/ 9 November 2000

SWAZILAND BRACES FOR STRIKES

SWAZILAND’S three most powerful labour unions have called for a two day general strike next week to force the kingdom ‘s monarchist government to accept pro-democracy political reforms. The strike on November 13 and 14 is the latest protest in an escalating public campaign designed to force absolute monarch King Mswati III to repeal a 1997 royal decree banning political parties. Swaziland’s Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU) also instructed its attorneys to lodge an urgent High Court application against government after nine senior leaders were detained for eight hours at a police roadblock near the capital Mbabane. – African Eye News Service

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