Elections in Swaziland 2013

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The 2013 elections in Swaziland took place on August 24 and September 20, 2013 in the Kingdom of Swaziland . 55 members of the House of Assembly , the lower house of the Swaziland parliament and local representatives were elected. The elections were controversial as parties were not allowed to participate.

Starting position

King Mswati III rules as absolute ruler. The House of Assembly has only limited rights. The prime minister is appointed by the king, who predominantly governs by means of decrees . The status of political parties in Swaziland is unclear; Candidates were only allowed to apply as independents . The last parliamentary election took place in 2008, the legislative period lasted five years as usual. The elections were held in accordance with the 2005 constitution .

Voters had to register between May 13 and June 30, 2013. The minimum age was 18 years. 415,012 eligible voters out of around 600,000 possible voters - around 69 percent - were registered. In 2008, 88 percent of those eligible to vote had registered. Several opposition parties, such as the People's United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), Ngwane National Liberatory Congress (NNLC) and the Communist Party of Swaziland (CPS), and unions called on voters to boycott the election. The South African ruling party, the African National Congress , had called for the democratization of Swaziland in the run-up to the election.

In Swaziland there were 55 constituencies ( Tinkhundla, Singular Inkhundla ), 14 in Hhohho , 11 in Lebombo , 16 in Manzini and 14 in Shiselweni . They were divided into 385 chiefdoms ( Imiphakatsi; Singular Umphakatsi ), most of which are assigned to local traditional rulers. The cities of Manzini and Mbabane are divided into ten wards or 16 zones , which are included in the number of chiefdoms . In addition to the parliamentarians, the Constituency Headman ( Indvuna; about: "constituency chairman ") and the Constituency Executive Committee ( Bucopho; about: "constituency board") were elected.

Representatives from the Southern African Development Community Parliamentary Forum (SADC-PF) visited Swaziland the week before the primaries. They referred to the "unique" Tinkhundla system and called the electoral system "democratic".

The African Union sent an election observation delegation from September 13-25, 2013. A Commonwealth delegation was led by former Malawian President Bakili Muluzi .

procedure

The Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC, for example: " Election and Boundaries Commission ") has been responsible for the elections since 2008 . On August 3 and 4, 2013, the nominations for the area code in the 385 chiefdoms took place. For each Chiefdom , three to 20 candidates were nominated at a public meeting by pointing to them, then approving the nomination and finally at least ten people present speaking out in favor of the candidate. Several women were turned down by the local committees because they did not comply with traditional behavioral norms, for example because they had to be in mourning for two years after the death of their husband or because they wore trousers. The names of some of the other nominated candidates were missing from the EBC's candidate lists.

In the primaries on August 24 of 2013, depending were Chiefdom each a candidate for the House of Assembly and the position of the Constituency Headman after the majority vote in a secret ballot determined. According to the constitution, the candidates were not allowed to appear as party politicians. The members of the Bucopho were already elected in the primaries. The primaries lasted from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

There were irregularities in the primaries. In some cases incorrect ballot papers were printed and campaign rules were broken. In some constituencies, the election had to be canceled and repeated. The candidates for parliament and Indvuna who were successful in the primary did not begin their election campaign until after the primary, as required. They were also allowed to address political issues. Five incumbent ministers were not re-elected in the primaries.

On September 1, 2013, Mswati III declared that during a thunderstorm he had received a vision from God that Swaziland should be a "monarchical democracy". On September 14th, the deputy chairman of the CPS was arrested for calling for an election boycott.

On Friday, September 20, 2013, the actual parliamentary elections and elections for the Indvuna took place. Candidates were the winners of the primaries. The elections were also secret and lasted from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Only the candidate with the highest number of votes within the Inkhundla received a seat in the House of Assembly. In addition, ten members were appointed by the king. The Attorney-General also received a mandate.

Result

The 55 elected parliamentarians could not be assigned to any party according to the constitution. Only two incumbent ministers and twelve of the parliamentarians from the last term of office were able to keep their mandates. Only around 80,000 voters are said to have participated in the September 20th election. In 2016, no official information on the number of voters was published. One of the elected parliamentarians was the opposition union activist Jan Sithole ( Swazi Democratic Party , SWADEPA for short).

The AU observer commission criticized the vote after the election because no parties were allowed.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Elections in Swaziland 2013 ( memento of September 13, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) at EISA , accessed on September 2, 2013.
  2. ↑ partly slightly different information, about 414.704 at http://www.times.co.sz/news/118270-elections-registration-starts-tomorrow.html , accessed on June 23, 2018
  3. ↑ Swaziland: Voters' reject election registration at allafrica.com on June 21, 2013 (English), accessed on September 7, 2013.
  4. ^ Opposition calls on voters to disrupt Swaziland elections Mail & Guardian, May 13, 2013, accessed on September 4, 2013.
  5. ↑ a b Mswati declares Swaziland a monarchial democracy Mail & Guardian on September 3, 2013 (English), accessed on September 5, 2013.
  6. ↑ a b c d Notes from the government on the 2008 elections (English, PDF; 257 kB), accessed on September 4, 2013.
  7. ↑ Tinkhundla elections are democratic at times.co.sz on August 23, 2013, accessed on September 5, 2013.
  8. ↑ Information from the AU ( Memento of the original dated February 3, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English), accessed September 6, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / pa.au.int
  9. ↑ Muluzi to head Commonwealth observers in Swaziland Nyasa Times on September 13, 2013 (English), accessed on September 16, 2013.
  10. ^ Government website on the nomination process ( Memento of September 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (English).
  11. ↑ Swazi women marginalized in local politics at monitor.co.ug on August 24, 2013, accessed September 4, 2013.
  12. ↑ Swaziland: New election blunder in Swaziland at allafrica.com on August 14, 2013 (English), accessed on September 7, 2013.
  13. ↑ a b Swaziland: Swazi primary elections shambles at allafrica.com on August 25, 2013 (English; archive version ).
  14. ^ Government website on the primaries ( Memento of September 22, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (English).
  15. ↑ Election losing ministers excelled - DPM Times of Swaziland on September 15, 2013 (English), accessed on September 15, 2013.
  16. ↑ message when links.org.au (English), accessed on September 18, 2013.
  17. ^ Government website on the elections on September 20, 2013 ( Memento of September 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive ).
  18. ↑ Voters in Swaziland boycott elections for powerless parliament ( Memento from September 25, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) at newstimeafrica.com from September 23, 2013 (English).
  19. ↑ Swaziland: 2013 Election Results Still Not Known. allafrica.com from July 6, 2016 (English), accessed September 27, 2018
  20. ^ Pro-democracy activist vows to change Swazi government Business Day, September 24, 2013, accessed on September 24, 2013.
  21. ↑ African Union criticises Swazi elections at allafrica.com on September 23, 2013, accessed on September 24, 2013.