Eswatini held elections this past Friday to decide part of the makeup of its Parliament Parliamentary elections are held every five years. Candidates for the lower chamber, the House of Assembly, and for the Senate cannot belong to political parties, which were banned in 1973, and are nominated at a local level before they face a popular vote. King Mswati III appoints a minority of House of Assembly members, and the majority are elected. He appoints a majority of the Senate, the prime minister and other key members of the government. As king, or the “Ngwenyama” is sometimes advised by a council but has executive and legislative powers under law in the country of 1.2 million people and makes decisions by decree. A little over 500,000 people were registered to vote in Friday’s election, the electoral body said. The African Union and the regional Southern African Development Community bloc sent observers.          Spokesperson for the Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN) Lucky Lukhele joins Lerato Mbele for the conversation.