PRO-DEMOCRACY groups in Swaziland on Saturday rejected a commission’s conclusion that the country’s citizens were in favour of extending the already sweeping powers of King Mswati III. Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU) secretary general Jan Sithole said a report by the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) — which spent four years canvassing people on changes to the basic law — reflected dated views. King Mswati III released the CRC report on Friday, telling his fellow countrymen that he would set up a commission to draft a new constitution for the tiny mountain kingdom of one million people wedged between Mozambique and South Africa. The CRC report recommended that the 33-year-old monarch’s powers be further extended. Sithole said the views expressed in the CRC report were not in line with global thought, or with pro-democracy groups who believed that citizens are not enjoying basic rights. Mswati announced the commission’s “findings” at an ill-attended “meeting of the nation” on Friday. – AFP