By Zweli Martin Dlamini

MBABANE: “There were no reports suggesting that,voters were influenced by Chiefs and the King to vote for aspiring Members of Parliament(MPs) who are linked to the royal family, Zweli Martin Dlamini, the editor of this Swaziland News told Rise FM during an interview on Wednesday evening.

But the editor highlighted that, some aspiring MPs with alleged links to the royal family were supported with resources to compete unfairly with ordinary citizens who participated in the elections.

“It’s true that some of them are close to the Chiefs, that is traditional leaders and the King but, if you can analyze the whole process from the nominations up to the Secondary Elections,there were no reports of influence from the traditional leaders.People chose those elected MPs according to their own will, of course sometimes, some Chiefs tried to influence voters but we did exposed that.There were little or nothing, when it comes to reports of influence.What actually happened, those who were close to the royal family and traditional leaders were supported with resources so that,they can compete unfairly with those who are not close to the royal family and traditional leaders that’s what happened.But, there were no reports whereby people were openly told who to vote for”, said the editor.

On another note, the editor disclosed that Parliament does not have the powers to hold the Executive and the Monarchy accountable in eSwatini.He maintained that, despite the fact the elections were peaceful, they were undemocratic as political parties remain banned.