PRETORIA – Monarchy is the oldest form of government, the executive power resides in a single individual who rules for life. Monarchies are often hereditary, meaning that one family hands down the office from one generation to the next.
Currently, out of 195 countries, there are 44 monarchies in the world, 13 are in Asia, 12 are in Europe, 10 are in North America, six are in Oceania, and three are in Africa.
There are different types of monarchy, including absolute monarchies and are constitutional monarchies. In an absolute monarchy, the monarch has unchecked powers and acts as both head of state and head of government.
The constitutional monarchy requires the royal family to reign with limits to their power along with a governing body.
The Week, a British a weekly news magazine, said the key to a monarchy’s survival is its ability to adapt to the changes of the times. The monarchies that still exist with no trouble have acknowledged this reality.
In Sweden, certain royal family members were stripped of their titles and cut off from the royal payroll. Meanwhile in Spain, members of the royal family have been removed from the line of succession after they convicted of corruption and tax fraud.
Saudi Arabia, also an absolute monarchy has finally given women the right to drive and get a passport without the permission of a male legal guardian, the magazine wrote.
Meanwhile, the survival of Africa’s last absolute monarchy in eSwatini, formerly Swaziland, is imperilled.
The country is engulfed in violent protests with the people pushing for a democratic dispensation in the tiny kingdom.
The protest started peacefully in the Manzini region on June 20 before turning violent. Youths took to the streets, demanding the right to choose their prime minister democratically as opposed to the king making such an appointment.
They also demanded that King Mswati III hand over power as the absolute monarch and allow democracy to prevail in the landlocked southern African country.
Protesters against King Mswati of Swaziland (Eswatini) have burnt shops in Matsapha.
Retail outlets are on fire as
pro-democracy protests spiral out of control.This comes after King Mswati issued a decree banning delivery of petitions.
The government is an absolute monarchy. pic.twitter.com/AFGOBnt3Ci
— Hopewell Chin’ono Today (@daddyhope) June 28, 2021
Majority of the people in the over 1.1 million population are living below the poverty line, while the king is believed to be living an extravagant lifestyle.
The 53-year-old was crowned in April 1986 when he was just 18, becoming the youngest ruling monarch in the world at the time.
He is well known for his polygamy and has at least 15 wives. His family occupies several state-funded palaces.
In 2019, various reports emerged that the eSwatini king gifted his wives with custom Rolls Royce luxury vehicles worth around R10 million each.
Unconfirmed reports suggest that it was 4 trucks loaded with 20 Rolls Royce and one Rolls Royce Cullinan pic.twitter.com/STTLtFFlAt
— Mzilikazi wa Afrika (@IamMzilikazi) October 30, 2019
In retaliation to the protests, eSwatini imposed a curfew using Covid-19 as a convenient excuse for its attempt to quash the most significant resistance the country has faced during King Mswati III’s reign. Internet access has also been blocked.
On Wednesday, the Swaziland Youth Congress (Swayoco) has said that at least 21 people have been killed during the protests, allegedly by state security forces.
The Communist Party of Swaziland (CPS) alleges that bodies of some protesters have been tossed into a raging fire at the Swaziland Beverages Company.
It’s still unclear what will happen in eSwatini, but this is not the first time people have protested against the king and their efforts have yielded no results.
In 2008, Nepal’s political parties voted to end the monarchy and declared the country a republic, ending 239 years of royal rule in the Himalayan nation and the world’s last Hindu kingdom.
However in January, Al Jazeera reported that Nepal’s capital Kathmandu, witnessed clashes between riot police and hundreds of protesters, who are demanding a return of the monarchy.
The broadcaster said the unrest was fuelled by Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli’s failure to honour an agreement to split his term as prime minister with the co-leader of the governing party.
“King, please come back and save our country. We want the monarchy back, abolish the republic,” the demonstrators chanted as they waved the country’s flag, the news channel reported.