Pac wants Parliament to discus electoral reforms November
Public Affairs Committee (Pac) has asked the government and all stakeholders involved in electoral reforms to have the Electoral Reforms Bill ready for tabling in Parliament by November.
Pac Publicity Secretary, Peter Mulomole, made the remarks after the committee’s board meeting on Wednesday in Blantyre.
Mulomole said the pace of the electoral reforms has been slower than expected, contrary to what presidential candidates during the 2014 tripartite elections campaign period had promised.
“We hoped that by now, the reforms would have made good progress, three years after the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ascended to power. All aspiring candidates made promises to propagate the reforms in good time. We should have been somewhere by now,” he said.
Mulomole said the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs had assured Pac that the reforms will be tabled in November’s sitting of Parliament.
“We are looking forward to November. We know there is a lot that has to be done before the reforms are finally passed because they have to go through Cabinet. But we are hopeful that come November, the reforms will be tabled in Parliament,” he said.
Mulomole said there have been formal and informal meetings between Pac and the government on the issues that were discussed at the 5+1 All Inclusive Stakeholders Conference, which took place in June.
“We have been meeting various government officials to discuss recommendations of the 5+1 All Inclusive Stakeholders Conference and we are making progress,” he said.
The committee is scheduled to meet Local Government Minster, Kondwani Nankhumwa, today to discuss progress made on the Local Government Act.
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