PRO-MONARCHY MOVEMENT FORMED, WANTS CHANGE
September 6 Movement calls for amendment of Constitution, election of PM Believes in existence of monarchy, to push for reforms in lawful, peaceful manner It won’t work - Mangololo; we also don’t subscribe to violence - EFF Swaziland
MBABANE – A new pro-monarchy movement advocating for political reforms has been formed.
This is according to local businessman Sabelo Nxumalo, who is currently at the forefront of the movement; which has been named September 6 Movement. Speaking on behalf of the movement, Nxumalo mentioned that they were a group of ordinary citizens who were not politically affiliated but subscribed to the notion that there needs to be political change through the rule of law. They aim to formulate ways to compel Parliament to revisit the Constitution and do amendments that would foster positive political change. Nxumalo said this would obviously not be an easy task but everything had to start somewhere. “We believe that the push by prochange movements is getting to a point where it is dangerous and if they are using violence to achieve their goals, it is not in the spirit of our independence attained on September 6, 1968 and that is where we are and we use Independence Day as our rallying call,” said Nxumalo.
Pivotal
According to Nxumalo, the existence of the monarchy was pivotal and in their view, they did not believe that emaSwati should go in a direction that resulted in the mornachy being superseded. He said the monarchy played a huge role in society as custodians of Eswatini culture and customs and it was also a symbol of unity that needed to be preserved and protected. Nxumalo stated that as a movement, they had realised that some of the political formations pushing for change did not want the existence of the monarchy, however, they still believed in its existence. He further said all they wanted was political change through the appropriate channels
September 6 Movement member Sabelo Nxumalo. which was aligned with the spirit of the Constitution in that they were simply exercising their right to freedom of expression by wanting amendments through parliamentary forums, such as the election of the prime minister by the people, instead of an official appointment by the Monarch.
He stated that they still needed to consolidate properly as members of the movement before they could launch and register it, which would possibly be done before October 4, 2021, which will be 16 years since the Constitution of the country was enacted. He also mentioned that this day could possibly be the day when they would mobilise in order to carry out the activities currently in the pipeline.
Nxumalo was adamant that their movement was built on honesty hence, although they were pro-monarchy, they saw a need to bolster political change and not turn a blind eye on the prevailing situation in the country. The movement aims to use peaceful and lawful activities to compel Parliament to start the constitutional amendment process. According to Nxumalo, they subscribed to Christian values and would appreciate if the Christian fraternity would lead the way in the political reforms. The movement aims at approaching the political reforms in a peaceful and non-confrontational way.
Changes
He further highlighted that as citizens of the country, they had a duty to take necessary steps to ensure political changes were made through the rightful processes as at the end of the day, all citizens were responsible for what happened in the country they considered their own.
“At the moment, we have about 30 people who have joined the movement. However, I would like to request to withhold the names of the members