Swazi MPS snub cabinet in vote

FOLLOWING a ruling by the International Court of Arbitration in favour of MTN Swaziland, the country’s House of Assembly this week took the historic step of passing a vote of no confidence on the cabinet.

The rebellion by the house, which is widely considered a rubber-stamp body for King Mswati and his cabinet, followed the International Court of Arbitration ruling on August 4 that the Swaziland Posts and Telecommunications Corporation should discontinue its nextgeneration network. This was after MTN complained that the network’s products were in violation of a joint venture agreement the companies entered into in 1997.

In line with the ruling, the cabinet ordered the corporation to switch off its Fixedfone service and data components, leaving many users with expensive but useless gadgets.

In a meeting on Wednesday, Manzini South MP Thandi Nxumalo led the unprecedented action, resulting in 42 members voting against the king. Six opposed the motion.

The decision to end part of the corporation’s network has hit many Swazis hard. The phone system, known as waya-waya, was popular and cheap at R100 a month.

Political observers said yesterday the phone issue was the latest in a long line of controversial executive decisions. Many MPs have long blamed the cabinet’s mismanagement of the dwindling economy for rising prices and unemployment.

According to the constitution, the king should dissolve parliament if three-fifths of the house supports a no-confidence vote. At midnight on Wednesday, Prime Minister Sibusiso Barnabas Dlamini called a press conference to say the cabinet would not stand down. Attorney-general Majahenkhaba Dlamini said the vote was null and void because the decision to close the corporation’s services had not been taken by the cabinet.