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The UK Government has called for political parties to be un-banned in Swaziland and for them to be allowed to contest national elections next year.
UK Foreign Office Minister Mark Simmonds told the House of Commons yesterday (30 October 2012), the 'UK continues to urge the Government there [Swaziland] to ensure that all political parties are able to operate freely and participate in the elections scheduled for September 2013. We believe that the people of Swaziland want political parties and we call on the Government there to respect their wishes.'
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The claim by Swaziland Finance Minister Mazozi Sithole that King Mswati III has asked him to freeze the Royal budget so he can help his subjects during the present economic crisis has rightly been met with suspicion by observers of the kingdom.
The Times ofSwaziland reported that Sithole told CNN that the King wanted to do his bit to help his kingdom that is facing economic meltdown.
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The political crisis in Swaziland continues into a third week after a vote of no-confidence in the Swazi Government was passed and then reversed 12 days later.
According to the constitution, the government should have resigned or been sacked by King Mswati III after the first vote - but neither of these things happened. Instead, the government forced a revote which it won. There is no legal reason why the revote was allowed and for the constitution to be ignored.
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Swaziland's Attorney-General Majahenkhaba Dlamini has said that the Government decided not to follow the constitution when it succeeded in having a no-confidence vote against it overturned.
Dlamini who supports the government action said that although the preamble to the Swazi constitution states, 'Whereas all the branches of government are the Guardians of the Constitution, it is necessary that the courts be the ultimate Interpreters of the Constitution,' the government decided not to go to court but simply to demand a re-run of the vote.
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The Swaziland House of Assembly has reversed its vote of no-confidence in the government, amid great controversy.
On Monday (15 October 2012) after an eight-hour debate members rescinded a vote that had taken place two weeks earlier. That vote, by a three-fifths majority of members of the House, was enough to force the cabinet to resign, in line with Section 68 (5) of the Swazi Constitution.
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King Mswati III of Swaziland is refusing to recognise the vote of no-confidence in his government, an international news agency has revealed for the first time.
He is said to be 'extremely upset' by the vote and is refusing to meet with the Speaker of the House of Assembly on the issue.
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With the present political crisis in the kingdom, people have been asking where they can read the constitution. Here it is
Swaziland Constitution
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As the constitutional crisis in Swaziland enters its second week Themba Masuku the kingdom's Deputy Prime Minister has said he will ignore the constitution and only resign if 'the people' tell him to go.
Last Wednesday (3 October 2012) the Swazi House of Assembly passed a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister and his Cabinet with a majority greater than three-fifths of the House. According to the Constitution, the PM had three days to quit or be sacked by the King.
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King Mswati III is expected to decide today (8 October 2012) whether to sack his cabinet, following a vote of no-confidence in the House of Assembly.
Although the Swazi Constitution states clearly that the King must dismiss his government, he has so far failed to do so.
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Barnabas Dlamini, the Prime Minister of Swaziland, is wrong to say the no-confidence vote passed against him and his government was illegal because it sought to force Cabinet to break the law.
Parliamentarians wanted him out of office because of the way the government forced the parastatal Swaziland Posts and Telecommunication Corporation (SPTC) to switch off its Fixedfones and data components which left thousands of people with expensive and useless gadgets.
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