Parly could be dissolved in 2 months
MBABANE – Members of Parliament (MPs) have just fewer than two and half months to conclude their business before His Majesty dissolves the 11th Parliament.
The MPs are currently conducting the 5th session of their legislative business, which is the last leg of their reign as parliamentarians since 2018.
The Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) has announced dates for the 2023 general election and, therefore, His Majesty King Mswati III is expected to dissolve the current Parliament to make way for new legislators.
EBC Chairperson Prince Mhlabuhlangene announced that the election process will resume in the next three days and will run until June 14, 2023.
He further announced that a voter validation process will run from June 22 to July 12, 2023.
He said the nomination process was expected to take place in July 22 and 23. It is a norm that by the time the nomination process starts, Parliament had to be dissolved.
Section 133 (4) states that whenever Parliament was dissolved a general election of the elected members of the House shall be held within sixty days of the date of dissolution and a session of Parliament shall be appointed to commence within thirty days of the date of that general election.
ELECTED
Section 136 (1) also states that a general election of elected members of the House shall be held at such time within sixty days after every dissolution of Parliament, as the King shall appoint by proclamation published in the Gazette.
Subsection 2 provides that, subject to the provisions of the constitution, Parliament may enact laws for the conduct of elections and the qualification of voters.
It is worth mentioning that the current Parliament session has the task of passing into law the 2023 Elections Bill, which is yet to be tabled in the House.
The process of dissolving Parliament requires that the King call the nation for Sibaya where the parliamentarians would be relieved of their duties.
With the nomination dates announced to be July 22 and 23 His Majesty was expected to call the nation anytime from now.
The chairperson said only His Majesty King Mswati III could determine the date of dissolution of parliament.
Prince Mhlabuhlangene was asked to clarify the status of Parliament, regarding the duration of the MPs term of office in light of the announced dates. He said the commission was not in a position to respond to questions on issues of the dissolution as they were enshrined in the Constitution of the country.
BLESSED
“As the elections commission we are only glad that His Majesty blessed the dates for us and all other things can and will be dealt with by the relevant structures as instructed by the supreme law of the country.
“As a commission, we can only shout Bayethe for the dates and begin to work.
“Yes the question is pertinent as we have already announced the dates but I am sure you are aware of the procedures too,” he said.
The chairperson said EBC was ready to host the national elections and all systems were in place.
He encouraged people to registered so that they could be able a part of the re-building of the nation.
The country is expected to host its 3rd national election process under the 2005 Constitution and 8th since King Mswati III ascended the throne in 1986.
This year’s national election will be the 9th under the Tinkhundla System of Governance which was introduced in 1978 and the 10th after the country received independence from the British in 1968.
The 2023 national elections has arguably toppled the calls for democratic change and the dialogue as the most talked about topic in the political circles over the past month.
Before the constitution was enacted into the supreme law, the country appointed its legislators through an electoral collage process which was led by an appointed electoral officer.