However, fundamentally, a shift away from multi-party representation may do little to gain back stakeholder trust in the election administration, and would most likely further undermine public confidence, taking into account past challenges in the appointment of non-partisan PEC members. This is especially so if the established selection criteria and professional appointment processes for CEC, DEC and PEC members are not fundamentally strengthened to guarantee objective, transparent and genuinely merit-based selection of non-partisan members down to the lowest level. Until systemic reform of the election administration is undertaken, shifting to a fully non-partisan model may not be advisable. In the interim, a mixed model PEC composition with the non-partisan appointments made by two-thirds of DEC members or the use of alternative appointment mechanisms could be considered as a way to increase public trust. Whichever mechanism is adopted, a transparent, genuinely merit-based process for appointment of non-partisan PEC members is key to enhancing public confidence.