POLITICS-SWAZILAND: Relations Between Monarchy And Bush Regime Worsen

By James Hall Reprint | | Print |

James Hall

MBABANE, Mar 20 2003 (IPS) - Swaziland may not harbour weapons of mass destruction, but sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarchy, that rules this kingdom of less than one million people, is becoming increasingly nervous about the doctrine of United States President George W. Bush, which finds little tolerance for unelected regimes.

"Swaziland has a love-hate relationship, or at least a friendship-antagonism relationship with America, and the tension is palpable right now," one Western diplomat stationed in Mbabane told IPS.

The United States is presently providing 90 percent of the international food relief to the one third of the Swazi people who would otherwise be starving due to a combination of crop-ruining bad weather and poor government land use policy.

King Mswati III recently turned to American recording artists like Jennifer Lopez and Paul Simon to contribute songs to a CD that would be the fund-raising centerpiece of his Royal Initiative to Combat AIDS, and the palace hoped the CD launch would be held at the White House.

But the polygamous king’s appearances on American television, where he came across as a wife-collecting playboy who used tribal traditions to thwart Swazis’ democratic aspirations, made any meeting with Bush unlikely.

Instead, Secretary of State Collin Powell sent the king a letter raising governance concerns in the kingdom.

In the global war against terrorism mounted by Washington, it does not help that Swaziland has not ratified the United Nations Protocol Against Terrorism, or that this past year Mswati has become close to Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi.

With banned political opposition groups claiming growing if clandestine memberships, and pro-democracy labour unions staging the first anti-government mass protests in six years, political observers wonder whether internal pressures for political reform will find support from the US, resulting in a Swazi "regime change."

Swazi authorities were surprised last July when US Ambassador James McGee said in a speech that national leadership must no longer hide behind traditions to stifle the democratic aspirations of the Swazi people.

So angered was foreign minister Abednego Ntshangase that he initially demanded that all foreign envoys clear their speeches through his office before they were delivered, a demand he subsequently withdrew. The Swazi Senate, made up of conservatives and royal appointees, demanded that Ntshangase "discipline" McGee for meeting with political opposition leaders, such as Mario Masuku, who had just been tried on sedition charges.

Mswati’s father, King Sobhuza, outlawed political opposition groups to royal rule when he overturned the Independence Constitution in 1973 and assumed ruling powers for the monarchy.

The ambassador from America’s chief ally in the Iraqi war, Britain, has also spoken out on issues like the purchase of a luxury jet for Mswati. Ambassador David Reader told IPS, "We made a formal demarche to the prime minister on the issue of the king’s jet. We are deeply concerned about government’s intention to acquire the plane given the continuing food crisis."

Previous British and US ambassadors avoided public criticism of the government. Both Reader and US ambassador McGee received rebukes from Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini for what the premier considered breaches of diplomatic protocol, by going public with views on controversial matters.

”I am disappointed in the manner they have handled issues because we have diplomatic protocols on how we should communicate with one another,” Dlamini told parliament.

The premier seemed to lash back at the US this week when he told parliament that King Mswati’s government opposes the US-led action against Iraq to affect regime change. "We feel that the time has not come for war," Dlamini told MPs.

He said Iraq’s disarmament should be handled by UN weapons inspectors. Dlamini was responding to MP Timothy Buthelezi, who said the US "does not respect the law, and wants to do things its own way."

Ephraim Hlope, principal secretary of the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development, said the Swazi economy would be hurt by the war because of higher fuel prices, a curtailment of international trips seeking foreign direct investment, and a hike in imported goods.

But the performance of Swaziland’s economy is much more dependant on cooperation with the US. Growth of kingdom’s industrial and export sectors is tied to the country’s participation in two US trade schemes, the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) and the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA). Both can be jeopardised if Swaziland does not carry out its commitments to the US over democratic change.

In an interview with IPS, Ambassador McGee said, "US relations with Swaziland are based on three major issues: the creation of lasting democratic institutions in Swaziland, sustainable economic growth and HIV/AIDS management. The government of Swaziland needs to focus all its resources on AIDS."

Indeed, with nearly 40 percent of adult Swazis either HIV-positive or inflicted by full-blown AIDS, efforts like those spearheaded by the US government and American health NGOs to provide medical and other assistance to combat the disease are lifelines the Swazi monarchy cannot afford to sever.

"And yet, the King knows that all assistance comes at a price," Collin Ndwandwe, a political scientist attached to the University of Swaziland, told IPS. "The US will never militarily impose a regime change on the non-democratic government of Swaziland. But America has influence with economic and humanitarian assistance that government cannot afford to lose."

Ndwandwe also feels that it would not be America imposing its political agenda that might one day democratise Swaziland. Rather, local groups like the Swaziland Democratic Alliance, composed of banned political parties, labour unions and human rights groups, and the new Coalition of Concerned Civil Organisations, headed by business and legal groups, would affect change with US encouragement. (ENDS/IPS/AF/SA/IP/JH/SM/03)

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