Mp wants another supplementary registration

Gothataone Moeng | Monday March 3, 2014 15:38

 

The mover of the motion, Shoshong legislator Phillip Makgalemele also wanted “effective” voter registration campaign.

When presenting the motion, Makgalemele said that voting is an integral component of the democratic process and with the numbers recorded so far, many people would not have the opportunity to participate in the democratic process.  In the general voter registration last year, 478,148 voters registered nationwide, far less than the 1.2 million the IEC had set as their target.   As of Friday, only 54,096 people had registered in the supplementary voter registration exercise, which came to an end yesterday (Sunday).

Although almost all MPs who debated the motion were in agreement about the disappointing numbers of registered voters, some MPs were reluctant to support the motion out of fear of government and Parliament being seen to interfere with the IEC mandate.

Gaborone Central MP Dumelang Saleshando said although he understood the concerns that drove Makgalemele to bring the motion to Parliament, he was uneasy about the involvement of government with electoral issues, adding that there is a reason the IEC is an independent institution expected to make decisions independently from government.

He said there is no provision in the Electoral Act for Parliament to get involved with the process.  He said he was also nervous about Parliament setting a precedent where government could make decisions about the electoral process.

“If you can bring a motion asking IEC to extend supplementary voters registration, what will stop you from bringing a motion to stop the registration in the future? If you can do one thing, then surely you can do the reverse,” he said.

Other MPs, such as Palapye MP Moiserala Goya said the low voters registration numbers also show the need for political party funding as, if funded, political parties could be assisting the IEC with making the public aware of the registration exercise.

Both registration exercises have been decidedly low-key and with little publicity, due, according to the IEC, to shortage of funds. 

MP Kentse Rammidi on Friday suggested that there was a need for MPs to meet with IEC officials at the general assembly to find what their challenges have been.