Respect election process, Sinai says

ELECTORAL Commissioner Simon Sinai has advised politicians, candidates and their supporters to respect the constitutional process of electing leaders by allowing the commission to do its work.
He was commenting on the continuing violence between supporters of candidates in Wabag town where the counting for the Lagaip supplementary election was being conducted.
He said the commission and its staff had gone through challenges in the past 20 years and it kept increasing as political leaders, candidates and supporters continued to influence and undermine the work of the commission.
“Election administration and the delivery of elections is not a shared responsibility,” he said.
“There’s no provision in law which states that outsiders can participate in the conduct of elections. It is the sole mandate of the Electoral Commission and as such, I urge all politicians, candidates and their supporters to leave the Electoral Commission alone to perform its constitutional functions.”
He appointed three different returning officers but all resigned after receiving death threats.
“My appeal to the candidates for the Lagaip supplementary election, scrutineers and their supporters is to stop influencing and hijacking the election process,” he said.
“Allow the Electoral Commission to do its job and complete the process.” He said there were the so-called leaders prepared to win at any cost.
“Even to the point of disregarding election laws,” he said.
“(Lagaip) is highly political and people are openly fighting for power.
“They are not respecting us, our election officials who have been tasked to administer and run the elections.”
Sinai said election-related challenges had become more apparent especially in the Highlands Region, when candidates and their supporters started encroaching and influencing the role of the commission during the 2002 General Election.
Meanwhile, counting for the Lagaip supplementary election is continuing with elimination expected to start today.