Wednesday’s press briefing by the caretaker Council of Ministers brought a bit more clarity in the current electoral confusion. Apparently, the original decree submitted to dissolve Parliament and set early elections did in fact consider the terms and deadlines in the Electoral Ordinance as well as the Law on Registering and Financing Political Parties.
However, based on consultations involving the governor, a second decree with different dates was submitted and ratified that – as it turned out – conflicted with those same terms and deadlines, prompting all members of the Central Voting Bureau to make their positions available. It’s – to say the least – an interesting situation that is to be discussed at this afternoon’s urgent Parliament meeting on the issue called by the current NA-led coalition.
Although the legislature – for obvious reasons – doesn’t really get involved in the process of preparing and executing parliamentary elections, one can understand the desire to get answers. What the elected representatives will hear is that Nomination Day, Election Day and the newly-elected Parliament taking office have all been postponed from respectively October 1, November 25 and December 23.
To exactly when, however, according to outgoing Prime Minister Leona Romeo-Marlin won’t be announced until the governor has signed the latest decree that is to address the scheduling problems. She emphasised that Parliament will still be dissolved.
Hopefully, the saying “third time’s a charm” applies in this case.
