PRESIDENT John Magufuli has constituted the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security for observation of the 2016 National Assembly Elections in the Republic of the Seychelles.
A speech by the Minister of Foreign
Affairs and International Cooperation, Dr Augustine Mahiga, made
available from Victoria, Seychelles yesterday, pointed out that
President Magufuli who is Chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics,
Defence and Security mandated the executive secretary of SADC to prepare
the logistics for its deployment.
“I am pleased to inform you that the
SADC Electoral Observation Mission to the 2016 National Assembly
Elections is now fully constituted and comprises 19 observers from eight
SADC member states.
We also urge all political parties to
adhere and accept the results of the elections and lodge their
complaints and grievances through the relevant institutions.
“As the voting days of the 8-10
September, 2016 approaches …the outcome of this election lies in the
hands of the people of the Republic of the Seychelles,” said Dr Mahiga
who represented Dr Magufuli.
He noted that the mission in Seychelles
was at the invitation of the Electoral Commission of the Republic of the
Seychelles and that the practice is now part of democratic culture and
tradition in the SADC region.
Minister Mahiga said a substantial
amount of effort has already been invested in the preparations for the
important mission, beginning with the ground work undertaken by the SADC
Secretariat, the SADC Electoral Advisory Council Goodwill Mission, the
Troika and other stakeholders, to ensure the realisation of the
objectives and mandate of the observation mission.
Over the last two decades, SADC has
developed and enhanced its normative frameworks governing democratic
elections which have contributed to its endeavour as a region to work
toward the realisation of the vision of the SADC Treaty of 1992.
On 20th July, 2015, the Ministerial
Committee of the Organ adopted the revised SADC Principles and
Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections, which aim to strengthen their
skills and capabilities of assessing the major inter-related segments
of the electoral cycle in order to provide stronger evidence-based
recommendations and electoral assistance to member states.
The SADC Electoral Advisory Council
Goodwill Mission arrived in the Seychelles on 22 August, 2016 ahead of
the main Short Term Electoral Observation Mission of the SADC Electoral
Observation Mission, signifying the enhanced approach to election
observation, which will eventually build their capacity to develop and
sustain Long Term Election Observation (LTO) missions.
The Seychelles is an archipelago of 115
islands in the Indian Ocean, off East Africa that got independence from
the United Kingdom on 29th June 1976
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