Maravi

The electoral Act needs overhaul

The electoral Act needs overhaul
Sat 13 Nov. 2010, 04:00 CAT

In light of the many concerns being raised by key players in our elections, we make a special appeal to the government and the ruling MMD to realise that they have a serious responsibility. As facilitators of the elections, they should ensure that the concerns of all key players are adequately addressed.

Next year’s electoral process will provide all Zambians with a unique opportunity to show their political maturity and their sincere aspiration for peace and harmony anchored in justice. In this spirit, we feel there is need to examine and re-examine the current electoral Act and strengthen our electoral process. The Electoral Commission’s independence needs to be strengthened. The composition of the Electoral Commission should be broadened to include representatives from all registered political parties, the main known political bodies and impartial observers.

The government, the administration, the military and other law enforcement and security agencies should be made to keep a distance from political campaigns and show that they are working not for the good of the party in power, or indeed any party, but for the good of all Zambians.

The electoral Act needs to be amended so that it can guarantee equal opportunities for all parties and persons in the political campaign. The use of Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation, the Times of Zambia and the Daily Mail has to be open to all without restrictions because these do not belong to the ruling party; they are not owned by the MMD and its leaders – they belong to the public.

The police should be made to operate in an impartial manner and stop all violence. Violence must be avoided because the electoral campaign should not be confused with a battlefield where the aim is to destroy the other. Real political victory lies on the ideals proposed, on the ethical values of the candidates, on the respect for the freedom of choice of all citizens, and not on any form of moral pressure or intimidation of political opponents or voters.

The will of the people should be the basis of the authority of government; this should be expressed in genuine elections. We say this because the basic item in a democratic state is that the government governs with the consent of the people. The will of the people should be the basis of the authority of government. And the minimum guarantee that the government rules on the basis of the genuine will of the people is fair elections. This minimum guarantee can be frustrated by activities of an electoral commission that is not independent from the leadership of the ruling party.

The fundamental right to take part in government requires the holding of free and fair elections. And free and fair elections require an efficient, effective and orderly electoral process that ensures all citizens who have attained the age of 18 have the opportunity to register and vote without being threatened into voting for a person or party.

There should also be an efficient procedure for contesting the results of elections in the face of irregularities. The current procedure leaves much to be desired. The current procedure takes too long to conclude an election petition and in most cases, it’s meaningless or useless to challenge election results. We say this because by the time the matter is concluded, one’s term of office will be almost over. And as for the presidential elections, challenging election results is simply an academic exercise because the person being challenged would have taken office and would be in a position to manipulate everything in his favour. This needs to change.

The current electoral Act makes it very easy for those in the ruling party to retain power. It makes it very difficult for the Zambian people to sack a ruling party. We know it may sound negative but we have always thought it positive to say that the important thing about democracy is that we should be able to remove without bloodshed the people who govern us. But that cannot be easy to do with this electoral Act that favours or allows those in power to retain it through manipulation and abuse of incumbency.

If people lose the power to sack their government through the electoral process, one of several things happens. First, people may just withdraw. Apathy could destroy our democracy. When turnout drops drastically because people have lost interest in elections that do not bring out their desires for change, we are in danger. The second thing that can happen is people resorting to anarchy, lawlessness, riots and so on and so forth. Thirdly, regionalism can arise. And this is built on frustration that people feel when they cannot get their way through the ballot box. And with regionalism comes all sorts of negative things.

Unless we can offer our people a peaceful route to the resolution of injustice through free and fair elections – elections that they respect as being representative of their will and whose results they are ready and willing to accept – they will not listen to politicians that have blocked off that route.

As things stand today, our elections are starting to appear more and more as being merely symbolic because they are weighed much more in favour of the ruling party. Elections, to be free and fair, should be genuinely competitive elections in which the chief decision makers in government are elected by citizens. Simply permitting the opposition to access the ballot box is not enough.

Elections in which all the odds are stuck against the opposition cannot be said to be democratic. The party in power may enjoy the advantages of incumbency, but the laws, the rules and conduct of the election contest must be fair. And at the end of the day, the citizens must be confident that the results of such elections are accurate and that the government does, indeed, rest upon their consent.

It is therefore very important that the government finds time and resources to attend to all the matters pertaining to the electoral Act and other laws that affect the holding of free and fair elections. If they have time and resources to take to Parliament the Anti Corruption Commission Act to remove section 37, why can’t they find the same time and resources to deal with even a more important and urgent matter – that of the electoral Act?

We therefore support the call being made by Anti Voter Apathy for the complete overhaul of our electoral Act to ensure free, fair and credible elections next year because the current law has a lot of deficiencies.

Labels: AVAP, BONNIE TEMBO, ELECTORAL ACT OF 1996

posted by MrK @ 8:16 PM