Swaziland lawmakers urged to avoid divorce to respect king with 13 wives

Swaziland's Senate chief said lawmakers should not divorce to avoid embarrassing the country's polygamous king, who has declared that only death can undo marriages.

Gelane Zwane, leader of the upper house in Africa's last absolute monarchy, said lawmakers should set a good example to young people.

She also urged women lawmakers not to let their position make them "disrespectful" to their husbands - while telling men to keep their eyes off women colleagues' cleavages.

The edict - which Zwane said applied particularly to women - came after King Mswati III said this year that only death could undo a traditional union, even though Swazi culture allows marriages to be terminated.

"Once people become legislators they lose their private lives," she said. "We discourage divorce because politicians should behave in a moral way to leave a positive legacy."

Zwane issued the edict at a recent workshop for lawmakers.

Parliamentarians who had already started divorce proceedings were to hold off until after their term ended in 2018, she said, adding that there was a "misconception that when women occupy political positions they then become disrespectful and divorce their husbands".