There had been some doubts as to the legality of the United Democratic Party (UDM) to contest the forthcoming Local Council elections tomorrow in Ward 369, but this has been cleared by the Political Parties Registration Commission (PPRC) and National Electoral Commission (NEC).
Robert Paine the Mediation and Programmes Manager PPRC said that as long as the UDM have been issued with a Registration Certificate they have the right to contest the election.
Paine said the only time the UDM should not have participated in elections is when they were only issued with the temporary certificate “but since they have fulfilled the registration criteria they have become a political party and can contest any election.”
Albert Massaquoi the Chief of External Outreach Relations at the national Electoral Commission (NEC) in an interview said for the Local Council elections even independent candidates can contest and since UDM has been issued with the Registration Certificates they can contest any election in the country.
As the national election is barely ten months away people are of the opinion that this Bye- election is a waste of resources. Albert Massaquoi however said that this is being done in accordance with the provisions in the law which states that when there is a vacancy within a period of 30 days they should conduct an election.
He further explained that if the national election is to be held in six months there is provision that no election should be conducted. “If the national election was to be held around May-June then we would not have conducted the election. But we have 10 months to the general elections, (so) we have to conduct the elections because if we fail people will take us to task that we have failed in our mandate.”
The Chief of External Outreach said that they have a legal responsibility to make sure that the people are registered and vote as it is their right and “we will fulfill this obligation when the voters go out and vote.”
Questioned about the cost of this election, the Chief of External Outreach disclosed that this is not a big election as it only has only three centers and 10 polling stations. “Though I can’t give you the actual cost of the election but I can say it is not costly as compared to the others. We are not going to register again the people have to use their 2008 voter’s registration card.”
By Betty Milton
ADVERTISEMENT