, Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma announced today.

Mr Sharma said that the Team of four, supported by a two-person staff team, will be led by Dr Paul Kawanga Ssemogerere, Former Deputy Prime Minister of Uganda.

"These elections are the first to be conducted under the new Constitution which came into effect in 2006", Mr Sharma stated.

The Secretary-General added that the mandate of the Team is to observe the preparations for the election; the polling, counting and results process; and the overall electoral environment. The Team is to assess the overall conduct of the process and make appropriate recommendations for the future strengthening of the electoral process in Swaziland.

The Team which arrived in Swaziland on 13 September will remain in the Southern African country until 24 September. It has been constituted at the invitation of the Elections and Boundaries Commission of Swaziland.

The full composition of the Commonwealth Expert Team is:

Dr Paul Kawanga Ssemogerere (Team Leader)

Former Deputy Prime Minister

Uganda

Mr Edmond Sylvester Alpha

Chief: Field Coordination and Reporting Unit

National Electoral Commission

Sierra Leone

Ms Kaye Wight Oliver CMG OBE

Former British High Commissioner to Lesotho

United Kingdom

Mr Rajith Keerthi Tennakoon

Director

Campaign for Free & Fair Elections (CaFFE)

Sri Lanka

The Secretariat support staff team will be led by Mr Linford Andrews, Political Affairs Officer in the Political Affairs Division.

This is the third Commonwealth Expert Team to be present in Swaziland. Previous Commonwealth Expert

Teams observed the voter registration in July 2003 and the National Elections in October 2003.

Note to editors:

The Team's report will be submitted to the Commonwealth Secretary-General, who will then in turn send it to the Government of Swaziland, the Elections and Boundaries Commission and Commonwealth Governments.

The Expert Team will act impartially and independently and shall conduct itself according to the standards expressed in the International Declaration of Principles for Election Observation to which the Commonwealth is a signatory.

OBSERVING THE SWAZILAND ELECTION

Swazi Media Commentary

16 September

Comment

OBSERVING THE SWAZILAND ELECTION

News that 100 observers are heading to Swaziland for this Friday’s election raises the question what are they expecting to see?

They will hardly have enough time to unpack their suitcases before the election is over and it’s time to go home.

If last month’s primary elections are anything to go by there will be many problems with the election.

At one point the primary election was postponed even though polling stations had already opened. The chaos was over missing ballot papers, incomplete voting forms and ballots with the wrong candidates’ names.

Violence broke out at polling stations as polls were closed before everyone had the chance to vote.

Many losing candidates ran to the High Court to have the vote overturned.

On top of this there were accusations that some election boxes were tampered with.

Others said the election was not secret.

On top of this there were accusations that candidates tried to bribe voters and claims of other inappropriate and illegal behaviour by candidates.

Apart from specific incidents on polling day there is also the ongoing dissatisfaction with the members of Swaziland’s Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC). The High Court has been asked to rule on whether the members were selected in accordance with the Swazi Constitution.

The constitution states that the chair should be a senior judge, but in fact Chief Gija Dlamini, the EBC chair has no legal background and is variously described as an ‘electrician’ or an ‘electrical engineer’.

The European Union (EU) has already announced it will not send observers to the election because it hasn’t been given enough time to do the job properly. There is also some concern among EU representatives that the Swazi poll is meaningless because political parties are banned and the parliament that is elected has no real powers. Swaziland’s present Prime Minister Themba Dlamini was selected by King Mswati III even though Dlamini had not been elected to Parliament.

After the last Swaziland election in 2003, the Commonwealth Expert Team which did observer the election reported ‘we do not regard the credibility of these National elections as an issue: no elections can be credible when they are for a Parliament which does not have power and when political parties are banned’.

Nothing has substantially changed since 2003 and there is no reason to believe that this week’s election will be any more meaningful. Which of the 100 observers will have the courage to say so?

See also

ELECTIONS

SWAZILAND ELECTIONS 2008 BLOGSITE

ELECTIONS AND BOUNDARIES COMMISSION

Link http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2008/09/observing-swaziland-election.html

COMMONWEALTH TO OBSERVE POLL

Weekend Observer

9 August 2008

Commonwealth election observers coming

By Sisho Magagula

The Commonwealth will send a team of Election Observers to monitor the country’s parliamentary elections, Commonwealth Deputy Secretary Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba has disclosed.

