Dear Editor,
As a layperson, two articles in the dailies dealing with joinder lists were educational, instructive and brought clarity to an issue which became known after the 2020 elections and taken hold in this season. The authors of these articles must be commended for their insights.
The two articles referred to are “Why the electoral system poses challenges for small parties?” and “‘Joinder list leaves no room for sharing of seats’, former GECOM advisor (June 25)”.
The former article gave an opinion and viewpoint, while the latter was more legalistic.
From the latter’s interpretations, it begs the question: was the law misapplied in 2020 when the three parties joined their lists, even though the columnist contends it did not meet the threshold for a seat allocation but was still given a seat and chose to rotate occupancy of said seat? Secondly, if seats cannot be shared (rotated), is there any value in joining lists when only the party with the highest number of votes can occupy parliament for the duration of its life? This seems to be a conundrum?!
It would be useful to hear of the AG’s take on these articles and ROPA itself regarding joinder lists.
Sincerely,
Shamshun Mohamed
