President Ramkalawan receives 2020 Electoral Report |23 January 2021
President Ramkalawan accepts the report from Mrs Amesbury and Mr Lucas (Photo: Mervin Marie)
It is very important to emphasise on the duties and mandate of the Electoral Commission, thus eliminating the perception that the institution functions only once every five, precisely during the election periods, chief electoral officer Manuella Amesbury has said.
Mrs Amesbury emphasised on that yesterday, shortly after presenting a copy of the 2020 election’s Electoral Reports to President Wavel Ramkalawan at State House, in the presence of the chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC) Danny Lucas.
The exercise is in line with Article 116 of the Constitution which describes the functions of the EC.
Article 116 (2) of the Constitution states that the EC shall, within ninety days after each election or referendum under this Constitution, submit to the National Assembly and the President a report on the conduct of (a) the political campaign leading up to the election or referendum; and (b) the election or referendum, together with such recommendations as the Commission may consider necessary for the purposes of ensuring true, fair and effective elections and referenda.
As for Article 116 (4), it states that as soon as is practicable within thirty days after the submission of the report under clause (3) the President shall cause to be laid before the National Assembly the draft of an order by the President for giving effect to the recommendations contained in the report relating to changes in the number or boundaries of the electoral areas referred to in the report and the draft may make provision for any matter which appears to the President to be incidental to or consequential upon the other provisions of the draft.
Mrs Amesbury noted that it was very important to include recommendations on the way the EC works throughout the five years prior to an election, including more emphasis on electoral officers and other stakeholders.
This, she said, is a way to formalise the EC structure and equip the staff, thus preparing them in time for better delivery during elections.
Other than review of electoral areas boundaries, recommendations have also been made to amend some of the election laws which had several limitations while put into practice during the last elections.
Electoral boundaries should normally create geographical divisions or electoral constituencies for the purpose of electing government representatives.
These constituencies consist of subsets of all the country's eligible voters, who then cast their ballots to elect people to represent their geographic area and political and social interests.
The chief electoral officer further added that all the recommendations will come with a very strong and well guided educational programme that will ease the learning process of the whole population.
Due to the current financial difficulties, Mrs Amesbury explained that since the exercise will be a costly one, they will have to engage in various discussions with the authority to reach an agreement on how soon it can be kick-started.
The report also includes reports from various observers, including both local and international.
Roland Duval