tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64582822011-04-21T22:36:57.508+02:00A fortnightly policy brief from the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA)Alkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05227602343875177973noreply@blogger.comBlogger291100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6458282.post-1089703972142791462004-07-13T09:19:00.000+02:002004-07-13T09:43:14.270+02:00

Phanuel Kaapama, University of Namibia Namibia held its third local government election on May 14, 2004. The entire process proceeded without major controversies, and was pronounced as having proceeded in a free and fair atmosphere, all political players and actors therefore accepted its outcome. It later turned out that voters in some local authorities were disturbed by the fact that leaders of

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Dr. Luìs de Brito, Eisa Country Representative in Mozambique The voter registration drive aimed at updating the voters’ roll initially scheduled to take place between 15 and 30 June has been postponed until the period 28 June to15 July. The official reason for the delay is the late arrival of the necessary registration material. According to the electoral authorities, this delay will not affect

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Rafiq Hajat, Institute for Policy Interaction The 2004 Presidential and Parliamentary General Elections have come and gone, and the nation is coming to terms with events that transpired and nursing wounds that were inflicted during violent episodes that took place. This election was significantly different from its predecessors in several ways. First, the incumbent President had completed his

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Dr. Kenneth Good, University of Botswana The 2004 manifestos of the two main opposition formations, the Botswana Congress Party (BCP), and the electoral pact which draws together the Botswana National Front (BNF), the Botswana People’s Party and the Botswana Alliance Movement, have now been issued. The BCP’s manifesto is a comprehensive 66 page document, which would have benefited from careful

Alkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05227602343875177973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6458282.post-1089300763747116312004-07-08T17:14:00.000+02:002004-07-08T17:39:41.606+02:00

Heidi Brooks and Sydney Letsholo, Eisa With the Mozambique elections just around the corner, the long-standing conflict between the ruling FRELIMO and opposition, RENAMO, appears to have particularly manifested itself in the opposition stronghold of Sofala province Political competition has intensified since RENAMO, for the first time, claimed Beira, Sofala’s municipal centre and second largest

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Dr. Edge Kanyongolo, University of Malawi Since the adoption of a democratic political order in 2004 in Malawi, the impact of the country’s civil society on national political processes has attracted much public debate. The debate has been particularly focused on the context of the electoral process. In the run-up to the elections of 18 May 20041, various civil society organisations have been

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Christiaan Keulder, Institute for Public Policy Research Healthy democracies are perceived to have citizens who care and who are willing to participate to help shape or influence the common agenda for the society. Democracy, more than any other type of regime creates numerous opportunities for citizens to participate. Of these elections are of great importance. Whilst it is possible to have

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Dr. David Sebudubudu, University of Botswana Political rallies are one of the conventional techniques used by all political parties in Botswana to sell and distribute their party programmes, and manifestos to drum up support. Political rallies are platforms that do not only bring politics closer to the electorate but also provide the electorate with an opportunity to interact with their possible

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Dr. Wiseman Chijere Chirwa, Chancellor College, University of Malawi There has recently been a feud between the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) and the National Statistical Office (NSO) over the correct figure for the registered voters in Malawi. During the second week of April 2004, the MEC announced that 6.5 million voters registered for the 18 May 2004 presidential and parliamentary

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Professor Balefi Tsie, University of Botswana Regular, free and fair elections are a central characteristic of representative democracy. Elections give voters an opportunity to choose their leaders for a specified period of time. This implies that there must be reflective choice in elections rather than voting by herd instinct. For that to be the case, voters should possess the voting skills and

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Dr. Eduardo Sitoe, Eduardo Mondlane University Adam Przeworski defines democracy as a system in which parties lose elections (1991). However, in an important footnote Przeworski adds that the system is said to be democratic not only when parties lose elections, but also when losing is neither a social disgrace nor a crime (1991: 10). David Beetham and Kevin Boyle also contend that "Open

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Claude Kabemba, Eisa Towards the end of this year, Namibia will hold its national election as required by the constitution. This will be the country’s fourth democratic election, indicating that Namibia will have respected the election cycle which is a significant sign of a consolidating democracy. The election dates for the coming general elections in Namibia were announced in Parliament by the

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Dr. Luís de Brito, Political Consultant Mozambique is preparing for the third multiparty presidential and legislative elections that are scheduled to take place during the last quarter of this year. After the municipal elections of November 2003, which took place without major problems, signs of growing political tension between Frelimo, the ruling party, and Renamo, the main opposition party,

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Phanuel Kaapama, University of Namibia It seems as if Southern Africa has found a traditional concurrence between elections and the promises and/or threats for involuntary land seizure, to expedite the processes for the re-distribution of land ownership. For instance the land ownership question became a central plank in the political campaigns of the various forces that were vying for political

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Professor Kenneth Good, University of Botswana The electoral playing-field has undergone radical change in the run-up to national elections in Botswana near the end of 2004. In circumstances where life expectancy, under the impact of HIV-AIDS, had fallen below 40 and where the population growth-rate is slowing, Parliament’s size was increased from 40 to 57 elected members in February 2003.

