Let’s Ponder On This

Sswazinews@times.co.sz

everyone should agree that change, whether political, economic or social, has to happen at a particular juncture of every country’s existence. How this change is supposed to occur is what everyone needs to talk about and agree on. The Kingdom of Eswatini is at that stage. Should we go for incremental change, where we seek to achieve massive changes by implementing small changes slowly over time? Or, should we resort to radical (big bang!) change that will turn everything upside down and introduce new ways of doing things everywhere?

The different political parties have made their views known. Even though they are all part of the Political Parties Assembly (PPAs), under which they are meant to speak in one voice and present a united view of what they envisage the future of Eswatini should be like, the political organisations are clearly failing to reach a consensus. Some favour incremental change while others prefer taking the radical route. For instance, some want to maintain the monarchy as head of State but without the powers he currently enjoys and for the adoption of a multi-party system of government. Others want the monarchy to be dethroned and for the country to be turned into a republic with a president as head of State.

URELY, CHANGE

There are those who want the change to be negotiated through an all-inclusive dialogue and there are others who are advocating for an armed struggle to bring about the change they want.

Radical changes were witnessed during the ‘Arab Spring’ uprisings that took place in the Middle East and north Africa. But did they bring about the desired changes? Did they fulfil the aspirations of the people? Tunisia and Egypt are some of the notable countries in this regard. Political risk analyst, Daniel Wagner argued in an article he wrote after the uprisings that not much changed, rather figureheads were removed. He noted that the fundamental elements and people in charge of the governing system that were in place prior to the change have remained in place and the aspirations of the Egyptian and Tunisian people were thwarted. He said even though some among them may want to believe something really changed, the reality was quite the contrary. He said in Tunisia the frustration levels were higher now than they were before Ben Ali was removed as president and in Egypt, before Hosni Mubarak was ousted. What he further noted was that in the case of Egypt, many citizens realised that their efforts led to either a military-led government protecting the status quo or a radical