Prime Minister Cleopas Dlamini has dismissed talk of an interim eSwatini government while the country’s feuding parties dialogue to resolve a festering political crisis in the tiny southern African kingdom.
Addressing journalists in Mbabane on Wednesday, Dlamini said eSwatini’s governance structures would remain in place as the country embarked on a national dialogue to end skirmishes between government forces and pro-democracy activists.
“We have heard that some people are agitating for the formation of an interim Government. Eswatini is a sovereign State, with a legally constituted governance structure headed by His Majesty the King and assisted by the three arms of government, namely the Executive, Legislature & Judiciary,” Dlamini said.
He said all the structures “will remain functional for dialogue to take place unconditionally.”
“Under no circumstances can an interim government, therefore, be formed and any such assertion is misplaced and has no basis in fact and in law.”
He said the country’s constitution was still effective and operative, and would “neither be suspended nor set aside even as the dialogue process begins.”
The national dialogue is part of a Southern African Development Community-mediated process aimed at finding common ground between the government and protesters who are clamouring for political reforms in the kingdom.
The clashes have seen scores of protesters killed and several others arrested since July.
JN/APA