Swaziland House of Assemble Election 19 September 2008
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EISA gratefully acknowledges the generous financial support for this project from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) EISA ELECTION OBSERVER MISSION REPORT SWAZILAND HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY ELECTION 19 SEPTEMBER 2008 Order from: [email protected] ISBN 978-1-920446-07-9 EISA ELECTION OBSERVER MISSION REPORT No 29 9 781920 446079 EISA OBSERVER MISSION REPORT EISA TECHNICAL ASSESSMENT TEAM REPORT ________________ SWAZILAND HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY ELECTION 19 SEPTEMBER 2008 EISA OBSERVER MISSION REPORT EISA OBSERVER MISSION REPORT EISA TECHNICAL ASSESSMENT TEAM REPORT ________________ SWAZILAND HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY ELECTION 19 SEPTEMBER 2008 2009 v EISA OBSERVER MISSION REPORT Publshed by EISA 14 Park Rd, Rchmond Johannesburg South Afrca P O Box 740 Auckland Park 2006 South Afrca Tel: 27 11 482 5495 Fax: 27 11 482 6163 E-mal: [email protected] www.esa.org.za ISBN 978-1-920446-07-9 © EISA 2009 All rghts are reserved. No part of ths publcaton may be reproduced, stored n a retreval system, or transmtted n any form or by any means, electronc, mechancal, photocopyng, recordng, or otherwse wthout the pror permsson of EISA. Frst publshed 2008 EISA strves for excellence n the promoton of credble electons, partcpatory democracy, human rghts culture and the strengthenng of governance nsttutons for the consoldaton of democracy n Afrca. EISA Electon Observer Msson Report, No 29 EISA OBSERVER MISSION REPORT v CONTENTS Executive Summary vii Acknowledgements viii Terms of reference ix The EISA approach to election observation xi 1. Political and socio-economic background 1 1.1 Introducton 1 1.2 The demse of democracy 2 1.3 New challenges to the autocratc order 2 1.4 Consttutonal reform 3 1.5 Run up to the 2008 electons 4 1.6 Geographc and soco-economc context 5 2. Constitutional and legal framework 8 2.1 The Consttutonal order 8 2.2 Electons and Boundares Commsson 9 2.3 Electoral system 11 3. Stakeholders: Political parties, mass media and civil society 13 3.1 Party system, poltcal partes and campagnng 13 3.2 Mass meda 15 3.3 Cvl socety 15 4. Election management 18 4.1 Delmtaton of consttuences 18 4.2 Settng of electon dates 19 4.3 Voter regstraton 20 4.4 Regstraton of poltcal partes 23 4.5 Nomnaton of canddates for electons 23 4.6 Campagn process 24 4.7 Meda 25 4.8 Fundng of poltcal partes 26 4.9 Conflict prevention and management 26 4.10 Cvc and voter educaton 26 v EISA OBSERVER MISSION REPORT 4.11 Stakeholder relatons 27 4.12 Electoral observaton 27 4.13 Electoral staff 28 4.14 Electoral materals 29 4.15 Secrecy of the ballot 30 4.16 Votng and countng processes 31 4.17 Presentaton of results 35 5 Contributions of foreign governments 38 6. Post-election developments 38 7. Findings and recommendations 39 7.1. Consttutonal and legal framework 41 7.2. Stakeholders: Poltcal partes, mass meda and cvl socety 43 7.3 Electon management 44 Tables Table 1: Kngdom of Swazland selected ndcators 7 Table 2: Key electoral dates n 2008 20 Table 3: Voter regstraton trends 22 Table 4: Pollng unts and materals 29 Table 5: Dstrbuton of regstered voters n Mandlangamphso 30 Table 6: Votng patterns n Mandlangamphso consttuency 36 Table 7: Drectly elected members of the House of Assembly by gender 37 Table 8: Votng statstcs 1993 to 2008 38 Appendices Appendx 1: Members of the EISA Team 48 Appendx 2: EISA Techncal Team launch press release 49 Appendx 3: Schedule of meetngs and actvtes conducted 50 Appendx 4: Electon results for Mandlangamphso Consttuency 52 Appendx 5: Votng Statstcs for Mandlangamphso Consttuency 52 Appendx 6: Swazland’s EBC’s code of conduct for nternatonal observers 53 Appendx 7: Drectly elected Members of Parlament 54 Map of Swazland 6 EISA OBSERVER MISSION REPORT v EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In lne wth ts goal of promotng credble electons and democratc governance n Afrca, EISA deployed a four member techncal assessment team to the Swazland House of Assembly electon whch was held on 19 September 2008. Ths report sets forth the assessment of the EISA Team to the Swazland electons ncludng the Team’s observatons and analyss of the electoral process from the pre-electon phase and the pollng phase to the tabulaton and announcement of the electon results and allocaton of House of Assembly seats. The report also presents the mission’s findings and recommendations. The Team prepared for the msson by studyng the Consttuton, electoral and other related electoral law, revewng electon reports of prevous mssons and researchng and analysng the context wthn whch the electons were to take place. On 13 September 2008 the Techncal Assessment Team arrved n the country and set about meeting with stakeholders and attending briefings. In the process the Team