The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer Nagaland organised a State Level Seminar on Clean Election with the aim to help augment the ongoing Clean Election Movement of the Nagaland Baptist Church Council and to provide a platform where there is an exchange of information and ideas to take the movement forward. A press release from CEO Nagaland informed that the Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) event was held on 26th September in Kohima and was graced by T. Mhabemo Yanthan, IAS, Commissioner of Nagaland as the Guest of Honour and Rev. Dr. Zelhou Keyho, General Secretary, NBCC as Special Guest.
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Yanthan, in his address, stated that during elections “we see the collapse of our Christian faith, collapse of our moral and ethical integrity.” Institutions that are expected to stand during the most critical times have failed time and again. Integrity and accountability of a such institutions are crucial paramount for sustenance of a just and acceptable society. The sanctity of such critical institutions needs to be protected, Yanthan stressed.
He also stated that only two distinctive options; either to exist with a sense of helplessness and continue to accept the brutally collapsed system or choose to stand up and become aggressively assertive to build a widely acceptable system.
In his address, Rev. Dr. Zelhou Keyho, General Secretary, NBCC, stated that voting is a universal, democratic exercise of one’s right, sacred and unique, however that the right to vote has become the most abused and misused power in our context. He stated that the right to vote is a gift but some people are denied the use of this gift, while some people disregard it because they feel frustrated, and some people misuse or over use it, and still some use it as a bargaining chip for selfish benefits.
Rev Keyho expressed the concern of the Church in this regard and stated that the devastating tentacles of state elections have spread to all aspects of the Naga life: individuals, family village, church, tribe, traditional and government institutions. He further described this as the biggest force eroding the moral foundation, as well as the future of our generations and that Clean Election movement is everyone’s business. He stressed that the church will continue to assert that clean Election movement is a spiritual issue for Christians and that it is the responsibility of believers to work in building a democratic and ethically acceptable process of election in Nagaland.
Earlier in his introductory address, Ruokuovituo Khezhie, CEO (Officiating) Nagaland stressed on the importance of having a clean and clear electoral roll which is the only document to prove the authenticity of a voter. He also expressed that SVEEP is one of the flagship programmes of the ECI to create awareness on registration of name in the electoral roll and ensuring ethical, informed and inclusive election. Khezhie hoped that with the seminar there would be a positive outcome in regard to clean election in the spirit of ‘one man one vote’ where every eligible voter can vote without any inducement, fear or intimidation.
The program was chaired and moderated by Sharon Longchari, Joint CEO, Nagaland while Rev. Kedo Peseyie, City Church Kohima delivered the invocation prayer. The seminar also included technical sessions with resource persons from both the CEO’s office and the Church establishment. The resource persons were Awa Lorin, Joint CEO (Topic- Legal Provisions on Electoral Roll and Conduct of Elections), Toshimeren Aier, Assistant CEO (Topic- Reflections on State Assembly Election, 2023), Dr Villo Naleo, Convenor, Clean Election Movement, NBCC (Topic- Clean Election as a platform for ushering desirable change) and Dr Pangernungba Kichu, Professor of Society, Christan Ethics and Contextual Theology, Oriental Theological Seminary, Chumoukedima (Topic- Clean Election Movement Challenges and Tasks Ahead).
(All photos from @ceonagaland/X)
