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Moses Magadza
LUANDA, ANGOLA – The SADC Parliamentary Forum and the SADC National Parliaments have been challenged to promote electoral integrity in the region of SADC.
South African MP Stevens Mokgalapa made the appeal when he introduced a motion at the 43rd session of the SADC FP Plenary Assembly held recently in Angola. .
The SADC region is preparing the season, with nine general elections scheduled between 2018 and 2019. This year, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Kingdom of Eswatini, Madagascar and Zimbabwe, will hold general elections. Next year, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa will go to the polls.
Regular elections have become the norm in accordance with national electoral laws and regional, continental and international instruments on elections, democracy and democracy. Mokgalapa said that although the capacity of the African Union and regional economic blocks to observe elections has increased over the years, election observation missions whose mandates and methods are anchored on international standards are steadily increasing. "Despite major developments in the observation and monitoring of elections in Africa, elections on our continent have remained tainted with irregularities and bad practices that compromise their integrity and therefore their value for democratization." ,
Citing the former UN Secretary-General Koffi M. Annan, Mr. Mokgalapa said that it was necessary to ensure that elections were conducted with integrity, the basis of democratic principles and political equality, and that they are conducted professionally in a transparent and impartial manner.
the first time, in the Electoral Integrity Project's Electoral Integrity in Africa (2015) report
"The results of the PEI survey, which are based on all African countries holding elections between July 1, 2012 and December 31, 2014, that the degree of threats to the inte Voter turnout is more severe in Africa compared to the rest of the world, although the challenges in Africa are similar to those found globally – where the continent and SADC region get 58 out of 100, compared to world average of 64 people.
Dithapelo Keorapetse, Member of Parliament for Botswana, agrees
"As members of parliament, we have a duty to ensure that states, especially electoral systems, are inclusive and guarantee and guarantee the expression of the will of the people … In the absence of credible elections, citizens do not resort to peaceful political change. The risk of conflict is increasing while corruption, intimidation and fraud are not controlled, "he said.
He adds:" We still have cases where the parties are not in control. opposition and their leaders are mistreated. Some are jailed and charged with frivolous and vexatious accusations, including but not limited to treason. There are still cases where some governments are seeking to introduce electoral voting machines for the sole purpose of undermining the integrity of the vote.
He stated that MPs must use their oversight mandate to ensure that their member states respect the standards, principles and
Another Botswana legislator, Duma Boko, said the motion to Keorapatse was in charge and deserved more interrogations
"This motion, without being explicit, tells us that there are problems with the management of elections in the SADC region. to do something, and in this case we have to remain committed to ensuring that our elections are full of integrity, it does not tell us how we can do that, and the problem we face is that all Countries running in the elections will all say that they are determined to hold free and fair elections. "
He said that we needed to do more.
"It seems to me that we need to go further and concretize the problems so that we can present specific answers or proposals in the context of this motion," he said.
the mere holding of a march required police sanction under the pretext of maintaining order and peace. He argued that in many cases, political parties that ask police to hold peaceful rallies or demonstrations that need to move around holding placards are denied the possibility by the police of not having the hand of the police. The work necessary to accompany them.
"This counteracts and thwarts the ability to convey any message, which is a problem in our region."
He argued that the challenges faced by political parties and the electorate result from what he described as a "desertion of the polling station" of some voters
.the people who register to vote – at least in my country 25% – do not show up on polling day Why is it because some of them do not believe in the integrity of elections, and they decide to stay at home. is not apathy, it is not the disaffection.It is a protest! They say: "We do not believe in such nonsense, and we will not legitimize them by participating in it. "
He added:" We have a desertion or rejection of the polling station by young people in part. because they are not properly represented or their views are not taken into account, the electoral process is, in many ways, a joke.
According to him, for the region to really have credible elections, legislators must go beyond the respect of formal requirements (as if there is a polling station, if the vote is done in private , or if there was no violence and intimidation)
"We need to go to the substantive issues and ask if these elections are fair." Many of our elections are not but the missions we send to these countries come back and make a verdict of free and fair. "
He said in some countries like India there was a limit on election expenses and rigorous audits after each "It may be time for us to introduce rigorous controls into our electoral systems … We need to be more specific in our demands and requirements."
South African MP Siphosezwe Masango encourages African member states to be open and receptive. to constructive criticism.
"I think we should welcome African leaders and academics who are very critical of some of our omissions and weaknesses, which (their constructive criticism) does not make them less pan-African or less patriotic in their respective countries. .. One of us corrects most of our weaknesses. "
He challenged African lawmakers to ensure that their governments truly reflect the will of their people among us who fought for liberation must accept that once there are serious weaknesses and omissions, the collective will of the people may result in the transfer of power to the opposition because that opposition political parties in our countries are not enemies, but strategic adversaries that we must defeat or (who) must defeat us (over) the superiority of ideas that can be put to the electorate.
S If we do not accept that, we will stay and degenerate into electoral fraud and become illegitimate governments. Botswana MP Polson Majaga also weighed in on the debate and urged SADC member states to adopt gender equality in all political parties
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