Africa-Press – Mozambique. The Southern African Development Community’s electoral management bodies must reinvent themselves so that elections in the region do not spread Covid-19, with its negative impact on economic and social life.
Such was the challenge issued by Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosário at the opening of the 23rd Annual General Conference of Electoral Commissions Forum of SADC countries in Maputo yesterday.
The Prime Minister justified the challenge by the fact that electoral processes are frequently characterised by congregation of citizens for registration, and during electoral campaigns and voting – all the way, indeed, to the celebration of the results.
“The Covid-19 pandemic challenges us to reinvent ourselves so that these processes do not become the focus of the spread of this disease, which has a negative impact on the economic and social life of our countries,” Agostinho do Rosário said.
In the two working days of this conference, he said, the SADC electoral bodies must therefore seek solutions, through the sharing of knowledge and experiences, so that electoral processes in the coming years do not put at risk the health of both electoral agents and voters, while still guaranteeing the credibility and integrity of the vote.
Agostinho do Rosário noted that the meeting was taking place in an atypical context, characterised by the threat of terrorist actions currently affecting the region, including some areas of Mozambique, such as Cabo Delgado province.
These factors, he said, together with the impacts of climate change felt more acutely in the region recently, constitute challenges for electoral management bodies in their task of organising and conducting inclusive and participatory elections.
The ECF-SADC’s 23rd Annual General Conference is held under the theme “Conduct of Elections in the context of Covid-19 Pandemic and Hostile Social Media Environment”.
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