17 Sep 2013

Representative of the chair of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, also President of Namibia, Mr Hifikepunye Pohamba has announced the presence and engagement of the SADC Election Observer Mission (SEOM) in Swaziland.

The SADC nation will hold elections on September 20. A press statement from SADC said in conduct of its observer exercise in the Kingdom of Swaziland, the SEOM would deploy observers in all the four regions of the country.

The statement stated that SEOM will interact with relevant stakeholders and other election observer missions, aiming at gathering, sharing and verifying information. “It is important to underscore that the election observation exercise is an endeavour to ensure adherence to the regional democratic standards, norms and values,” said the statement.

It also provided an opportunity to learn and share the best democratic practices among member states in the conduct of democratic elections. This contributed to the enhancement of democracy and governance in SADC member states and the region as a whole.

The statement said SEOM’s purpose in engaging relevant stakeholders in a consultative process was to enhance the transparency and credibility of the electoral process in Swaziland.

It said the last SEOM engagement in the electoral observation exercise in Swaziland was in 2008 and the mission in the same light undertook a systematic assessment of the electoral process in accordance with the SADC principles and guidelines governing democratic elections.

The scope of the SEOM would include, among others, the constitutional and legal guarantees of freedom and rights of the citizens, a conducive environment for free, fair and peaceful elections.

The scope will also include non-discrimination in the voters’ registration, existence of updated and accessible voters’ roll and counting of the votes at polling stations. People of Swaziland were encouraged to exercise their political and democratic right to participate in the electoral process either as voters or as contestants.Ends