/ 14 October 1998

Calls for Swazi election boycott rising

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Wednesday 10.15pm.

OPPOSITION-allied Swaziland Solidarity Network on Wednesday asked for South Africa to mediate the rising tension in Swaziland ahead of Friday’s parliamentary vote, amid rumours of human rights violations by Swazi troops and a crackdown on opposition leaders.

Earlier on Wednesday the People’s United Democratic Movement (Pudemo), Swazi’s strongest opposition party, claimed that police raided the homes of pro-democracy activists on Tuesday morning. Pudemo president Mario Masuku claimed that his house was among the ones raided and that Masuku said that 50 heavily armed police and soldiers burst into his home and searched all of his rooms but found nothing incriminating.

SNN chairman Solly Mapaila on Wednesday added the organisation’s voice to the call of opposition leaders for a boycott of Friday’s parliamentary elections in which Swazis cast their ballots under a system that bans political parties. Opposition leaders are calling for the 25-year ban on political parties to be lifted before elections are held. They claim the elections are toothless because only candidates approved by King Mswati III can be appointed to Parliament.

The SNN called for the release of Swaziland Youth Congress members arrested for opposing the elections, the establishment of a national forum and an interim government. “We will not recognise the outcome of Friday’s elections. It is the responsibility of all to ensure that this sham election and the undemocratic system is exposed and condemned,” said Mapaila. “If these demands are not met, it is our view that Swaziland is heading down the road that Lesotho has just passed.”

Swazi police, however, denied that the raids were aimed at opposition party members and said they were part of routine raids to confiscate unlicensed firearms and drugs.