SANF23 no 22 – By Clarkson Mambo
The Kingdom of Eswatini will hold general elections on 29 September 2023 to elect parliamentarians, heads of constituencies and councillors.
Elections in the kingdom are unique as they are not based on political party affiliation, with participation based on nomination or invitation to serve “on the basis of being known to that community”, according to the kingdom’s election management body, the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC).
Out of a population of nearly 1.2 million people, 583,177 are registered to vote in the polls.
The EBC has said 664 polling stations will be set up across 59 constituencies in the four regions of the country where members of the Parliament and heads of constituencies known locally as Indvuna ye Inkhundla are directly elected.
King Mswati III dissolved Parliament on 11 July 2023 to facilitate the election of new representatives for a new five-year term.
According to the 2005 Constitution of Eswatini, the Parliament is bicameral with a Senate made up of not more than 31 members, 20 of whom are appointed by the King, while the National Assembly appoints 10.
The National Assembly is made up of not more than 76 parliamentarians, of whom 59 are directly elected using the first past the post electoral system. The King also appoints the Prime Minister who is chosen from the National Assembly.
Under the system of governance used in Eswatini called Tinkhundla, candidates in the elections are shortlisted in the 336 chiefdoms. Inkhundla or Tinkhundla is a Swati name for a constituency or constituencies.
Each chiefdom is required to nominate between four and 10 candidates for each category to make up the total of 59 Members of Parliament and 59 Indvuna ye Inkhundla.
After the nomination process is concluded, primary elections are held at the chiefdom level by secret ballot to elect one candidate who will take part in the secondary election at the constituency level.
Several chiefdoms make up a parliamentary constituency.
Before the secondary election is held, the candidates from each chiefdom are given equal opportunities in all the chiefdoms in that constituency to address the voters on various aspects of development and issues of national interest to canvass for votes.
To complete the selection process, candidates from chiefdoms that make up a constituency will contest against each other in the 29 September general elections.
The Indvuna ye Inkhundla report to the four regional administrators, while the Members of Parliament are political representatives of the constituency in the House of Assembly.
The EBC has said recent legislative changes will see chiefdom councillors known as Bucopho also being elected during the secondary elections. Previously their election was finalised at the primary election level.
Bucopho are part of the executive committee of an Inkhundla and are responsible for its general administration.
Ahead of the polls, King Mswati III urged the citizens to vote for people who are development orientated.
“I hope you will also elect people of noble character and integrity, who will have the heart of the nation and uphold our integrity as a nation,” he said.
Eswatini has faced security challenges, characterised by sporadic protests in the past two years.
The protesters are demanding a change of the system of governance to bring the monarchy to an end, as well as recognition of opposition parties. Participation of opposition parties in Eswatini politics was changed in 1973 by then monarch, King Sobhuza II, who is the father to King Mswati III. The system has remained in place since then.
In response to the security challenges, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has urged the government of Eswatini to initiate a national dialogue, which King Mswati III has promised will begin after conclusion of the elections.
Ahead of the vote, regional election pre-assessment teams from the Electoral Commissions Forum of SADC (ECF-SADC) and the SADC Electoral Advisory Council (SEAC) visited Eswatini to evaluate the readiness for polls.
The ECF-SADC team, which was led by Commissioner Wendy Didon of Electoral Commissions of Seychelles, visited from 14-20 May 2023, while SEAC, led by its deputy chairperson and former chair of the Electoral Commission of Namibia, Advocate Notemba Tjipueja, was in the kingdom from 31 May to 7 June 2023.
The SEAC is mandated to advise SADC member states on matters pertaining to elections, democracy and good governance, while the ECF-SADC supports its members, who are national election commissions, and encourages the creation of an environment conducive to the holding of free, fair and credible elections.
The SADC Electoral Observation Mission (SEOM) to the Eswatini general elections will commence its work on 22 September until 5 October 2023.
Chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, who is the President of Zambia, Hakainde Hichilema appointed Enock Kavindele, a former Vice President of Zambia as the head of the SEOM for Eswatini.
In the last elections held in 2018, the SEOM applauded the kingdom for holding elections in a peaceful environment which was in line with the country’s constitution and the guiding legal framework.
One area identified for improvement at the time, which has been adopted this year, is the counting of ballot papers at the polling station where they would have been cast.
“Unlike in previous years where votes had to be transported to one polling station for counting, this year ballot papers will be counted at each polling station, and the figures will later be consolidated,” said Mbuso Dlamini, the legal advisor for the EBC.
Eswatini is one of the four SADC member states holding elections in this year, including Zimbabwe which held its polls in August, Madagascar in November and the Democratic Republic of Congo in December. sardc.net
