Limpho Sello
INDEPENDENT Electoral Commission (IEC) chairperson, Justice Mahapela Lehohla, has expressed optimism the ongoing Leadership and Conflict Management workshop for electoral stakeholders would equip them with strategies to resolve and manage conflicts.
The workshop which is the brainchild of the European Centre for Electoral Support (ECES) began in Maseru on Monday and is scheduled to end on Saturday.
The ECES works with electoral stakeholders, including elections management bodies, civil society organisations (CSOs) involved in voter education and election observation, as well as political parties and parliaments dealing with electoral reforms, media, security forces and legal institutions involved in electoral dispute resolution.
Justice Lehohla said electoral stakeholders and the country as a whole were facing challenges in resolving or managing political, social and economic conflicts at the national, community and household level.
“As leaders in your own right, it is imperative that you should have essential skills in leadership and conflict resolution,” Justice Lehohla said.
“The knowledge and skills acquired here will prepare you individually and collectively to be more confident in dealing with conflict not only at your workplaces but even in your daily lives at home.
He said disagreements were a fact of life hence the need to come up with strategies to resolve them.
“Conflicts are inevitable and learning to deal with them in a healthy way is very crucial. When conflict is mismanaged, it can harm the relationship as it arises from differences,” the IEC boss said.
“It occurs whenever people disagree over values, motivations, perception, ideas or desires. When you resolve conflict and disagreement quickly and painlessly, trust will flourish.”
For her part, ECES Election Conflict Management Advisor Victoria Florinder said the purpose of the training was to prevent, mitigate and manage election related conflict.
She added they hoped the workshop would result in stakeholders including government and CSOs achieving more effective electoral management.
She also said countries required training on management and leadership in between election periods so they would always be prepared for conflict management and resolution.
“Participants must share knowledge and skills they acquire and they must share among districts not just in Maseru so that all people are well informed on these important issues,” she said.
