Election Commission (EC) has announced that efforts are underway to update policies to allow people to join political parties through e-Faas system.

Speaking to One today, EC member Zakariyya explained that the EC has struggled for over 15 years to resolve the issue of people being added to political parties using unverified forms. However, no effective solution had been found. Drawing from the success of using e-Faas for re-registration during elections, Zakariyya said the EC is now focusing on applying the same system for political party memberships.

Zakariyya said that this policy change will help eliminate the problem of unverified forms being used to add members to political parties. He cited a recent incident involving the submission of unverified forms to register members for the ruling PNC, which highlighted the need for better safeguards. One prominent case involved Mohamed Thorig, a member of the MDP, being mistakenly listed under the PNC.

The EC is not directly investigating such cases, as these matters have been handed over to the police. However, Zakariyya expressed confidence that introducing e-Faas for party memberships would prevent similar issues in the future and enhance the credibility of the membership process.