APA-Mbabane (Eswatini) Southern African Development Community (SADC) Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation chairperson Hakainde Hichilema has appointed former Zambian vice president Enock Kavindele to head the SADC election observer mission to observe Eswatini’s polls set for September 29.
In a statement on Friday, SADC said Kavindele landed in Mbabane on Thursday and immediately met with acting Eswatini Foreign Affairs Minister Lady Howard Mabuza and deputy police chief Manoma Vusie Masango.
He is expected to officially launch the SADC election observation mission (SEOM) in Mbabane on Friday “to raise awareness of the key activities for the SEOM which will be deployed to all four regions of the Kingdom of Eswatini to observe the pre, election, and post-election phases.”
“The mission will assess the conduct of the elections against a set of principles stipulated in the Revised SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections of 2021, which include, amongst others, full participation of the citizens in the democratic and development processes, measures to prevent political violence, intimidation and intolerance, equal opportunity for all political parties to access the state media as well as access to information by all citizens, and acceptance of and respect for the election results by all candidates,” the statement said.
Around 600,000 of the mountain kingdom’s 1.1 million people are expected to vote in the polls on September 29.
Eswatini’s system of government is based on its own Tinkhundla system of democracy. Inkhundla or Tinkhundla is a Swati name for a constituency.
The House of Assembly consists of 59 elected seats and up to 10 chosen by the king.
The 59 elected Members of Parliament (MPs) are elected in a two-round system, with primary elections held in each of the 385 chiefdoms to choose a candidate for the secondary election.
In the secondary election, the 385 chiefdoms are divided into 59 constituencies, with winners of the first round of voting contesting as independent candidates in the constituencies under which their chiefdoms fall.
Candidates with the majority votes become the winners and MPs.
King Mswati III nominates a further 10, bringing the total number of MPs to 69. He also appoints the prime minister.
The electoral system is one of the issues behind deadly protests in Africa’s last absolute monarch in June 2021 when pro-democracy activists took to the streets to demand political reforms.
Over 1,000 people were arrested and security forces were called in to stamp out dissent.
Zambian President Hichilema currently chairs the SADC organ that is responsible for handling peace and security issues across the region.
JN/APA