Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, an umbrella body of civic society organisations operating in Zimbabwe, calls upon the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to urgently intervene in bringing peace and stability to Eswatini in light of the continued demonstrations against the country’s absolute monarch.
Source: Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition implores SADC to act on the Eswatini conflict – The Zimbabwean
It is incumbent upon SADC to urgently set up a fact-finding mission whose mandate should include convening an all stakeholders dialogue on the conflict in Eswatini.
Pushing for political reforms that would allow for multi-party democracy and guaranteeing one-person one vote should also form part of the SADC mandate on the Eswatini conflict. One person, one vote is a key and just demand.
It is our view that the conflict in Eswatini stems from failure to uphold tenets of democracy and this is evidenced by the fact that since 1973, Eswatini has been under an absolute monarch and political parties remain banned.
SADC must be guided by its own principles and guidelines governing democratic elections. As the Front Line States stood by Zimbabwe in 1977, so should they with the people of Swaziland today.
The conflict in Eswatini is a threat to regional peace and stability and should be treated with the urgency it deserves.
We urge security forces in Eswatini to exercise restraint in dealing with the protestors and in the same vein, we urge the protestors to observe peace.
A free and prosperous Eswatini is possible.
We call upon regional solidarity partners to rally behind the people of Eswatini in demanding a democratic, free and prosperous Eswatini.!
COMMENTS
So the SADC must help . What about us. Have they helped us to date. 40 years of misrule ,death etc . What have they done. In fact where is the AU??? MUM AS USUAL. But quick to ask for foreign aid . Useless lot ,useless. I am not being pessimistic about these bodies but they all need criticism as their inaction has produced a very sorry state of affairs for Africa. In fact nothing has being learned since their inception.