MANZINI – It was a smooth special voting exercise yesterday, with some electorate wondering who the prime minister would vote for.
“Who are the lucky candidates?” was the question that was asked by some electorate, upon catching sight of the Prime Minister (PM), Cleopas Sipho Dlamini, casting his votes yesterday. The PM voted under Madlangampisi Constituency at the SEDCO pavilion, at the Mavuso Trade and Exhibition Centre, where the special voting took place yesterday. He was welcomed by the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) Deputy Chairperson, Sipho Tembe and Chief Mawandla Gamedze, among others.
Attendance
He first signed the attendance register and was number 60. At around 10:20am, the PM cast his votes. He was appreciated by the electorate under his constituency, who felt he was a good leader and led by example. Interviewed after casting his votes, the PM said the 2023 General Elections were remarkable, as emaSwati had come out in their numbers to vote. Dlamini said emaSwati needed to elect a government of their choice, adding that in the past two years, some people had been making certain demands. “This time, emaSwati have been given a chance to choose their government, which they took advantage of.” He said their attendance showed their interest, especially because the numbers were overwhelming, yet it was just special voting.
Meanwhile, Velibanti Lukhele, who is an indvuna yenkhundla candidate under the PM’s constituency, appreciated the PM for taking part in the voting process. Lukhele said they were proud to have someone of Dlamini’s calibre voting under their constituency. Speaking about himself, Lukhele said he was nominated because he was a hard worker and liked development. He said in his priority list, he was hoping to bring water, for the people to explore commercial crops. Such, he said, would develop the constituency. Also, he stated that they would like to have a one-stop-shop at the constituency, to issue identity documents and birth certificates. Musa Simelane, a bucopho candidate under Madlangampisi Constituency, said they were humbled to have the PM voting under their constituency. Simelane said if elected, he would be serving his third term and still felt he had some projects to take forward. These projects, he said, included a bridge construction through the assistance of Micro-Projects.