Gabriel Seeletso said that his job is to implement the law and not to make it.
“The Minister of Presidential Affairs and Public Administration is the one given the mandate to oversee our commission. Our job is to implement what he has assigned us to do,” Seeletso said.
“If people have a problem with what we are doing, then they must come to us, lay a complaint and we will answer them on whatever grievances they raise,” he said, noting that he has not received any complaint from any political party about the commission.
When asked by Mmegi about his commission’s silence on the funding of political parties by the state, Seeletso said whether they are funded or not is not his business.
On being questioned about the election of commissioners, he asserted that according to the constitution, the Minister of Presidential Affairs is the one who elects the commissioners.
On the issue of the IEC using district commissioners who are not accountable to the IEC but to the government of the day, for certain services, he said that the government was using the services of the district commissioners. “It is not our fault that they are being used,” he said.
When asked about political parties educating the public on the importance of participating in elections, Seeletso said that, “all the parties are determined to go around and educate the people on why they should vote for them.”
According to a statement issued by the BCP, they had stated that in their view the IEC had not fully delivered on its constitutional mandate especially regarding the requirement of ensuring that elections are conducted properly and fairly.
In their allegations, the BCP said that the IEC had failed to demand the passing of the law that clearly spells out in detail its duties, powers and competencies in order to execute fully its broad constitutional mandate.
The statement went on to say that, “the IEC has failed to completely take over the running of the electoral process and continues to rely on DC’s who are not accountable to the IEC but to the government of the day.”
They added that “it is not a secret that most civil servants are members or supporters of the ruling party who could easily leave the civil service and join politics the following day and that instead of hiring its own staff, the ruling party has inherited lock, stock and barrel the old staff from the supervisor of elections office, most of whom are known members of the BDP and are set in their old ways.
“We have not forgotten that after leaving office, the former supervisor of elections contested ruling party primaries in Barolong Constituency,” the BCP said.
The BCP also said that the IEC has most importantly maintained a deafening silence on the issue of funding of political parties from state funds and the control of funding from unknown sources.
“Our view is that the electoral process should be about the levelling of the political field so that all players have equal chance and opportunity to reach the voters so that when the voter casts his/her vote, he/she should be fully informed of the choices available instead of just compiling a voter’s roll,” the BCP said.
