It is a known fact that genuine democratic elections are an expression of sovereignty, which belongs to the people of a country, the free expression will provide the basis for the authority and legitimacy of a government.
The rights of citizens to vote and to be elected at periodic, genuine democratic elections are internationally recognised human rights. Genuine democratic elections serve to resolve peacefully the competition for political power within a country and thus are central to the maintenance of peace and stability. Where governments are legitimised through genuine elections, the scope for non-democratic challenges to power is reduced. The SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections provide a useful set of standards to judge whether a particular country has conducted elections that are free, fair and credible. They reflect universally accepted standards for free and fair elections and state that they are based on standards contained in various regional and international instruments such as the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and the human rights documents of the United Nations. It also includes the African Union Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance. They also provide guidelines for observation of elections in all member states.
What is contained on the principles governing democratic elections and its implications on Eswatini elections? The introduction to the SADC Principles postulates that the constitutions of all SADC member states enshrine the principles of equal opportunities and full participation of the citizens in the political process. However, in the constitution of Eswatini these principles are not reflected. For example, section 79 of the Constitution states that elections is based on individual merit. The SADC Principles set out the responsibilities of SADC member states holding elections. The states must do the following:
Take measures to ensure the “scrupulous implementation” of these democratic election principles; Eswatini has not aligned its laws fully to SADC standards.
Establish impartial, all-inclusive, competent and accountable national electoral bodies staffed by qualified personnel; In Eswatini the Elections Management body does not require Parliament vetting, hence, it was previously led by a chief and now a prince.
Safeguard human and civil liberties of all citizens, including the freedom of movement, assembly, association, expression.
Stakeholders
Campaigning and access to the media on the part of all stakeholders, during electoral processes;
Provide adequate resources for carrying out democratic elections; there is no mechanism to assist candidates with resources in Eswatini.
Ensure that adequate security is provided to all parties participating in elections;
Ensure the transparency and integrity of the entire electoral process by facilitating the deployment of representatives of political parties and individual candidates at polling and counting stations and by accrediting national and other observers/monitors.
Section 2 of the SADC Principles provides that SADC member states shall adhere to certain principles in the conduct of democratic elections, namely:
Full participation of citizens in the political process; in Eswatini political parties are excluded.
Freedom of association; political parties and emaswati in political institutions in Eswatini are not enjoying this right, as also reflected in the African Union 2018 elections observation report.
Political tolerance; the security organs do not offer protection to members of political parties.
Regular intervals for elections as provided for by the respective national constitutions; Eswatini fully comply with this with this principle.
Equal opportunity for all political parties to access the state media; political parties in Eswatini are excluded. Also to note the state media,radio and television, are not allowed to interview members of Parliament because the Executive, which is largely unelected, decided that members of Parliament should not enjoy state media because they use it to campaign for next elections. Ironically, Cabinet ministers, who are elected, enjoy this right.
Equal opportunity to exercise the right to vote and be voted for; Former member of Parliament Hon Timothy Myeni was deprived the right to vote and be voted and Senator Hon Mkhululi Dlamini was also denied, as there was a dispute where he was registered.
Independence of the judiciary and impartiality of the electoral institution; the Judiciary and EBC independence is questionable. However, EBC has tried its best to perform is functions professionally, regardless of its limitations.
Voter education; the Elections and Boundary Commission conducted public education in constituencies few months in 2023. Even then, only a few people turned up and the sessions were limited by time to have a meaningful impact to the voters.
Acceptance and respect of the election results by political parties proclaimed to have been free and fair by the competent national electoral authorities in accordance with the law of the land;
The ability to challenge the election results as provided for in the law of the land. In Eswatini some of the disputes during the Primary are still not yet resolved.