By Wendy Magagula

LOBAMBA: Prime Minister Cleopas Dlamini says it’s too risky to host a political dialogue in the midst of the ongoing political killings.

Responding to submissions by Members of Parliament(MPs) on Thursday, the PM said the people who would attend the political dialogue might be in danger of being killed after sharing sentiments contrary to those of others.

“We need to first get assurance that the dialogue will stop the killings, we must know the people who are armed and get assurance that the dialogue will stop the killings. The issue here is that we are not sure if the killings will stop after the dialogue because we don’t know the killers,” said the Prime Minister.

Reached for comments, human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko, the Chairperson of the MultiStakeholder Forum(MSF)said the violence and killings erupted after Government used violent means to silence the people by banning protests.

“We need to understand that the violence was started by the Government through the then Acting Prime Minister Themba Masuku, the current PM came-in and continued where Masuku left by brutalizing people. The violence can stop once all parties agree to a framework of the political dialogue and agree to end violence and create a conducive environment. Government cannot therefore, say there would be no dialogue as long as the violence continues, both parties must sit down and commit themselves in ending the violence to start the dialogue process,” said the human rights lawyer.