Dawn of new era

IAFTER THOUGHTS GUESTWRITER

T’S interesting how the country’s politics take a turn with each passing week. As someone who is in the media space, I’m privy to a lot of talk, some of which is emphatically off record, about how things are likely to pen out. Being a good listener, I try not to make conclusions from a single source. In fact, it’s a dangerous game in the journalism profession.

Lately, I’ve been drawn to an assignment that was given to me by one of my Political Science lecturers at university. For some strange reason (well, not strange when considering all the political talk that has been ongoing), I’ve been mulling over it and each time I think about it, it strikes a chord. ‘Democracy, like beauty, lies in the eyes of the beholder’ was the question assignment. With those whom I’ve had the privilege to chat with regarding the political stalemate in the country, the mere mentioning of this question got them hot under the collar, or thinking out loud as I convinced myself. I will not attempt to answer this question in this platform but it could surely give insight into what we want as a country.

Democracy

One thing for sure though, democracy has its tenets on majority rule, where at the core of it all are the people who make up a State. Remember, a State is not the government. A State is made up of a government, geographic boundaries, population and sovereignty. The mushrooming of various movements and political formations that are in pursuit of the so-called democratic dispensation has made the question quite relevant at this point. We have what I term the extreme political formations in the likes of the proscribed People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), who are clear on their stance regarding the current system of governance. I will pool them with the recently formed Economic Freedom Fighters (EEF) Swaziland. Some unions have also been drawn to the political battlefield and from a layman’s perspective, they seem aligned to these political formations.

Monarchy

We then have the much talked about Mangololo Eswatini which is pro-Tinkhundla and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Mangololo sees its democracy in the current system and are happy with the status quo. They want the monarchy to continue being in place, they want the King, as per the dictates of the Constitution of Eswatini to appoint the prime minister. They are perplexed why people are making a fuss of a system where the electorate gets an opportunity to choose their Members of Parliament who will represent them in the august House. For them, that is democracy and have even gone as far as comparing it to other nations.

The other day we read about the formation of the September 6 Movement, which also wants the monarchy and still advocates for changes in our Constitution, in particular the election of the prime minister. Their ideal is based on that they want the monarchy protected from unwarranted political attacks. They were quite clear as well that they are not aligned to any political formation, but are just a group of concerned professionals. That is their democracy, which could be enhanced by a few tweaks in the Constitution. We also saw a group of about 20 individuals attempt to deliver a petition at His Majesty’s Correctional Services in Matsapha. Again, these individuals did not seem to be aligned to any political party. Well, I wouldn’t know much what they stand for, save to believe that they are part of the groups rallying behind the incarcerated Members of Parliament in Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube. Now, what does this tell us about the future of politics in this country?

It is often said if you don’t act on life, life will act on you. There have been numerous attempts in the past to compel those in power to open doors for political dialogue. But to this day, those doors have remained shut. What we are seeing now is a manifestation of this state of affairs. Some will argue that for any meaningful change to take place, it has to start somewhere, with many people sharing their views, beliefs, manifestos and whatever way forward they think will help this kingdom, while others are still wishing away any political discourse.

What I like about this new era, which has been brought by the political impasse in the country, is that each individual has been given some information to digest and possibly come up with what may work. Those who never bought into the idea of change have actually allowed the situation to act on them and for now, it has brought with it some grief through the burning of structures and targeting of pupils to take part in protests that could have been avoided. Nonetheless, we can look on the positive side and weigh the various options brought about by these new formations and see which one could possibly work for Eswatini.

This could be the tipping point for the country and there is no better time than now for the authorities to drive the political process that can bring clarity on which form of the so-called democracy is wanted by the majority. This is imperative because I can foresee a situation where opportunists who do not have an iota of care about the future of the country may hijack the process and make things worse. If some people see the calls for political change as burning of infrastructure, it’s definitely a sign that we could be headed for a more disastrous episode. All I’m saying is that this new era brought about by the establishment of the various movements should be used to our advantage in seeing the wood from the trees and taking what could work best for us. What may work for me could be dire for the next person but if we say we want to strengthen our democracy, we will let the majority rule. After all, the common goal is a better livelihood for all of us and the future generations. Let us be smart in our pursuit for change and not allow chameleons to brainwash us of what really matters.