By Bongiwe Dlamini

LUDZIDZINI: Alpheous Nxumalo, the Government Spokesperson has clarified that, the grabbing of a microphone from Sibusiso Dlamini during Sibaya had nothing to do with the content of his submissions but, his allocated time had elapsed.

In a public statement sent to this Swaziland News on Tuesday evening,the Government Spokesperson urged emaSwati to continue attending the ongoing Sibaya in numbers and express themselves as commanded by His Majesty the King.

This comes after Dlamini,a member of the royal family and founder of the African United Democratic Party(AUDP) urged the King to consider unbanning political parties and ensure that,the Prime Minister(PM) is democratically elected and/or endorsed by Parliament.

“Government notes the unfortunate incident in which a member of the public, one Sibusiso Dlamini,had the microphone grabbed from him whilst making his submission during the second day of the Sibaya People’s Parliament at Ludzidzini Royal Residence.Government wishes to assure the Nation that the only reason the microphone was grabbed from Mr Dlamini was because the time allocated to him had elapsed and had nothing to do with the contents of his submissions. The Nation will note that a number of emaSwati were also looking forward to getting their chance to make submissions, hence the reason minimal time was allocated to each speaker.

Government further wishes to assure the Nation that the Sibaya People’s Parliament remains open to every liSwati and interested individuals, including the international community, as per His!Majesty’s proclamation during its opening.Therefore, all views presented at Sibaya remain valid and worthy of consideration.We wish to encourage emaSwati to continue flocking to Sibaya to express their honest and genuine feelings about all issues affecting the country,” said the Government Spokesperson.