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Voters in Eswatini cast their ballots on Friday (yesterday) for legislative elections taking place in Africa’s last absolute monarchy. The 500,000 registered voters will select 59 members of the lower house of parliament.
Voters in Eswatini cast their ballots on Friday (yesterday) for legislative elections taking place in Africa’s last absolute monarchy. The 500,000 registered voters will select 59 members of the lower house of parliament. The role of the elected representatives is to advise King Mswati III. The monarch wields absolute power and political parties are banned.
The votes were cast in a peaceful manner according to reports. In 2021, there were violent outbursts of people seeking the introduction of democracy in the country, which was earlier known as Swaziland. Those were repressed using violent means, which caused the loss of lives of close to 50 people. The candidates running were nominated by traditional chiefs close to the king. Most remain loyal to King Mswati.
The opposition believes the results, to be announced within a few days, to be a foregone conclusion. They express their awkward situation of obeying orders from the King without any right to dissent. In private, they admit that they live in a dictatorship regime, where there is no freedom of expression. None of the eligible persons to vote take elections seriously since they believe that the elected representatives have any serious responsibilities except obeying and implementing King’s orders.
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https://trendsnafrica.com/the-kingdom-of-eswatini-to-hold-parliamentary-elections/
https://trendsnafrica.com/taiwan-president-in-eswatini/
Poverty persists in the southern African country where youth unemployment rates are particularly high. In 2021, overall unemployment was at 33.3% and youth unemployment for those aged between 15 to 24 was at 59.1%.
