Swazi king promises democracy

LANGKAWI – Swaziland’s King Mswati III, Africa’s last absolute monarch, said yesterday that he was working to ensure democracy and reduce rampant poverty in his agriculture-dependent country, despite long-running criticism about his political and financial policies.

Mswati, who had faced growing domestic and foreign pressure in recent years to relax his grip on his kingdom, confirmed that Swaziland no longer banned political parties after a constitution adopted last year. Mswati said: “This constitution was a result of many people participating.”He was speaking with the media on the sidelines of an economic gathering of African and Asian leaders in Malaysia.He said: “The people are the ones who decided the structure as it is.There is no ban on political parties.”Swaziland had been ruled by royal decree since a state of emergency was declared in 1973, after the late King Sobhuza II outlawed political parties.The new constitution had been considered vague about whether it allowed political organisations to function because it still did not allow parliamentary candidates to run as members of political parties.Swaziland’s pro-democracy movement had stepped up its push for multiparty elections.Demonstrators led a strike last month that nearly paralysed the important sugar refining industry in this landlocked country of one million people.Activists had also objected to Mswati’s economic policies, including plans to tax pensions.Mswati, who ascended the throne in 1986, had been criticised for his lavish spending, his love of luxury cars and the palaces that housed his 13 wives in a nation, where an estimated 70% of the population lived in poverty.More than two-thirds of Swaziland’s people lived in rural areas that were often ravaged by drought and crop failures.Nampa-APMswati said: “This constitution was a result of many people participating.”He was speaking with the media on the sidelines of an economic gathering of African and Asian leaders in Malaysia.He said: “The people are the ones who decided the structure as it is.There is no ban on political parties.”Swaziland had been ruled by royal decree since a state of emergency was declared in 1973, after the late King Sobhuza II outlawed political parties.The new constitution had been considered vague about whether it allowed political organisations to function because it still did not allow parliamentary candidates to run as members of political parties.Swaziland’s pro-democracy movement had stepped up its push for multiparty elections.Demonstrators led a strike last month that nearly paralysed the important sugar refining industry in this landlocked country of one million people.Activists had also objected to Mswati’s economic policies, including plans to tax pensions.Mswati, who ascended the throne in 1986, had been criticised for his lavish spending, his love of luxury cars and the palaces that housed his 13 wives in a nation, where an estimated 70% of the population lived in poverty.More than two-thirds of Swaziland’s people lived in rural areas that were often ravaged by drought and crop failures.Nampa-AP