Maternal information, including the National ID card number of the applicants mother, has been made optional after revising the political party membership forms.
The amendment to the Political Parties Regulation, which was published in the government gazette in May, made it mandatory for members to provide the name of the applicant's mother and their National ID card number in the membership forms.
However, this decision attracted criticism from the public and several political parties while EC defended its decision claiming this was done to restrict membership form forgery.
EC has rescinded its earlier change and published a revised regulation on Sunday, June 11, making the provision of maternal information optional for political party membership forms.
According to EC, the revision was made after discussing with the political parties, noting that some members tend to include their maternal details in the forms.
To address the issue of members being enrolled in political parties without their consent or knowledge, the Election Commission (EC) has decided to implement SMS notifications, where members will receive a message informing them once their party membership forms have been submitted.