Maravi

Voter registration worries SACCORD

Voter registration worries SACCORD ...political parties should have been working with the ECZ - Habasonda
By Agness Changala
Fri 05 Nov. 2010, 04:00 CAT [31 Reads, 0 Comment(s)]

SACCORD has blamed political parties for the low turnout in the voter registration exercise. Executive director Lee Habasonda said the voter registration exercise had not been well supported by key stakeholders such as political parties.

He said political parties should have been working side by side with the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) and non-governmental organisations in mobilising citizens to go and register as voters.

“The process has this far been left to the ECZ and NGOs to publicise while some media houses have continued to carry stories on the exercise,” Habasonda said. ”We believe that there is need for strong partnership being created among all the stakeholders so that the process can be undertaken with full interest from citizens and ensure that the reservations that people have about the electoral process are cleared.”

Habasonda also said ECZ should have had strategic partnerships with various interest groups as well as electoral stakeholders where proper planning should have taken place to ensure that all Zambians support the process and fully understand it.

He implored stakeholders to ensure that the bad perceptions which were held by some citizens of the electoral process were rectified so that Zambians see elections as a process that seek to reflect the will of the majority of voters after an election.

“It’s important to remember that apathy in whatever we do undermines our own democracy and families must take it upon themselves to encourage their members to register,” Habasonda said.

He said the exercise should have seen more Zambians getting interested in the electoral process.

Labels: LEE HABASONDA, VOTER REGISTRATION

posted by MrK @ 6:46 AM