The Atiku Abubakar Campaign Organization
has expressed reservations about
many
clauses in the new electoral bill
recently passed by the House of
Representatives.In
a statement released in Abuja on Friday,
the Campaign Organization said many of
the clauses in the new bill have the
potentials of reducing rather than
expanding the democratic space in the
country.“The clause reducing the number
of delegates by almost one-third reduces
the democratic space rather than expand
it.The decision to remove members of
state assemblies, party chairmen and
local
council chairmen from the list of
delegates for the election of
presidential candidates for the
political parties for instance not only
reduces
the democratic space, it also poses the
threat of isolating the parties from the
grassroots where their strengths should
lie.
The Party chairmen in local councils,
council chairmen and members of state
assemblies are the faces of the parties
at the grassroots.“These are the point’s
men of the party in the grassroots. They
provide the liaison between the party at
the federal, state and local council
levels. Their removal from the
delegates’ list therefore poses a threat
to the grassroots base for the political
parties.”
The Campaign Organization also queried
the clause in the bill which
stipulated
the hosting of the party presidential
primaries in Abuja
rather
than the states where they were designed
in the previous bill.“The logic behind
holding presidential primaries is to
ensure that presidential candidates
visit the states and become familiar
with the problems and aspirations of
Nigerians across the country. The
hosting of presidential primaries in
Abuja poses the danger of producing
presidents who are not familiar with the
experiences of Nigerians in the states.
“If the presidential candidates truly
want to serve Nigerians, they should
not only campaign in the states, they
should test their acceptability in the
states as well.”The Campaign
Organization called on the Senate to
review the bill when it deliberates on
it to ensure that the electoral bill
expands the democratic space rather than
constricts it.“Passing the bill as it is
presently constituted, poses grave
danger to our democracy.”It appealed to
the PDP, other political parties and
civil society to intervene and save our
nascent democracy.
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