EISA in the news 2007
Updated 2007
The stories below feature instances where EISA has been cited in the media.
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November
Participation of women in political life
28 Nov 2007
With the support of the Norwegian embassy, EISA has launched a program of capacity
building to increase the participation of women in political life in Madagascar.
September
Lesotho sets a good example for Africa
29 sept 2007, 16:15
It was agreed that there is a need to detect early warning signs of conflict. Electoral Institute of Southern Africa Director, Vincent Tohbi says, "We are here to tell the people of Lesotho that there are many ways of dealing with conflict. The conflict they're facing today is minor to what we experienced in the DRC, but they have to be precautious because those things can pre-empt serious turbulences in the country."
Lesotho tries to resolve post election tension
27 Sept 2007, 12:15
A three day congress aimed at resolving the post election conflict between political parties in Lesotho draws to a close in Maseru today. The congress was organised by the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA) and the Lesotho Council of Non-Governmental organisations (LCN).
Low turnout in Madagascar elections 'threatens MPs legitimacy'
24 Sep 2007, DPA Earthtimes.org
"The polling itself went well," said Dieudonne Tshiyoyo, senior programme officer at the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA), which deployed a team of election monitors to the polls. There had been no reports of violence during the vote. "The biggest issue is the level of participation, which appears to be very low," he told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
August
SAfrica's ANC to benefit from floor crossing season
08:02 Cape Town,30 Aug 2007 (AFP)
"If we go by our experiences of the past, most defectors are likely to join the ANC," said Denis Kadima,the executive director of the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa told AFP.
July
African Elections Well Established but Facing Many Obstacles
26 July 2007, Voice of America online, Scott Bobb, Johannesburg
A total of 19 African countries are holding multi-party elections this year, a far cry from a few years ago when many countries in Africa were dominated by single-party governments or military dictators. But quite a few elections on the continent continue to be marred by irregularities and administrative problems.
Lesotho unrest reaching crisis point
ABC Radio National- 15 July 2007, ELIZABETH JACKSON: It's a poverty stricken, southern African country that's in the middle of a political and economic crisis. Not Zimbabwe, but the tiny Kingdom of Lesotho. Unrest is growing in the country and there have been assassination attempts on its political leaders. As our Africa Correspondent Andrew Geoghegan reports, Lesotho's decline might see it eventually swallowed up by South Africa.
June
Can SA resist playing bully in its backyard?
Mail & Guardian Online - 18 Jun 2007, Khabele Matlosa
South Africa’s most critical challenge in its regional relations since the advent of democracy in 1994 has been how to engage its neighbours in ways that are different from hegemonic bullying, while still providing robust leadership among its peers.
February
No Sense If People Vote and Their Lives Remain the Same
IPS - 23 Feb 2007, Moyiga Nduru
Results issued this week show that the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) has swept back to power in parliamentary elections held Feb. 17. The party, at the helm since 1998, won 61 of the 80 contested seats -- leaving the main opposition grouping, the All Basotho Convention (ABC), to take 17.
Lesotho: Elections "Credible, Free And Fair", LCD Returned to Power
22 Feb 2007, allAfrica.com, Joseph Ngwawi, Harare
The Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) was declared as the winner of the 2007 general elections, winning most of the 80 contested constituencies in a 17 February poll.
LESOTHO: Former military junta threatens protest over election results
21 Feb 2007, IRIN
Maj-Gen Justine Metsing Lekhanya, formerly chairman of the military council that ruled the country for five years, now leader of the Basotho National Party (BNP), is threatening to protest his party's failure to win a single constituency seat in the recent general election.
Lesotho : Election body attributes delays to lack of polling material
20 Feb 2007, African Press Agency, Maseru
Lack of election materials at some polling stations has been blamed for the delay in the announcement of election results, the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA) said here Monday.
Lesotho: Counting of Votes Under Way in Election
allAfrica.com - 17 Feb 2007
Vote counting began soon after the closure of polling stations in Lesotho's elections on Saturday. But in some rural areas, voting hours were extended after ballot papers arrived late.
Election time for kingdom in the clouds
IOL - 15 Feb 2007, Fran Blandy
The tiny mountain kingdom of Lesotho heads into its fourth general elections on Saturday with the ruling party trying to fight off a concerted challenge from one of its former leading lights.
LESOTHO: A small country whose volatile elections have caused big problems
13 Feb 2007, IRIN
Lesotho, a small mountainous country surrounded by South Africa, provides its much larger neighbour, the continent's economic powerhouse, with water to fuel its industrial growth, and political volatility to test its patience.
LESOTHO : Electoral institute mission to observe Lesotho elections
13 Feb 2007, African Press Agency, Maseru
The leader of a team of the seventeen member team of the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA) observer mission to Lesotho, Sir Ketumile Masire, former President of Botswana, said Tuesday that they are ready to observe the general elections on Saturday.
Harmonisation
12 Feb 2007, The Daily Mirror Online The Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA) has called for wide consultations on the proposed harmonisation of presidential and parliamentary elections in 2010.
Regional electoral institute to observe Lesotho elections
07 Feb 2007, African Press Agency, Maseru
A 14-member electoral observer mission from the Electoral Institute of Southern African (EISA) is expected in Maseru, the capital on Thursday, to observe Lesotho’s general elections scheduled for February 17.
January
Institute Of Southern Africa To Meet With Political Parties
AngolaPress - 20 Jan 2007
The Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA) will meet this Friday in Luanda with extra-parliamentary political parties, and with those represented in the constituent assembly on 24 January, in the ambit of the assistance which that regional institution has been giving to the Angolan electoral process.