The reason why progressives in Swaziland must make an attempt to participate in the up-coming elections is not so much so that they can win parliamentary seats but because they need to test the validity of the claims within the constitution. The clause concerning political parties' rights to camapaign for elections is still not cleared. It was hoped, one can imagine, that progressives would simply boycott the elections thus leaving the government with no real reason for clearing the air on that particular clause. And indeed that might have been the case were it not for the fact that the same progressives are seeking their rights to be respected regardless of whether they will make use of them or not.
However, the most important reason why the government has taken a tough stance towards political parties by declaring itself against their participation is because it fears the possibility of a popular vote for the country's reformists. These have clearly adopted a programme for the forth-coming elections and their exisiting membership in the current parliament is reason to believe that they might score quite a number of votes.
