Swaziland: Opposition to elections grows

Opposition to next year’s national election in Swaziland is growing. Elections are held every five years and the next is due in 2013. But prodemocracy activists in Swaziland have been calling for a boycott. All political parties are banned and many opposition voices are silenced in the kingdom, ruled by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. The latest call came from participants at a ‘People’s Parliament’ organised by the Swaziland Coalition of Concerned Civic Organisations held in Manzini at the weekend.