IEC consultations too little too late
Dithapelo Keorapetse | Friday September 9, 2016 14:45
IEC has called political parties to its headquarters and may soon call other stakeholders such as the media. The IEC is asking political parties to assist them in the implementation of the three main amendments especially by providing public education to sensitise the voters about the amendments.
The IEC has the secretary who is appointed by the President. He doesn't have to consult anybody in doing the appointment. The body is chaired by the Chairperson who should be a High Court Judge. Other Commissioners are appointed by the all party conference from a list of applicants, failure to agree by the all party conference on the Commissioners will cause the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to appoint the Commissioners. The JSC is made up of the Judge President of the Court of Appeal, Chief Justice, Attorney General, Chairperson of Public Service Commission, a person of integrity preferred by the President-all appointed by the President to their positions and by extension to the JSC plus a nominee of the Law Society of Botswana.
The IEC doesn't have staff, it is staffed by the Office of the President (OP) through the Department of Public Service Management (DPSM). It is the DPSM which can decide who to employ at IEC or who to transfer, promote or demote. IEC staff are DPSM or OP personnel. In fact they can be transferred to any position in the public service. These hard facts prove beyond doubt that the country's electoral management body is not independent. The country hasn't achieved much in trying to remove elections management from the Presidency, previously before 1999, the Permanent Secretary to the President was the Supervisor of Elections. That hasn't changed much as OP remains integral to elections. The President sets the Election Day, after deciding when to dissolve parliament.
The IEC is asking political parties to commit political suicide. They are asking them to assist them in implementing the amendments by way of sensitising the public and by way of assisting by all means to make sure that the amendments are implemented. What are these main amendments to the electoral law? First, those who wish to stand for parliamentary seat should pay P 5000 and those for councils P1000. So the right to stand for public office is becoming more expensive in a country where there are high unemployment and poverty levels and in a political environment where political parties are not funded by the state. Why would IEC ask parties to support this amendment by helping it to disseminate information and encourage future candidates and Batswana in general to be fully on board.
Secondly, the majority ruling party MPs have stopped supplementary election registration following a decision or discussion at their internal party forum. They were clear, 'we are going to stop supplementary registration'. The IEC is effectively asking opposition parties to support voter apathy. It is the same IEC which has been complaining about the small budget and the consequent inability to disseminate information at all the corners of Botswana or engage in a robust voter education campaigns. The same IEC sponsored a study on voter apathy in collaboration with the UB Democracy Research Project. Supplementary election registration is another mechanism of ensuring that the right to vote is achieved. Therefore the abolishment of the process is a violation of the universal adult suffrage as a fundamental political right. Already there are impediments to the enjoyment of this right; only Omang and not the other three official identification documents (birth certificate, drivers license and passport) are allowed for the purpose of registration and voting.
All voters who are not yet 18 at the time of registration but are 18 years of age on election day are disenfranchised by a mere administrative hurdle. Away voting or special voting is not allowed for those on official trips on election day. These impediments to the franchise right and many others haven't been corrected and yet the IEC asks parties to help implement the amendment. This would be political suicide. It is said that this amendment is deliberate to make sure that the disgruntled poor and unemployed youth don't register to vote and therefore increase the chances of the ruling party at the polls. Supplementary registration is believed by some to have been adequately utilised by over 85% of the Zambian youth who subsequently removed the Movement for Multi Party Democracy (MMD) from power and voting for the Patriotic Front of Michael Sata at the time. The ruling party in Botswana is said to be in fear of what the youth might do in 2019. The ruling party claims that the opposition uses supplementary registration to voter traffic or cheat. This is absurd!
Thirdly, the law replaces ballot papers and box with the EVMs. The IEC requests parties to assist it in the use of EVMs. They ask parties to avail IT experts to appreciate the technical aspects and language about the EVMs. Parties are asked to allow the IEC to inter alia address official party gatherings for voter education on the machines. The oppositions has collectively rejected the EVMs and the manner in which they're introduced. They may go to court soon to challenge the new law. It would be suicidal to start educating their members and supporting the IEC on EVMs. It would weaken their case.
The IEC is unclear on what its expert advise on the recent major amendments of the electoral law was. It is unclear if the amendments will make its work easier or harder. In its current form it is not independent at all.
Batswana, whenever the amendments are discussed, should ask why the three aforementioned amendments were prioritised over other suggestions by all party conference, parliament and the stakeholder workshops, these suggestions include things such as public funding of political parties, access to the state media, election day setting, direct election of the president, automatic or rolling or continuous election registration etcetera. The opposition which represents the majority of the voters at about 53% should go to court all the way to the court of appeal and demonstrate on the streets against these amendments. They should consider boycotting the 2019 general elections unless freeness, fairness and utmost credibility of the electoral process is guaranteed. They should alert the international community that the ruling party which represents only about 46% of the voters is intending to clandestinely and illegal cling to power.