By-elections will go on as planned - NEC

The National Election Commission (NEC) has said local government by-elections slated for this month in 16 wards will go on as planned. It has also called on the Opposition to go to court if they wish.

Speaking to The Guardian yesterday, NEC Director Rajabu Kiravu said he was sure the electoral body had not breached any elections laws.

Kiravu was referring to a statement issued on Tuesday by a coalition of opposition parties, which threatened to go to court if NEC would not update the voter register.

``What we are doing is to do the rectifications according to law. We cannot stop the opposition parties from doing whatever they plan.

We will just wait for them to take us to court and receive the outcome. It all depends on how they file their case,`` he said.

He said the opposition parties had sent a number of letters calling on NEC to update the permanent voter register.

``I told them that the by-election would go on and things would not change. We held a meeting to discuss the issue. It was resolved that the by-election should go on, ``Kiravu said.

He said: ``The local authority election law says that NEC should plan and conduct local government elections within 90 days soon after they have been ordered to do so by the Prime Minister.

`` Kiravu however, admitted that the law required them to set the time frame and update the permanent voter register in every ward.

But he said it would be impossible to update the register every time there was a by-election as the exercise was simply too costly.

He said they would be updating the register twice in between the elections.
``The first exercise will take place in 2008, while the second will be in 2009/10,`` Kiravu said.

He said they had already registered all youths who reached the age of 18 starting October 30, 2005 to date, adding, ``We shall allow those who had been registered but not to stop the election.

`` Kiravu said failure to conduct the by-election would amount to breaching the law, and amount to denying the people their constitutional right of electing their representatives.

``It would also be a danger if we would conduct a partial registration as this would allow other unqualified persons to take part in the by-elections,`` he said.

Speaking to journalists in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday, Tanzania Labour Party Publicity Secretary Benedicto Mutungireli said they would file a case against NEC tomorrow so that the by-elections were halted.

``The coalition is determined to sue NEC for refusing to enlist new voters. NEC might tamper with the election exercise,`` Mutungireli said.

He added: ``NEC gave us a timetable, saying the by-election process would start on October 2 and effective campaigns were slated to take-off starting October 3 up to 27th October. 28th October is Election Day.

The coalition comprises Chama cha Demokrasia Na Maendeleo, Civil United Front (CUF), NCCR-Mageuzi and TLP.