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Elections 2012 – EU Final report backs SLPP,
opposition by Paul Conton The EU has released its final, comprehensive report on the recently concluded 2012 elections (available at www.natinpasadvantage/essays/eureport.pdf ) Although the report concludes that the elections were “overall credible”, it backs opposition complaints on several key issues that emerged during the campaign and after the announcement of results. 1)Nomination fees: This emerged as an emotive issue when NEC suddenly, without consultation and at a late stage in the process increased nomination fees dramatically from their 2007 levels for all categories of nominees. Presidential nominees, for instance, were required to pay Le100 million to get their name on the ballot, compared to just Le1 million in 2007. The government supported the increased fees and parliament passed them into law, whilst the majority of the opposition announced a boycott of the elections. The situation was only resolved when government stepped in with an offer to ‘subsidize’ the fees on a one-time basis for the 2012 elections. The EU report describes the new fees as “unreasonably high… prescribed late in the process” and without prior consultations. It recommends that the fees be reduced and that the law authorizing them be repealed. 2) Procedures for dealing with questionable and/or quarantined results: Rather alarmingly the EU report says, “A high number of RRF’s arrived in the tally centres in unsealed envelopes, missing essential data and/or the stamp and signature of the presiding officer”. This supports the SLPP complaint of widespread counting irregularities although the EU report does not come to this conclusion. The EU report goes on to say, “The EU EOM observers at the RTC in Kenema reported that they were denied access to
information which had been normally available to observers during previous
days and they also observed instances when RRF’s
quarantined for suspected overvoting were cleared
and entered in the results database without cross checking the number of
voters who voted in the FVR and additions to the FVR.” The SLPP criticized NEC for announcing the results without having
satisfactorily addressed complaints regarding alleged irregularities and
malpractices on election day. The EU report calls for, “adoption and
publication of the detailed tally centre procedures, clearly stipulating the
steps to be taken in the case of quarantined results.” 3)Restrictive requirement for candidates to step down from public office one year ahead of an election: Three candidates, two SLPP candidates, one each in Kailahun and Kenema, and the presidential candidate of the NDA were prevented by high court injunctions from taking part in the elections. The EU report summarizes the circumstances of these injunctions thus “ Three cases concerning disputed nominations were before the courts during the electoral period but all remained without resolution prior to election day, thus depriving all parties of their rights to effective legal remedies and depriving defendants further of their right to stand for election. The NDA was unable to nominate a presidential candidate as an aggrieved failed party aspirant secured an injunction against the party, restraining them from nominating any candidate, as he alleged that the party had violated its internal selection rules. Two cases of disputed nominations of SLPP parliamentary candidates in SLPP strongholds (constituency no. 15 Kenema and constituency no. 5 Kailahun) resulted in the imposition of interlocutory injunctions, subsequent to successful nomination, which restrained these candidates from participating in the elections. The injunctions obtained in all of these cases were meant to be temporary in nature, awaiting final determination of cases. Full hearings however did not take place prior to the elections, with the result that the right of access to the courts and the right to a timely remedy were denied. The pace of progress of these cases through the courts was very slow with extensive delay and repeated adjournments dealing with preliminary objections, with no sense of any judicial notice that these were urgent matters which merited speedy disposal” With specific relevance to the SLPP cases, which involved challenges based on the allegation that the nominees had not stepped down from public office at least one year prior to the elections the EU observers had this say in their recommendations:: “Reduce unreasonable requirements of resignation from the public service in candidacy for election. Revise constitutional and electoral law to reduce the 12 month resignation requirement for public servants; review the nature of the posts subject to this requirement.” In all the above recommendations the EU uses international
or regional commitments by |
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