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Rafiq Hajat, Institute for Policy Interaction The Malawi election campaign period was officially launched on Saturday 19 March 2004 by the Chairman of the Malawi Electoral Commission, Justice J. B. Kalaile, who exhorted all contenders to practice tolerance and refrain from violence during the campaign period. In referring to the opposition parties’ uproar on the inaccessibility and biased

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Martinho Chachiua, EISA Observers, analysts and laymen within and outside Mozambique unanimously consider the recent local elections free, fair and legitimate. Indeed, observer missions concluded that overall the elections were well conducted and the results reflect the will of the voters. Some analysts go as far as to argue that if the country remains in this path the prospects for more

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Christiaan Keulder, Institute for Public Policy Research IntroductionNamibia is one of the world’s dominant party systems or what Pempel prefers to term ‘uncommon’ democracies (Pempel T, 1990, Uncommon Democracies: The One-Party Dominant Regimes, Cornell University Press: Ithaca). Its ‘uncommonness’ stems from the fact that its electoral politics is dominated by a single party that currently

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Dr. Edge Kanyongolo, University of Malawi Since the adoption of the current Constitution in 1994, the courts in Malawi have played a very significant role in political processes. One area in which the courts have been remarkably active has been that of elections. In both the elections of 1994 and 1999, courts adjudicated in a wide range of disputes. There is nothing to indicate that the courts

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Dr. David Sebudubudu, University of Botswana The campaign process in the run up to Botswana’s impending general elections is well underway, and this might intensify nearer the election date. The date for the elections, which are most likely to be held around October 2004, has not yet been announced. Despite this, different political parties have started canvassing, as the electoral law is silent

Alkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05227602343875177973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6458282.post-1077194139641302752004-02-19T14:35:00.000+02:002004-02-19T14:45:10.293+02:00

Dr Eduardo Sitoe, Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique In the second local elections held in Mozambique in November 2003, the novelty of the country’s new political configuration came from the village of Marromeu in the Sofala province. Despite the fact that Sofala is regarded as a RENAMO stronghold – not least because this party won there both the 1994 and 1999 general elections and it is

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Dr Victor Tonchi, Chairman of the Namibian Election Commission The Namibian Constitution provides for the establishment of a Delimitation Commission for purposes of creating new regions and constituencies. Over the past 12 years, three such commissions have been established. A Delimitation Commission is temporary and exists only during the period of its mandate. Upon completion of its task, a

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Professor Wiseman Chijere Chirwa, Chancellor College, University of Malawi Malawi’s opposition politicians do not seem to have learnt any lessons from their neighbours in Zambia, Tanzania or Kenya. In both Zambia and Tanzania, the divided opposition parties twice failed to dislodge the governing parties in general elections. The opposition parties in Kenya suffered two defeats before realising

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By Professor Balefi Tsie, University of Botswana IntroductionGeneral elections in Botswana are held every five years. The country is the oldest multiparty democracy in Southern Africa. Since the pre-independence general elections of March 1965, there have been seven general elections held in Botswana. All these elections have been won by the BDP with landslide victories except for the 1994

Alkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05227602343875177973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6458282.post-1076499767725819172004-02-11T13:42:00.000+02:002004-02-11T13:46:24.263+02:00

Phanuel Kaapama, University of Namibia The last two years were characterised by uncertainties and delays, which have thrown a number of challenges in the way of the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) in the execution of its onerous mandate of conducting elections in a free, fair and credible manner. The laws regulating the conduct of elections in Namibia make provision for undertaking the

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Luis de Brito, EISA Country Director, Mozambique Late 2004, Mozambique will, in principle, hold its third general multiparty elections. I say “in principle” because all the electoral processes that have taken place after the introduction of multipartism (1990) and the signature of the General Peace Accord (1992) have known delays, whose origins lie in the systematic mistrust between the main

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Rafiq Hajat, Institute for Policy Interaction Election fever has yet again returned to Malawi with the onset of the registration exercise that commenced on January 5th 2004. The process was initially supposed to run from January 5th – January 18th 2004, but was soon afflicted by severe systemic problems that impeded operations and discouraged would-be voters from registering. The process was

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Kenneth Good, University of Botswana National elections are due in Botswana in the latter part of 2004, but as in every other such event since the eve of independence in 1965, no change in government can reasonably be expected. The ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) enjoys predominance in the political system and the opposition parties are weak and divided; the Botswana National Front (BNF)

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