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Southern Africa: Botswana Opposition Rejects King
[All Africa] The main opposition political party in Botswana has rejected King Mswati III's appointment as Chair of SADC because of the restriction on democracy in Swaziland.The King was appointed Chair at the Southern African Development Community Summit of Heads of State at the end of August 2016. The Botswana National Front (BNF), which is seen as the senior partner in the opposition Umbrella for Democratic Change, said in a statement, 'Currently, there is no constitutional democracy in Swaziland. Political parties remain banned in that country. King Mswati and his Queen mother Ntombi have absolute authority over the judiciary, legislature and cabinet.' The Weekend Post newspaper in Botswana reported BNF saying, 'several trade unionists, journalists and others have been harassed, tortured, beaten, arbitrarily incarcerated You have the right to remain silent... , imprisoned and some without trial and worse some killed under mysterious circumstances with no action being taken against the known security agents.' Posted by: Fred 2016-09-06 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=466810 |