Parly failing the people
D Owe still have a Parliament? I mean a Parliament whose duty is to act as overseer for government and ensure that the Executive arm sticks to its mandate.
Alternatively, maybe one should ask if Parliament has been neutralised.
Recent events suggest that Members of Parliament ( MPs) have become sitting ducks, just waiting for things to happen to them. Most, if not all of them, have decided to avoid rubbing the Executive arm of government the wrong way. They are also careful about what they say in the August House. It appears that the arrest of Hosea MP Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Ngwempisi’sz Mthandeni Dube has instilled fear among their colleagues. Suddenly, when interviewed, some MPs want to speak on condition of anonymity, in fear of the unknown. Could that explain why Prime Minister Cleopas Dlamini was able to avoid the debate of his ministerial statement on Thursday? Mind you, this was the new PM’s first ever ministerial statement and about 40 members had indicated that they wanted to respond.
When t he House of Assembly adjourned on Wednesday, at least 17 members still had to debate the ministerial statement.
They were hopeful that come Thursday, they would get their chance to do so. However, the PM did not show up. What made matters worse was that there was no clear explanation regarding his absence from the house. Instead, members spent the entire afternoon waiting for him to make an appearance, having been assured by Speaker Petros Mavimbela that Dlamini would be coming in anytime.
The mere fact that the Speaker kept assuring the MPs that the PM would be coming suggests that even the presiding officer himself was in the dark as to the reason for Dlamini’s noshow. That cannot be right. The world over, the office of Speaker of the House is respected by members of both the Executive and the Legislative arms of government.
That is why in some countries, if for some reason, the President or Prime Minister is unable to perform his duties, the Speaker takes over as head of government. In this particular case, however, Speaker Mavimbela had obviously not been properly briefed about the PM’s whereabouts. That is why he assured members that Dlamini was coming.
The men and women known as ` honourable members’ kept themselves busy with other items on the Order Paper until they came to the very last part. Only then, did it become apparent that the prime minister was not coming. The long and short of it is that not only did the PM fail to properly report to the Speaker that he would be absent but he also kept honourable members waiting for him. That cannot be acceptable.
Even at kindergarten, the little boys and girls are properly informed if their teacher will not be coming on a particular day.
They are then told what the alternative will be, in terms of a substitute teacher or what they should be doing in the meantime. This is called respect.
It is worse in politics because the PM should be accountable to Parliament and not the other way round.
Come to think of it, isn’t it too early for the PM to portray himself as someone who has no regard for Parliament? He has only been in office for a couple of weeks, for crying out loud. Even the congratulatory messages welcoming him to this office are still flowing in.
They do say first impressions last. If this is the first impression the PM wants us to have of him, what will happen once he has fully settled in?
Among the things Dlamini had said in his ministerial statement was that the arrest of MPs Bacede and Mthandeni was not politically motivated.
MPs like Timothy Myeni of Nkilongo had indicated that they wanted to say a few things on that score. We all know that Myeni is one of the MPs who have decided to join calls for change in Eswatini.
These calls have been spearheaded by the incarcerated MPs and their colleague Mduduzi ` Gawuzela’ Simelane. They have suggested that, like in many other countries, the PM in Eswatini should be elected, as opposed to being appointed.
It has always been the norm in Eswatini for authorities to avoid discussing issues that are still in court by saying, “That issue is still sub judice.”
The PM would not have been wrong to show up in Parliament and say just that. After all, it has always been said that there should be no interference of one arm of government in the functions of another.
The legislature should not be seen to be interfering in the functions of the judiciary – and vice versa. It got worse when Government Spokesman Sabelo Dlamini was contacted by journalists after the House sitting and he said the PM “had to attend to urgent State duties and reported to the Speaker accordingly.” If the PM reported to the Speaker accordingly, why was Mavimbela frustrated by his absence? Why did the Speaker assure members that the PM would come? The late Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini was known as a hard nut to crack.
Once he had made a decision, it was almost impossible to make him change his mind. We saw this even when there was a vote of no confidence in his government in 2012. He did not avoid Parliament sittings just because there were burning issues he had to deal with. He confronted them headon.
That is what we expect from politicians. That said, I found it interesting that most members of the House of Assembly were content with proceeding with other business as if all was well, yet thousands of voters in Hosea, Ngwempisi and Siphofaneni were not represented.
One MP wanted Deputy Prime Minister Themba Masuku to explain what strategies government had in place to fight genderbased violence. This is Lubombo Region MP Lorraine Nxumalo who has probably not heard of the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence ( SODV) Act of 2018, which came with very stiff fines for such offences.