Electoral Commissions of Tonga and New Zealand sign MOU for a NZ$1.5 million program Featured
Chair of Tonga’s Electoral Commission the RT Hon Ramsay Dalgety and New Zealand’s Chief Electoral Officer Ms. Alicia Wright signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
21 May, 2019. The Electoral Commissions of the Kingdom of Tonga and New Zealand have embarked on a new partnership after the Chair of Tonga’s Electoral Commission the RT Hon Ramsay Dalgety and New Zealand’s Chief Electoral Officer Ms. Alicia Wright signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) yesterday afternoon at the Electoral Commission’s Office, Nuku’alofa.
The agreement is a NZ$1.5 million three-year program funded by the Government of New Zealand through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade aiming to improve electoral education, voters access, transparency of campaign finance and improve the quality of access to media for candidates in the 2021 General Elections.
Lord Dalgety said, “There’s a number of areas of technical assistance which we will be getting from New Zealand. But the key areas so far as we are concerned is electoral education, which is telling people what election is all about, how important they are for democracy and most important of all, please turn out and vote. Because that is the way you participate in democracy.”
He stated that the electorate has grown as it was just over 42,000 in November 2010 but as the first of May the number of voters are now 59, 716 – a growth of 41 per cent.
“The population of the country hasn’t grown. It’s just that we have managed to capture all those who are entitled to vote. There maybe one or two left but not many. Having now captured them, we have to make sure that they participate in elections.”
Lord Dalgety said that he does not agree with fining voters who do not turn up and vote because it is a “privilege to vote not a duty.”
Ms. Wright said, “This is important work and it highlights New Zealand’s commitment to the Pacific and it is an honour that countries like Tonga want to work alongside us as partners.”
High Commissioner of New Zealand to Tonga HE Ms Tiffany Babington said that this program is a “real sign of the maturity of the relationship between Tonga and New Zealand as we look to the Pacific Reset and helping with good governance, democratic processes and strong public services in the Pacific Region especially in our Polynesian neighbors including Tonga.”
- MEIDECC
