 For more videos on people's struggles, please subscribe to our YouTube channel. Reports have emerged stating Swaziland's King Maswati III has fled the country amid rising civil unrest. Swaziland is the last absolute monarchy left in Africa. While the people have been protesting the monarch's rule since years, lately the country has been witnessing an unprecedented country-wide wave of pro-democracy and anti-monarchy protests. On June 24th, King Maswati banned these demonstrations, but this has only added to the anger. With the whereabouts of the king currently unknown, major cities in the country have come to a halt as roads and highways are blocked with burning tires. A riot-like situation now prevails in many industrial areas. Properties owned by Maswati and his associates, including supermarkets, cars, trucks, etc., were set ablaze amidst a riot in Matsafa. Matsafa has long been a boiling pot of anger with underpaid workers and the unemployed desperately vying for jobs. Protesters have been braving bullets, batons, and tear gas used by security forces. Army has been deployed across the country to help the police who are raiding the homes of the key organizers of the protests. Internet has been blocked, raising concerns. Security forces may commit serious atrocities under cover of information blackout. Shops, businesses, factories in capital Mubane and economic hub Manzini have been shut. Over the weekend, several peaceful marches took place intending to deliver petitions to members of Swaziland's parliament. These faced heavy crackdown. Some of the demands in the petitions are specific to the issues faced in the constituencies. The common set of demands reject the monarchy and fall for a people's government, particularly multi-party democracy and democratic ownership of the economy. The royal family's control of the economy has turned Swaziland into the country with the most unequal wealth distribution in the world. While 70% of the population languishes in poverty, the king continues to spend billions of dollars every year on grand festivities, palaces, jewels, a fleet of Rolls Royce cars, private jets, etc. Thus, the people are demanding democratization of the economy, along with the socially guaranteed healthcare and education, as much as the demand for the right to elect the prime minister. Currently, the king appoints the prime minister, the cabinet, the top jurists, two-thirds of the upper house of the parliament and 12% of the lower house. Political parties have been banned in Swaziland since 1973, when Maswati's father, King Sabuza II, suspended the constitution, dissolved the legislature, and assumed absolute power. While freedom of association is recognized in law, protests and strikes face repression. Activists and union leaders are frequently persecuted under suppression of terrorism act. For the first time, mass protests against the monarchy are not limited to urban areas. They have also spread across rural Swaziland. This has stretched security forces to the limit. Pius Villagati, International Secretary of the Communist Party of Swaziland, cautioned against complacency. He said, with the power that the monarchy holds, there is no way its defeat will be easy or even possible by mere negotiations. The Communist Party advocates for unity of the masses for a nationwide mass uprising. The Communist Party is calling on all anti-monarchist forces to come together to hold a national democracy conference in which a common minimum program for the transition period can be worked out to transform the state from a monarchy into a republic.