Tough elections coming up for IEC: Tselane
Updated | By Cliff Shiko
Former deputy chairperson of the Independent Electoral Commission Terry Tselane says the 2021 local government elections will not be easy for the IEC.
Former deputy chairperson of the Independent Electoral Commission Terry Tselane says the 2021 local government elections will not be easy for the IEC.
This after the Constitutional Court ruled against the IEC's application to postpone the election until February next year
It wants the polls to the held no later than 1 November.
Tselane believes the commission can manage with the short period they have to prepare for the elections.
"The IEC will definitely be able to hold the elections, it is not going to be an easy election, it is not going to be a perfect election, it is going to be a tough election not only for the IEC but also for candidates and political parties. But They will definitely still take place within connotational court's stipulated period."
Tselane says the ball is now in the IEC's court on whether to allow for the reopening of registrations for candidates contesting the election.
The ANC confirmed that it had failed to submit names of candidates in over 90 municipalities.
"There are two different opinions on whether the current court order allows for candidate registration or not, one view is that the constitutional court has not completely invalidated the election timetable may actually be difficult to allow for candidate registration, but another view is that the fact that people will be registering new will give the political parties an opportunity to register their candidates. So, it depends how the IEC is going to be interpreting this together with its legal team but those are the two different opinions that exists currently."
Meanwhile, Parliament's home affairs committee has called on the IEC to explain what progress had been made in preparation for the elections.
It had previously assured Parliament it was ready to hold the elections in October.
Committee chairperson Mosa Chabane says they expect the IEC to brief the committee on its readiness to hold elections.
"We are expecting to get the posture of the IEC on the plans moving forward, in line with the constitutional court judgement, what are the implications if they exist in terms of moving forward. But as we stand, we have that report by the IEC saying they are ready for the local government elections.”
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