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Africa
keen to learn from Indian elections: Zambian poll chief
Friday November 12, 2010 06:59:22 PM,
Manish Chand, IANS
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New Delhi:
African countries are increasingly looking at India as a model
democracy and an example to emulate, says Zambia's poll panel
chief, Justice Florence N.M. Mumba, who is here to study electoral
practices.
"We have come here to look at the
electoral system in India and how the democratic system functions
in India. India is the world's largest democracy," Mumba told IANS
in an interview.
She is the chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Zambia, a
landlocked country of around 12 million people in southern Africa.
"You manage your elections well. The EVMs (electronic voting
machines) have been extremely successful in ensuring free
elections. We can exchange our experiences and collaborate in
training electoral personnel," she said.
Mumba shared Zambia's experience of holding elections and sought
India's expertise in training of poll personnel when she met
India's Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi.
Zambia boasts of the world's largest reserves of copper and is
home to the spectacular Victoria Falls. It will hold presidential
elections next year. India is the largest investor in Zambia, with
Vedanta Resources having invested $1.5 billion in the Konkola
Copper Mines (KCM).
Mumba is accompanied by Commissioner Minerva K. Tembo on her
10-day visit to India that includes stops in Delhi and Mumbai.
They have been invited by the Indian Council for Cultural
Relations (ICCR), the cultural arm of India's external affairs
ministry.
Mumba also met Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur
to discuss the broader canvas of India-Zambia relations.
Mumba is upbeat about the prospects of democracy in Africa, but
chooses to be a realist, saying the process is going to be an
incremental one. "It's a slow progress. We are getting there. More
countries are having regular multi-party elections," she said.
Mumba's visit to India comes at a time when more African countries
are moving in the direction of democracy. About two-thirds of
African countries have held multi-party elections and more than 30
countries have accepted the African Peer Review Mechanism, that
judges ruling dispensations by standards of transparency and
accountability.
(Manish Chand
can be contacted at manish.c@ians.in)
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