Senate president asks diplomats to help silence guns
LOBAMBA – Senate President Pastor Lindiwe Dlamini has requested envoys accredited to the country to add their voice to the call for the ‘ silencing of guns’.
She said the diplomats should also add their voice to the call for ending all forms of violence, especially terrorism.
In her speech delivered during the official opening of the fifth session of the 11th Parliament, the senate president said development partners should also join the same call and add their voices.
“Your Majesty, it would be a disservice to you and the nation, if I do not take this opportunity to encourage our friends in the diplomatic corp and development partners to be good guests to a good host and support the kingdom in ‘ silencing the guns’,” said the senate president.
She said they also fully embraced His Majesty’s guidance that they should always continue to place the country at the forefront of all its endeavours as they built the economy.
She said it was common knowledge that 2023 ‘ is a national election year’. She trusted that emaSwati would come out in all their numbers, as in years past, to be part of the process to build their country as embodied by its very unique monarchial democracy.
The senate president said the advantage of the Tinkhundla System of Government was that candidates elected became the direct representatives of the people who voted for them to Parliament. “It is for that reason that emaSwati are encouraged to register and vote,” appealed the senate president.
Dlamini said they were well aware of the hand of God that kept locating and protecting emaSwati even in such challenging times that engulfed a multitude of countries the world over.
successful
“We remain grateful for the successful completion of all the national events, beginning with the very powerful year- end thanksgiving prayer service for 2022, to national ceremonies and finally the national prayer service for ‘ God’s guidance in the year 2023’,” she said.
She said the commencement of the fifth session occurred at a time when they were filled with hope, given His Majesty’s divine declaration that the year 2023 was a year of a ‘ turn around’ as a nation. “Your Majesty, your wise counsel, embodied in your declaration inspires us as a nation to rise above challenges of all kinds and to focus on finding solutions that will enable us to reclaim what was lost, rebuild what has been destroyed and restore peace,” she said.
She said they continued to be driven by national vision towards the country’s First World status as emaSwati could not afford to move their eyes from that goal, not even for a moment.
She mentioned that there had been 91 Bills tabled in the 11th Parliament, of which 69 were passed and only 18 proposed legislations were outstanding. She reported to the King that four Bills were withdrawn. Dlamini said 25 pieces of subordinate legislation and an equal number of international instruments were also tabled in the respective chambers of Parliament.
The president mentioned that Parliament was able to achieve all this regardless of the prevailing challenges as it was also able to successfully launch and roll out the 2022- 2026 Strategic Plan, website, and the HIV, AIDS and Wellness Strategic Plan.
She said it would be amiss of her not to mention the unfortunate and unprecedented rate of attrition of parliamentarians. She said it was indeed a very difficult and unimaginable term of Parliament.