By The Globe Reporter
PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda’s address during opening of the 10th Session of the National Assembly is insufficient and fails short of addressing the core Good Governance, Foundation for Democratic Process (FODEP) has observed.
In as statement released by FODEP secretariat, FODEP stated that President Banda’s address failed short of addressing the electoral reforms and constitution making process.
“His brief talk on the Continuous Voter Registration and the ongoing review of Electoral Code of Conduct was inadequate as it did not give hope on whether or not the country would have sufficiently prepared itself to conduct the 2011 elections under a new and strengthened electoral legal framework,” read the statement in part. “FODEP feels that the President’s address on many sectors of the economy such as agriculture, education, health and mining gave an accurate impression of what is on the ground. However, FODEP expected the President to make the same policy pronouncements on how the government intended to move forward in the implementation and incorporation of electoral related recommendations in the Draft Constitution into the Electoral Act. We expected the President to also state Government’s position on the possibility of the country having a new Constitution.”
FODEP stated that President Banda should have guided the country on the government’s position on funding the Issuance of National Registration Cards and Mobile Voter Registration exercises in view of the many calls from stakeholders and individuals to revisit the two national exercises.
“We further expected the President’s address to have responded to questions like: What is his administration’s priority in the electoral reforms? Is government going to enact a New Constitution before 2011 tripartite elections or is the country going to hold a National Referendum to adopt contentious issues such as the 50% +1 vote? Is the current Electoral Act going to be reviewed and amended in view of some of the positive recommendations in the Draft Constitution?” read the statement.
FODEP called for the quick revision of the current electoral law to empower the Electoral Commission of Zambia administer and conduct the forthcoming elections in an efficient and effective manner.
“This is the only way the President’s call on political parties to maintain peace, law and order ahead of the elections while ensuring stability during the 2011 tripartite elections can be realised,” read the statement. “Without a strong legal backing to the Electoral Commission of Zambia, his call on political parties may not be attainable. “
PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda’s address during opening of the 10th Session of the National Assembly is insufficient and fails short of addressing the core Good Governance, Foundation for Democratic Process (FODEP) has observed.
In as statement released by FODEP secretariat, FODEP stated that President Banda’s address failed short of addressing the electoral reforms and constitution making process.
“His brief talk on the Continuous Voter Registration and the ongoing review of Electoral Code of Conduct was inadequate as it did not give hope on whether or not the country would have sufficiently prepared itself to conduct the 2011 elections under a new and strengthened electoral legal framework,” read the statement in part. “FODEP feels that the President’s address on many sectors of the economy such as agriculture, education, health and mining gave an accurate impression of what is on the ground. However, FODEP expected the President to make the same policy pronouncements on how the government intended to move forward in the implementation and incorporation of electoral related recommendations in the Draft Constitution into the Electoral Act. We expected the President to also state Government’s position on the possibility of the country having a new Constitution.”
FODEP stated that President Banda should have guided the country on the government’s position on funding the Issuance of National Registration Cards and Mobile Voter Registration exercises in view of the many calls from stakeholders and individuals to revisit the two national exercises.
“We further expected the President’s address to have responded to questions like: What is his administration’s priority in the electoral reforms? Is government going to enact a New Constitution before 2011 tripartite elections or is the country going to hold a National Referendum to adopt contentious issues such as the 50% +1 vote? Is the current Electoral Act going to be reviewed and amended in view of some of the positive recommendations in the Draft Constitution?” read the statement.
FODEP called for the quick revision of the current electoral law to empower the Electoral Commission of Zambia administer and conduct the forthcoming elections in an efficient and effective manner.
“This is the only way the President’s call on political parties to maintain peace, law and order ahead of the elections while ensuring stability during the 2011 tripartite elections can be realised,” read the statement. “Without a strong legal backing to the Electoral Commission of Zambia, his call on political parties may not be attainable. “
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