When votes count

Comment

May we congratulate all  the winners of the Primary Elections and for putting themselves up to be counted as leaders of tomorrow.
Plaudit also goes to all the losers who demonstrated maturity by being gracious in defeat.

To the voters who went out in numbers to cast that all important vote, we trust you have made the right choices.
There is no turning back now; the candidates you have placed at the country’s disposal will form our government for the next five years – for better or for worse.
It takes great effort by the voter to produce a peaceful and prosperous nation; a process which begins with votes cast on the basis of merit and not by favour or bribery.

It also takes a lot of planning to prepare for and conduct a free and fair election for the greater good of the country.
The credibility of any election is measured by - among other things – an unquestionable transparency and accountability of the process.
This means there can be no room for secret tenders such as those of the printing of ballot papers and the SMS results facility when the option to put them out to public would have enhanced the integrity of the entire process.

As with any election, there are bound to be complaints.
Those lodged with the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) may be relatively few compared to the overall results countrywide but the fact remains; some people were unable to vote properly through no fault of their own for one reason or the other.
We trust their concerns will be accorded the urgency and attention they deserve.

An important lesson to take from the Primary Elections is that you can never take away a people’s resolve.
Parliamentarians may have let the people down when they passed a vote of no confidence on Cabinet following their submissions at Sibaya only to turn around and change it, but the casualty list on elected Cabinet ministers underscores a people’s desire for new ideas to move this country

forward.

Not even the EBC can change this.
After all, as a country, we do not deserve to be bottom of the lot in SADC or even on the African continent because we are capable and deserving of a higher status.

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