Speaking exclusively to the Weekend Observer yesterday afternoon before jetting out of the country Esibayeni Lodge, Mwamba said the Commonwealth has taken interest in the country’s first parliamentary elections under the constitutional dispensation.

“This morning, I met with the Elections and Boundaries Commission and discussed a lot of pertinent issues, including the importance of conducting free and fair elections. We sent observers to monitor the registration process and we will be sending more observers for both the primary and secondary elections,” she said, in the presence of Justice Minister Prince David.

The Secretary General also mentioned that her organisation will be providing more support for the country’s judiciary.

She said the main objectives of her visit to the country was to familiarise herself with activities carried out by the country through the assistance of the Commonwealth.

“We were on a fact-finding mission and I’m pleased that Swaziland has made great strides in areas of democracy and development. The Commonwealth will continue lending support in areas such as social development and investment,” she said.

Mwamba was accompanied by Commonwealth’s Special Advisor, Head of African Section Political Affairs, Amb. Ayo Oke.

Link http://www.observer.org.sz/weekend/main.php?id=46004&section=mainweek

SWAZI ELECTION – MEDIA ETHICS

From Swazi Media Commentary http://www.swazimedia.blogspot.com/

Media houses in Swaziland need to start preparing for the national election that is due to take place later this year (2008).

At the last election in 2003 Swazi media were criticised for not giving enough information to the people of the kingdom about what was going on.

On the day of the election itself Radio Swaziland didn’t even report that an election was taking place.

The poor media coverage prompted the Commonwealth Expert Team, which monitored the election in Swaziland, to recommend that in future elections a Code of Conduct for media personnel covering elections should be drawn up. This, it felt, would ‘ensure high standard and balanced coverage’ in reporting.

But nothing much has happened since then. The Swaziland National Association of Journalists (SNAJ) has a code of conduct that provides a framework of reference to all practicing journalists in Swaziland, both full-time and freelance.

The code is meant to ensure that members adhere to the highest ethical standards, professional competence and good behaviour in carrying out their duties. Its overriding concern is that members of the media should conduct themselves with a high sense of responsibility without infringing the rights of individuals and society in general.

However, the SNAJ code is not followed by most journalists in Swaziland and it does not deal with the coverage of elections. In this respect Swaziland is falling behind other countries in Africa. Since the turn of the century a number of African states have produced guidelines for journalists and other media personnel when covering elections. Among these states are Sierra Leone and Somaliland.

Here is an attempt to start people thinking about what a code of conduct on election coverage could look like in Swaziland, I want to propose a draft code of conduct for covering elections in Swaziland.

I do not want to reinvent the wheel so I have borrowed extensively from codes of Sierra Leone,
Somaliland and also work done by ACE Electoral Knowledge Network.


Preamble

The preamble should make some definitive statements about what the role media have in the process of politics, such as these.

The media play an important role in monitoring the electoral process. By covering the election events and the political campaign, the media ensure that the public is aware of what is happening.

The media help the public to make a free and informed choice. They do this in three ways in particular:
• By communicating political messages from parties and candidates;
• By relaying important voter information from election administrators;
• By subjecting the whole election process to independent scrutiny and comment.

