Refilwe Mekoa
Thirteen political parties in the Free State pledged to abide by the Independent Electoral Commission’s code of conduct towards the election date.
With only 56 days left before the upcoming general elections various political parties are intensifying their campaigning in order to gain more votes.
The IEC’s Provincial Executive Officer Chris Mepha emphasised that days are gone when political parties were restricted to campaign in certain areas. He was addressing various stakeholders and 13 political parties in Bloemfontein on Monday morning. Mepha labelled the election period as a celebratory time where political parties are expected to campaign peacefully though their emotions might be accelerating.
"We expect that all political parties, by observing the code, will also do so when campaigning in their respective areas. As electoral commission we do not expect to hear that a certain political party is denied access to a certain area. There shouldn’t be any restrictions to any political party. We urge all political parties to respect each other as they go about their work," he said.
He pleaded with all political parties that if they lose, they should lose with dignity. Mepha said only the NFP, UDM, AZAPO and PAC didn’t arrive for the pledging out of the 17 parties that they expected. "I was happy to see more female political leaders emerging. In the previous years I haven’t seen it happen. This means our country is changing and liberating more women," he told Courant.
Also present at the event was IEC vice chairperson Jerry Tselane who emphasised the seriousness of the election period. He stated that many people lose their lives during this time as circumstances in many political parties become impossible.
"We should compare these elections with that of 1994. They are just as important. We might be facing different logistics at the moment. Every little thing that we do is being scrutinised by the public and political parties. We cannot afford to have any deviations. Even by-elections are also scrutinised to a point where we end up taking the legal route. The problem is inter-party conflict, which should be resolved amongst those affected," said Tselane.
Meanwhile, it is natural that tension would rise, but political parties should be willing to compromise. The VFplus promised to follow the code without any violence, the DA emphasised the importance of respect and that parties should refrain from bribing.
While the Economic Freedom Fighters stated that though there is a misconception that they are going to fight, they will not fight. They understand the repercussions of war but will still constitutionally take what belongs to Africans.
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