Parliament ambushed by proposed election laws

Parliament ambushed by

proposed election laws

This is an unedited version of As I See it column article published by the Times of Swaziland on May 8, 2013.

By Vusi Sibisi

Almost five years after the last elections, parliament has been ambushed with a rung of election laws on the eve of elections slated for August this year.

The question, as I see it, is this by coincidence or by design. Here I am reminded of the immortal words of the late statesman, Mabalizandla Nhlabatsi, during the halcyon days of the Liqoqo hegemony in the mid-1980s when he cautioned fellow legislators about the pitfalls of blindly enacting laws that might one day haunt them. Indeed it is history that some of the harsh laws that were targeted at detractors of the then political status quo came back to haunt some of those who were instrumental in enacting them.

The turn-about came when the very same laws the late Nhlabatsi had warned about that had been used to incarcerate and silence opponents of the Liqoqo regime were invoked to send to prison some of the Liqoqo leaders who were instrumental in their enactment. The lessons of that episode epitomized by the wise words of the late Nhlabatsi were that law-making should not be driven by emotions to settle scores with political adversaries but should rather be informed by need.

As I see it, the rung of election laws that have been sprung on not just the legislators but on an unsuspecting electorate, may well become a minefield come election time ostensibly because they may not be well meant but aimed at manipulating the elections so that deserving candidates disliked by the leadership are ostracised from participating. Otherwise I cannot find the logic why government waited five years before enacting these laws in what now appears to be a mad rush to formalize them.

As it were the current lawmakers have registered their regrets in passing certain laws without properly scrutinizing and consulting adequately on these with the electorate. The outcomes of this were bad and unworkable laws some of which are contrary to the dictates and letter of the constitution. Yet the government has in its wisdom failed since 2008 to prepare the road-map to this year’s elections by enacting requisite legislation that is in line with the national charter, the constitution, until the last minute. Ultimately one wonders when the electorate would acclimatize these laws to comprehend what is required of it in order to be effective when faced with the ballot.

As I see it, having defied the constitution in the last elections in 2008 by going to the Hastings under the outdated and indeed unconstitutional 1992 statutes, government cannot justify its actions of flooding or rather ambushing the legislature with a rung of election laws at the eleventh hour if its actions are honourable. What would be understandable is if these laws were derived from and influenced by last year’s Sibaya or People’s Parliament. But that is not so since not a single of the four pieces of legislation currently before parliament has to do with people’s inputs at Sibaya. After all the Prime Minister will still be chosen by the king whereas the Sibaya, when calling for the dismissal of the entire Cabinet for having failed the nation, wanted to directly elect the Prime Minister.

That incumbent Prime Minister Sibusiso Barnabas Dlamini has since given a strong hint of being retained in the position is a strong indication that what the people want is not necessarily what they will get simply because they have no say in important matters of how they are and should be governed. The long and short of it as that Sibaya is, contrary to the constitution that it is the supreme policy and advisory body, is but a talk shop where people let off hot air, kutihhamula.

Indeed the point was further driven home during the recent king’s birthday celebrations in Siteki when the incumbent PM and his Cabinet were bestowed with royal honours for a job well done, a position that is contrary to the people’s views as expressed at Sibaya. It is apparent therefore that unbeknown to the nation, the outgoing Cabinet has performed beyond its mandate hence the kudos for a job well done. It is anybody’s guess if the entire Cabinet will not bounce back to form a new government after the elections. And there is absolutely nothing the people can do about this.

But, as I see it, parliament would do all of us a big favour if it can defer the four proposed election laws before it to the next government. This would allow the in-coming lawmakers ample time to scrutinize and consult with the electorate before enacting these into statutes. There is absolutely no rush to pass these laws even if they are meant to bring the process into conformity with the constitution. After all what is the constitution when it is violated at the whims of the ruling elite every time it wants to accomplish self-serving objectives.

But then again our lawmakers are not known to subscribe to high, or any, moral values. This much became apparent apropos last year’s abortive no confidence resolution on the Cabinet that the lawmakers are now sucking up to. As such what is uppermost in the minds of our legislators right now must be to please Cabinet at all costs in order to secure their hefty exit packages that they will use to obtain fat-cakes with which to buy votes. In the event they will perform their natural role of rubber stamping that which Cabinet has dictated to them, period. Hopefully the electorate has a long memory – not hunger pangs - to help and influence their votes on the day of elections by sending self-serving lawmakers to the dustbin of history by not reelecting them.