It is important the fundamental interest of the country must not be overlooked in decisions, says Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and NEC and Chairman of the Inter Departmental Election Committee, Ivan Pomaleu.
He was referring to the extension of the date for the return of writs to August 5th, 2022
Mr Pomaleu said that aside from the law, it is important that the fundamental interest of our people must not be overlooked in these decisions.
“For a variety of reasons, it has become clear to us that most writs will not be returned to the Head of State on Friday, July 29th.
“I also understand that the Electoral Commission had a few options before him, but in his considered view chosen to move the date of the return of writs to 05 August 2022.
“This is to ensure that most of our people are represented in Parliament when meets in its first meeting of the 11th Parliament. It is this interest that we have all been concerned about”, he added.
This comes at the back of his calls earlier this week for counting to progress uninterrupted.
“It was very clear to us early this week that we may not meet the deadline. It is therefore important that all election officials and security personnel focus on ensuring that counting progresses in the coming days, and that writs are returned to the Office of the Electoral Commissioner this week”.
He made a specific call to all Public Servants involved in the process to ensure that they collectively deliver the election results as expected of them and not to unnecessarily disrupt counting to pursue their priorities such as allowances.
“Your first priority as a public servant is to deliver the elections and not to cause unnecessary delays. I will be issuing instructions to all departmental heads and provincial administrators to ensure that public servants engaging in disruptive behaviors are to be disciplined after this process is complete.”
Mr Pomaleu called on citizens to remain calm and allow the election officials, the security forces and the other stakeholders to ensure the delivery of the election is successful.