The Registrar of the Political Parties’ Registration Commission, Abraham John, has told Politico in Freetown that they are concerned about their inability to function effectively in the absence of an Act that would empower them to cancel the registration of candidates and political parties that ignore warning and contravene the law. Read the full interview below:
Politico: What are the plans of the PPRC – if there is any – for the elections with barely 100 days to go?
John: We have been preparing ourselves before the 100 days to elections. We have made efforts to review the current PPRC Act that is now before parliament. It gives a lot of powers to the PPRC to sanction political parties that are in violation of the act. If the Act is passed, the PPRC is sure that political violence will be curtailed.
Politico: Are you concerned that with time almost against you, Parliament has still not amended that Act. When do you think the Act will be approved so that you can start your operations?
John: The delay of the passing of the Act is a source of concern and the PPRC is worried that an Act of such a nature has not been given the attention it deserves but the PPRC has done the best it can and it is now left with members of Parliament to amend the Act.
Politico: And once that Act is passed, what are some of the powers that will be given to the PPRC to make it effective and efficient.
John: One of the key aspects of the Act is that it gives the PPRC the powers to cancel the registration of candidates and political parties that ignore warning and continue to contravene the PPRC Act after warning. Under the existing PPRC Act, the PPRC can only go through the Supreme Court to cancel the registration of candidates and political parties.
Politico: If or when the powers are given to you by the amended Act, does the PPRC have the fiber to cancel the registration of any political power found wanting of violating the Act?
John: Once the law is passed, the PPRC will implement it to the letter by sanctioning any political party caught to be in violation of provisions of the Act.
Politico: Including the ruling party?
John: Every political party. Even the ruling political party is under the political parties Act.
Politico: When will campaign start?
John: We are waiting for NEC, whose chairman is a sitting commissioner of the PPRC, to put out its campaign schedule and the PPRC will monitor the process. Once the campaign schedule is put out, we will monitor the process.
Politico: How many days are political parties allow to campaign?
John: PPRC – I can’t remember the relevant sections in the political parties Act but NEC will put out the time frame, which I think is about a month.
Politico: Is that enough time for political parties to campaign?
John: PPRC – That’s what the law provides for now. The law provides that campaign should last for a month according to the law.
Politico: While waiting for the amendment of the political parties Act, is the PPRC on top of situations as we have barely 100 days to elections?
John: The PPRC will work within the framework of the existing law passed by Parliament to execute its duties. And that the existing law is inadequate to for the PPRC to monitor the activities of political parties. And that is why the PPRC is looking forward to the enactment of the new PPRC Act.
Politico: How relevant or impotent is the existing PPRC Act?
John: As it is now, the existing Act gives powers to PPRC but not enough powers to sanction indiscipline political parties. The PPRC can only mediate rather than sanction political parties that are intransigent. And with the existing Act, it will be unfortunate if the public perception is that the PPRC can regulate or handle the activities of the political parties that are found wanting for violating the Act.
The PPRC therefore wants Parliament to pass the new PPRC Act that will give tit enough powers to deal with cases of violation of electoral misconduct. The PPRC is therefore hoping that all actors in the elections process, including the security forces, media could on hands on deck to ensure a successful outcome of the November polls.
Politico: Thank You
© Politico 09/08/12
