By-election to be held within six months

MBABANE – The lack of a definitive timeline within which a vacant political seat is supposed to be filled will now be a thing of the past.

The Elections Act of 2013, as it currently stands, only speak of a ‘reasonable time’, something that has seen some constituencies going for prolonged periods without a political representative after the incumbent vacates the seat for one reason or another. Section 29(1) of the Act reads: “Whenever a vacancy occurs in the membership of the House of Assembly, the Clerk, in the case of an elected member, or in the case of the indvuna yenkhundla and the bucopho the ministry responsible for tinkhundla or bucopho administration, shall notify the commission in writing within seven days after the vacancy has occurred, and a by-election shall be held within a reasonable period.”

However, the Elections (amendment) Bill, which has been tabled in the House of Assembly and expected to be debated soon, seeks to put this to an end. “Section 29 of the Principal Act is amended by deleting the words ‘a reasonable time’after the word ‘within’ and replacing with the words ‘six months’,” reads the Amendment Bill.

ADMINISTRATION

This means that, after Amendment, the section will read: “Whenever a vacancy occurs in the membership of the House of Assembly, the Clerk, in the case of an elected member, or in the case of the indvuna yenkhundla and the bucopho the ministry responsible for tinkhundla or bucopho administration, shall notify the commission in writing within seven days after the vacancy has occurred, and a by-election shall be held within six months period.”