Key lessons learnt from the Al Ghurair ballot tender dipute

At last the appellate court has settled the dispute on the presidential ballot papers involving the Dubai-based Al Ghurair firm. NASA had claimed that the firm had close links with top leaders of Jubilee Party who are the main rival. The High Court went ahead to suspend the firm from printing presidential ballot papers throwing the election preparations into uncertainty.

What lessons can we draw from the legal challenge regarding the whole process of elections? First, the election outcome is a function of a transparent and credible process. All agencies mandated to supervise and prepare the elections must be impartial and act in the greater good of the country. Anytime the agencies act in a manner that casts doubts or suspicion on a section of the stakeholders then the process will suffer a credibility crisis.