Amend Electoral Act for independents to contest national and provincial elections – Cope

The Congress of the People (Cope) has called for urgent action to be taken to amend the Electoral Act to allow independent candidates to stand for elections and be allowed to hold public office in the national and provincial legislatures.

#Cope says it is concerned that since ConCourt judgement of 21 June 2018 over funding of political parties there has been no urgent action on the right of individuals to stand for elections and for those elected to hold public office in any legislature. @TheCitizen_News

— Makhosandile (@KadaffiZ) November 26, 2018

Currently, independent candidates can only contest local government elections.

The party announced at a press briefing on Monday that its president, Mosiuoa Lekota, would introduce a Private Member’s Bill in the National Assembly to affect an amendment to the Electoral Act to enable independent candidates to run for elections at national and provincial spheres of the legislatures.

#Cope says it has introduced a Private Member's Bill in the National Assembly to effect an amendment to the electoral legislation to enable individuals to stand as independents at provincial and national level. @TheCitizen_News

— Makhosandile (@KadaffiZ) November 26, 2018

Lekota said: “This proposal has been taking an inordinately long time for the speaker’s office to handle in the proper way and [give] advice accordingly so that a remedy to a serious defect is promulgated in time for the 2019 elections.”

The party further called on the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to accordingly advise parliament on the amendment of the Electoral Act to allow independent candidates to contest elections at a national and provincial level.

Lekota said this would ensure that the electorate can choose their preferred candidates to hold office at national and provincial legislatures and subsequently be empowered to hold accountable those they have elected as public representatives.

#Cope President #MosiuoaLekota says the introduction of a constituency system will give power to the people who can hold their elected leaders accountable @TheCitizen_News

— Makhosandile (@KadaffiZ) November 26, 2018

“The current proportional representation system makes it difficult to hold individual political leaders accountable,” Lekota said.

Cope said it would embark on an intense campaign to solicit the support of civil society, business formations, the religious fraternity, and other stakeholders, including concerned individuals, to support its call to amend the Electoral Act.

“[People] must have the right to choose their public representatives unencumbered by the power play by political party bosses and their machinations.

#MosiuoaLekota: "Let's put power back in the hands of the people …" #Cope wants electoral legislation amended to allow independents to contest elections at provincial and national level. @TheCitizen_News

— Makhosandile (@KadaffiZ) November 26, 2018

“In order to uplift the people’s power, we must first ensure that our leaders and representatives are held accountable by those who lend them their power through voting and elections.”

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