Individual journalists

Then we might look at the responsibilities of individual journalists.
Such as:
• The first duty of a journalist is to report accurately and without bias.
• A journalist shall report only in accordance with facts of which s/he knows the origin. A journalist shall not suppress essential information.
• A journalist shall observe professional secrecy regarding the source of information obtained in confidence.
• A journalist shall report in a balanced manner. If a candidate makes an allegation against another candidate, the journalist should seek comment from both sides wherever possible.
• A journalist shall do the utmost to correct any published information that is found to be harmfully inaccurate.
• As far as possible, a journalist shall report the views of candidates and political parties directly and in their own words, rather than as they are described by others.
• A journalist shall avoid using language or expressing sentiments that may further discrimination or violence on any grounds, including race, sex, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other opinions, and national or social origins.
• When reporting the opinions of those who do advocate discrimination or violence, a journalist shall do the utmost to put such views in a clear context and to report the opinions of those against whom such sentiments are directed.
• A journalist shall not accept any inducement from a politician or candidate.
• A journalist shall not make any promise to a politician about the content of a news report.
• A journalist shall take care in reporting the findings of opinion polls. Any report should wherever possible include the following information:
• who commissioned and carried out the poll and when
• how many people were interviewed, where and how were they interviewed and what is the margin of error
• what was the exact wording of the questions.
• A journalist shall regard the following as grave professional offences:
• plagiarism
• malicious misrepresentation
• calumny, slander, libel or unfounded accusations
• acceptance of a bribe in any form in consideration of either publication or suppression.

Media houses

Media houses have a vital role in ensuring fairness in the dissemination of information. The people have the right to know what all the candidates are standing for and not just those that the media house owners might support.
• In all media, there shall be a clear separation between fact and comment. News reporting should reflect the facts as honestly perceived by journalists. Comment may reflect the editorial line of the publication.
• Publicly owned media shall not express an editorial opinion in favour of or against any candidate.
• Publicly owned media have a duty to be balanced and impartial in their election reporting and not to discriminate against any candidate in granting access to air time.
• If media houses accept paid political advertising, they shall do so on a non-discriminatory basis and at equal rates for all candidates.
• News, interviews, information or current affairs programmes or articles in the public media shall not be biased in favour of or against any candidate.
• The media shall provide equitable and regular coverage to all candidates.
• The media shall encourage and provide access to the voters to express their opinion and views.
• The media shall promote democratic values such as the rule of good law, accountability and good governance.
• Any candidate or party that makes a reasonable claim of having been defamed or otherwise injured by a broadcast or publication shall either be granted the opportunity to reply or be entitled to a correction or retraction by the broadcaster or publisher or by the person who made the allegedly defamatory statement. The reply or correction shall be broadcast or published as soon as possible.
• News coverage of press conferences and public statements concerning matters of political controversy (as opposed to functions of state) called or made by the head of government, government ministers, or members of parliament shall be subject to a right of reply or equal time rules. This obligation acquires even greater force when the person making the statement is also standing for office.
• Publicly owned media shall publish or broadcast voter education material.
• Voter education material shall be accurate and impartial and must effectively inform voters about the voting process, including how, when and where to vote, to register to vote and to verify proper registration; the secrecy of the ballot (and thus safety from retaliation); the importance of voting; the functions of the offices that are under contention; and similar matters.
• Voter education shall include programmes in minority languages and programmes targeted for groups that traditionally may have been excluded from the political process, such as women and people with disabilities.
• Media houses should monitor their own output to make sure that it conforms with the standards set out in this code of conduct.

Candidates

Codes of conduct in election coverage in other African states recognise that political parties contest elections. In Swaziland, which is not a democracy, political parties are banned. The kingdom has its own unique form of ‘democracy’ which only allows candidates to stand for election as individuals.

The purpose of my draft code of conduct for Swaziland is to deal with the elections that will take place in 2008. It is highly unlikely that there will be a change of heart among the kingdom’s ruling elite before the elections are held, so we must assume that candidates will not be aligned to any political party. Therefore, this code of conduct is addressed to individuals; although it would apply equally to political parties should they be allowed to exist.


• All candidates shall respect the freedom of the media.
• Candidates shall not harass or obstruct journalists who are engaged in their professional activities.
• Incumbent candidates shall not abuse their office to gain unfair advantage in access to the media. This provision applies to all media, but is of particular relevance when publicly funded media are under direct control by the government of the day.
• Candidates shall not offer bribes or inducements to journalists or media houses to encourage them to attend campaign events or to report favourably on the party or unfavourably on other parties or candidates.
• Candidates should not misrepresent the stated positions or any other factual information about other parties and candidates.
• Candidates should avoid using language that is inflammatory or defamatory, or that threatens or incites violence against any other person or group.


Link http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2008/03/swazi-election-code-of-conduct.html

First publsihed 28 March 2008