SADC post elections review for Eswatini

MBABANE – Ahead of the national elections next year, the Southern Africa Development Community Electoral Advisory Council (SEAC) is undertaking a post elections review for Eswatini.

Justice Dorothy Alethea DeGabriele, who is the Chairperson of the SEAC, said the review was an exercise meant to establish whether the 2018 findings and recommendations of the SADC Electoral Observation Mission (SEOM), had been implemented by the Government of Eswatini and the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC).

Justice DeGabriele said during the review, the council would be meeting or have met with different stakeholders including the media, Cabinet ministers, the EBC, the Council of Swaziland Churches and others.

Yesterday, the council met with the Ministry of Tinkhundla Administration and Development, Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and members of the different media houses.

The council met with the different Cabinet ministers in private meetings and later on met with the media.

Others who were present during the meeting included Professor Mpho Molomo, who is the Botswana Representative to the SEAC; Head of Elections Magabolle Mafiri, who represents the SADC Secretariat and others.

During their meeting with the media, the council engaged the representatives from the media in a range of subjects in relation to the elections.

Questions asked by the council to the media included if they had noted any improvements made by the government in terms of promoting women participation in the general elections. The media was asked about the challenges they encountered when covering the elections in 2018.

Elections

The council further asked the media if the 2018 elections were fairly and freely conducted, based on their observations, as people who were on the ground covering those elections in the different parts of the country.

Members of the media were also asked if they had challenges in terms of censorship during their reporting.

They were also asked if they were able to balance the two political sides, being the government and the political activists.

In response, the media representatives were all in one accord that they were able to cover the elections freely without any restrictions. The media told the council that as far as the 2018 elections were concerned, they were free and fair.

Media

The media personnel also stated that various media houses had principles guiding them when reporting in order to avoid inciting.

They stated that they were all guided by ethics. They also told the council that government had promoted women participation in the elections without discrimination. They also stated that in their different media houses, they had quite a fair representation of women who even held managerial positions.

The journalists also stated that whatever information they required was made available to them.

The SADC Elections Observation Mission Final Interim Statement issued its report statement on September 21, 2018 on the country’s general elections.

According to the statement, the mission observed that although there were measures meant to increase the representation of women in the House of Assembly, it was noted that women participation and representation remained low. The mission further noted stakeholders’ concerns that there are a number of cultural practices that affect the equal participation of women in the electoral process, particularly during the campaign period.

Mission

The mission observed that there was no code of conduct outlining the norms, regulations and responsibilities of the media during elections, and that there was limited capacity among media practitioners to report on the electoral processes.

The mission further observed that although the courts did adjudicate on electoral disputes, there was no specialised tribunal for the speedy resolution of electoral grievances.

“Further, our mission observed that there are no specific time limits within which electoral disputes must be disposed of,” read the statement.

In light of the above observations, and considering the issues highlighted by the various stakeholders, the SEOM proposed some recommendations for the improvement of the electoral process in Eswatini.

These recommendations included encouraging the EBC and government to amend the Voter Registration Act to enable continuous voter registration.

It further recommended that there was need to continue to promote gender parity in political and electoral processes in order to enhance the equal participation of women.

The mission advised the EBC and government to implement polling station-based counting of ballot papers in order to enhance electoral security and transparency.

It was recommended that there was a need for an Electoral Code of Conduct for the media, and the enhancement of media capacity to report on electoral issues.

On the elections disputes, government and the Judicial Services Commission were encouraged to consider the establishment of special tribunals that would deal with electoral disputes.