was able to accumulate at first hand the perceptions of stakeholders, the opinions of experts, and a mass of prmary documents. On the pollng day, these teams covered 28 pollng statons n three of the four dstrcts. The Team members began to depart from Swazland by 22 September. The Team used the Prncples for Electon Management, Montorng and Observaton n the SADC Regon (PEMMO; http://www.esa.org.za/EISA/publcatons/ pemmo.htm) as the bass for ts electon assessment. PEMMO s a document that was developed under the auspces of EISA and the Electoral Commssons Forum (ECF) of Southern Afrcan Development Communty (SADC) Countres. It outlnes standards and best practces for the conduct and assessment of electons n the SADC regon. Using PEMMO, on the basis of its observations, the Team compiled a list of findings from whch conclusons were drawn and recommendatons made. v EISA OBSERVER MISSION REPORT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS EISA’s Techncal Assessment to Swazland would not have been possble wthout the assstance and support of a number of people and nsttutons. The msson expresses ts grattude to all those who drectly or ndrectly contrbuted to the ms- son’s success. We thank the Independent Electons and Boundares Commsson of Swazland (EBC) for nvtng EISA to observe the 2008 House of Assembly electons n Swazland and for facltatng the accredtaton of Techncal Assessment Team members as well as beng avalable to respond to the msson’s queres. The nformaton provded was useful to the msson n achevng ts objectves and especally n understandng the context wthn whch the electons were beng held. Thanks go also to the poltcal partes, cvl socety organsatons (CSOs) and academ- ics in Swaziland who made themselves available, not only for the briefing session but also to meet wth the EISA Team n Mbabane and Manzn. The Team s ndebted to the people of Swazland for ther warmth, and wllngness to share ther experences and ther opnons on the electons as well as poltcal de- velopments n ther country. We commend ther peacefulness, whch was evdenced by the calm envronment wthn whch the electons took place. Our grattude s also extended to the Swss Agency for Development and Cooperaton (SDC) n Pretora, wthout whose generous fundng the msson would not have taken place. Thanks go to Ms Zahra Seedat, who organsed and coordnated the logstcs, and to Mr Deane Stuart and Mr Vctor Shale, who prepared ths report. EISA OBSERVER MISSION REPORT x TERMS OF REFERENCE INTRODUCTION The Electoral Insttute of Southern Afrca (EISA) s sendng a four member Techncal Team to observe the Swazland Secondary Electons to be held on the 19 September 2008. Ths s a short term Observer Msson concernng tself only to a lmted extent wth the pre-electon process and focusng on the actual electoral process after famlarsng tself wth the legal framework of the Swazland electoral process. Represented n the Msson wll be EISA staff and a member of Namba NGO Forum (NANGOF). Objectves of the msson 1. To assess whether conditions exist for the conduct of an election that reflects the wll of the Swazland people. 2. Assess whether the electon s conducted n accordance wth the electoral legslatve framework of Swazland. 3. The Msson wll use the “Prncples for Electon Management, Montorng and Observaton n the SADC Regon” to assess the electons (PEMMO; http://www.esa.org.za/EISA/publcatons/pemmo.htm). METHOD OF THE MISSION In order to acheve the above the msson wll: • Obtan accredtaton from the Swazland Electons and Boundares Commsson. • Obtan nformaton on the electoral process from the Electons and Boundares Commsson. • Meet wth academcs, representatves of Cvl Socety and other stake- holders to acquant tself wth the electoral envronment. • Report accurately on ts observatons and refer any rregulartes to the Electons and Boundares Commsson. • Observe all aspects of the electon n those areas that t wll vst. • Assess f qualfyng Swazland ctzens have been able to exercse ther rght to regster as voters. • Assess f the regstered voters have easy access to votng statons and that they are able to exercse ther vote n secret. x EISA OBSERVER MISSION REPORT • Assess the logistical arrangements to confirm if all the necessary material is available for voting to take place efficiently. CONDUCT OF OBSERVERS Observers are required to disclose any conflict of interest that may influence ther opnon about the conduct of the electon, or dscredt the electon observer msson. The delegates are equally urged to observe strctly the secton of the “Prncples for Electon Management, Montorng and Observaton n the SADC Regon” dealng wth the Code of Conduct for observers (pages 32-33 of the document). EISA OBSERVER MISSION REPORT x THE EISA APPROACH TO ELECTION OBSERVATION EISA strves for excellence n the promoton of credble electons, partcpatory democ- racy, a human rghts culture, and the strengthenng of governance nsttutons for the consoldaton of democracy n Afrca.