MBABANE: King Mswati’s Prime Minister Cleopas Dlamini has expressed disappointment regarding the call by pro-democracy groups to establish an interim government before a dialogue.
Speaking during a press briefing in Mbabane on Wednesday, Dlamini said the Kingdom of eSwatini “is a sovereign State, with legally constituted Governance structure headed by His Majesty and assisted by the three arms of Government, namely; the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary”.
The PM said all these structures were legally and constitutionally established and would remain functional for dialogue to take place unconditionally.
“Under no circumstances can an interim government therefore be formed and any such assertion is misplaced and has no basis in fact and in law”, said the King’s Prime Minister.
The statement of the PM comes after human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko, the Chairperson of the Multistakeholder Forum disclosed that as pro-democracy groups they were intending to form an interim government saying the current government had blood on its hands and had failed the people.
Eswatini is in the midst of a political crisis after King Mswati unleashed soldiers and the police to shoot and kill dozens of civilians merely for demanding democratic reforms. Mswati rules eSwatini as an absolute Monarch with Executive, Judicial and Legislative powers, he appoints the Prime Minister, Ministers, a majority of Senators, Judges and all members of the various Governing Councils.
Prime Minister Cleopas Dlamini.