First Monday of November election date

The Electoral Commission (EC) Wednesday submitted proposals to Parliament for the conduct of the presidential and parliamentary elections on the first Monday of November in an election year.

The Reform Committee of the EC met with the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Committee of Parliament to discuss the proposal, which was generally accepted by the political divide.

The meeting was also attended by a representative of the Attorney-General (A-G) and Minister of Justice.

Following the general acceptance of the proposal, the EC will submit proposed changes to the A-G and then to Cabinet before they will be presented to Parliament for approval and amendment of Article 112 (4) of the 1992 Constitution.

Rationale

Commenting on the issue after the meeting, Mr George Loh, who chaired the meeting, said it was intended for members of the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Committee to understand the issues and the need for the amendment.

He explained that the proposed date was to enable the EC to give enough time for transition and deal with any hitches that would arise out of the conduct of the general election.

He further indicated that members of the committee were convinced that Monday was appropriate to enable voters to travel to their respective places of voting during the weekend, while the EC also had the whole of the weekend to distribute its materials and equipment.

He added that weekends were not considered because of activities such as funerals and weddings which took place during the weekends.

Considering the fact that it was barely eight months to the conduct of the elections, Mr Loh said the members of the committee, as well as the EC, would ensure that processes towards the amendment were expedited to facilitate the passage of the amendment.