THE President of Swaziland’s People’s United Democratic Movement (Puderno) has withdrawn from a committee set up to write the country’s Constitution.
Mario Masuku listed seven demands to be met among them the lifting of a 1973 decree which bans political parties from operating in Swaziland before he would rejoin the talks. The existence of Puderno is currently illegal.
The committee met for the first time last week to map a programme of action according to terms of reference set out by Attorney General Sipho Zwane.
The committee has been given enormous powers to prosecute anyone who dares to “belittle” or “insult” it including the authority to impose fines of E5 000 (R5 000) or five years’ imprisonment or both.
The Swaziland Democratic Alliance (SDA), a group of political organisations, trade unions and other civic groups advocating for change, has said the law is meant to intimidate people.
SDA Secretary General Jerry Nxumalo said: “People will now be afraid to submit to the committee because of this threat. You will never know what will insult the commissioners, so it will be better not to say anything.”
Dr Jerry Gule, secretary general of the Institute for Democracy and Leadership (Ideal), and also a member of the commission, also expressed his dissatisfaction in the way that the terms of reference were drawn up.
“Ideal feels that the approach being adopted by those so far who have been handling the process is creating unnecessary stumbling blocks. For the process to be transparent and legitimate the views of all the stakeholders in and outside the commission should be accommodated,” he said.
The 30-person team, announced by King Mswati III in July, was given two years to draw up a Constitution for Swaziland.