Elections may not be held in 2024 – IEC
Lebogang Mosikare | Monday November 27, 2023 06:00
The IEC was recently taken to the High Court by the UDC on a certificate of urgency.
The UDC wants its agents to observe and monitor the voters’ registration process, but the IEC denies that saying that what the former wants is not provided for by the Electoral Act.
In its papers filed before the apex court to challenge the interim order that was issued by Justice Gaolapelwe Ketlogetswe on November 10, 2023 in favour of the UDC, the IEC says that “what is immediately apparent is that the determination of the main application is unlikely to take place in the very near future. Even after the main application is heard and determined, any judgment and order may be subject to appeal at the CoA. This is likely to delay the final determination of the matter even further. I am advised that if the path of litigation is followed, the matter is only likely to be finally determined in mid 2024. Until that final determination, the interim interdict issued by Justice Ketlogetswe on November 10, 2023 remains in place”. A significant feature of the interim interdict, IEC Secretary, Jefferson Siamisang notes, is that it is both prohibitory and mandatory in nature.
“It is prohibitory in that it prevents the IEC from preventing the UDC’s agents from being present at and during the registration process and mandatory in that it compels the IEC to allow the UDC agents to record names, identity card numbers of eligible voters applying for registration and the serial numbers of registration booklets. The attendance and activity of agents of any political party at any point in time is not provided for in the Electoral Act. It has never been permitted before. The interim order therefore effectively accords the UDC a new right,” he says.
Siamisang continued: “The Constitution of Botswana requires that Parliament (including the National Assembly) cannot extend for a life longer than five years. It provides that upon dissolution, a general election of the National Assembly must be held within 60 days of the dissolution. The five-year term of the current Parliament ends in October 2024. The IEC is accordingly obliged to begin preparations for the holding of the general elections. These preparations include ensuring that all applicants for voting who are eligible are duly registered.”
According to Siamisang: “It is unlikely that the IEC can prepare properly for the election without holding a registration process before the final determination of the UDC’s application to be entitled to have its agents present during the registration and recording names and identity numbers of applicant voters. It will have to conduct a registration exercise under the terms provided in the interim order. I submit that what this means is that insofar as any order granted on November 10, 2023 may be construed as having on its face an interim effect, the interim order has final effect in reality in that national registration must take place under its terms before the correctness and constitutionality of the order is determined. Accordingly, the correctness of the interim order must be challenged at a time before the IEC is compelled to engage in a registration process preparatory to the general elections.”
In conclusion Siamisang said: “I respectfully submit that the applicant has no realistic alternative other than being the present application for an urgent appeal. Finally, the longer this matter continues, the result is that;* (53.1) the voters’ confidence in the IEC and election process is dampened *(53.2) voter apathy will set in *(53.3) the ability to effect proper registration in phases as designed (e.g. with provision of supplementary registrations is prejudiced* (54.4) the prospect arises that applicant voters will not be duly registered, which effectively will result in their disenfranchisement - a negation of a constitutional right.”Also in its papers, the IEC says that it urgently met later on October 31 to consider the effects of the interim order.
“It was decided that it would not be practically possible to conduct the registration process on the provisions of the order... A decision was made to postpone the registration process. The cost of doing so has been considerable, being an amount exceeding P12 million,” says the IEC in its CoA papers.