The EC must be allowed to act neutrally

At a day-long discussion in the city on Saturday, political analysts, former bureaucrats and good governance campaigners were all in agreement that the country's democratic system would collapse without a free and fair polls system.

The blatantly low voter turnout at this February's mayoral elections has sent a sobering message to the country, in particular to those governing it. It reflected the apathy and lack of faith in the Election Commission (EC) and the entire electoral system. This disinclination to exercise one of the fundamental rights of a citizen belonging to a democracy has not come about in a day. It is based on the bitter experience of previous elections during which the Election Commission failed to hold elections without allegations of vote rigging, voter and opposition party intimidation, violence and other ploys that completely marred the electoral atmosphere.

It is a tragedy for the voters that despite all the pre-election assurances by the EC regarding the steps it would take to make sure that the mayoral elections would be held in a free and fair manner by taking action in the case of irregularities, in reality, all the fears voters had regarding the polls seem to come true. There were reports of opposition polling agents being driven away from the centres, "helpers" casting votes for the voters, lack of privacy while voting in the booths, fingerprints not matching with those on the databases and vicious attacks on journalists for trying to cover the polls. Thus, many voters who did vote were not very happy with the experience while others didn't bother to come at all because of experiences in previous elections. Logically, this is most likely to result in even fewer voters turning up for the next elections.

The Election Commission can no longer bury its head in the sand and pretend everything is in order after letting the voters down so miserably. More importantly, the powers that be must recognise that having such a low voter turnout and the reasons behind it cannot be allowed to go on in future elections. It is about time that the Election Commission is allowed to act neutrally by addressing all kinds of irregularities before and during the polls and for the government to make sure that a conducive, intimidation-free atmosphere exists for voters in general, for opposition party candidates and their supporters, as well as for the media. Only then can we expect more voters to turn up at the polling centres. Only then can we say that we are in the right direction in upholding the spirit of democracy and of our Liberation War.