African and European parliamentarians were implored to play a more decisive role in shaping international agreements.
Speaker in the House of Assembly Jabulani Mabuza said legislators must move beyond simply giving what he described as ‘democratic clothing’ to decisions already made by executives.
Addressing delegates during the inaugural Africa-EU Parliamentary Assembly at the Ezulwini Palazzo, Mabuza said Parliaments have too often been reduced to endorsing agreements negotiated elsewhere.
“Heads of State sign agreements, ministers negotiate frameworks, and technical experts draft the clauses and then those agreements come to us, parliamentarians, often late, and we are asked to give them democratic clothing.
“That is not partnership. That is ratification theatre,” said Mabuza.
He said the assembly offered an opportunity for a different model of cooperation, where lawmakers contribute to policy formation before decisions are finalised. On another note, Mabuza used the occasion to position Eswatini as a principled and reliable voice in multilateral diplomacy despite its small size.
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“Eswatini is a small kingdom. We are landlocked, we are not populous, and we do not come to this assembly with the weight of a continental giant. However, we come with something that has always served small nations well in multilateral spaces: clarity of principle and consistency of voice,” Mabuza said.
He reaffirmed the kingdom’s belief in the sovereign equality of all member states and said the strength of the Africa-EU partnership depended on mutual respect rather than dominance by larger powers. Mabuza also urged lawmakers from the two regions to honour the trust placed in them by millions of citizens whose futures would be shaped by the partnerships forged through the assembly.
Mabuza said the inaugural assembly marked the beginning of the extended task of building trust between Africa and Europe based on dignity, mutual respect and shared prosperity rather than dependency.
