This question is posted on behalf of Tova Wang, member of the Practitioners' Network.

The Fijian government is about to issue a decree on party registration that provides only 28 days to fulfill a number of requirements, including gathering 5000 members in various numbers from each region of the country. It also bans anyone who is an officer in a union from leading a party. More information can be found here.

I would very much appreciate any comments on what would seem to be some unusual demands.

A follow up to this question was posted.  It requested instances of any precedents set regarding the 28 day time period and for prohibition of political party membership, leadership and participation in registration of elected or appointed trade union officials/officers?

Summary of responses

The practitioners noted the unusual nature of the party registration requirements in Fiji, but also examples of similar requirements. Specifically, they recognized that these requirements could lead to the restriction of the formation of new parties, and also make difficult the registration of existing parties that are unable to fulfill the requirements. One respondent noted that the requirements identified in the question can be addressed in the context of the principle of freedom of association. 

Members of the Practitioners’ Network noted the following challenging aspects regarding the key requirements included in the new Fijian decree:

• Regional representation could be viewed as problematic, assuming that all citizens are equal under the law regardless of the region. 
• The ban on union officers’ participation in the registration and leading of political parties appears to be uncommon. 
• It is not that unusual to have a requirement for a party to demonstrate it has the support of a certain number of electors, but depending on the cost of membership, this requirement can also act restrictively. 
• The 28 day period given to parties to complete the registration exercise could be restrictive, perhaps especially for smaller parties. 

Bangladesh was identified as a case where one month was given to political parties to apply for registration in 2008, and where the legal framework gave three criteria for eligibility that included a requirement for regional representation and reach of the party. Moreover, in Mexico, the number of political party members required to register a political party should amount to 0.26% of the total number of registered citizens of the election prior to the registration of the party (about 224,000 people). The political party must also prove national coverage. Finally, in the Mexican case, trade unions are not permitted to be affiliated to political parties nor are they able to found a party.

In many countries of the world, an unregistered party is not allowed to nominate candidates in the elections. In Bangladesh, political party registration was initiated in 2008, before the 9th parliamentary election. The legal framework made three options

1. A party which secured at least one seat with its electoral symbol in any parliamentary election held since the independence of Bangladesh 

2. The parties which secured five percent of total votes cast in the constituencies in which its candidates took part in any of the parliamentary election held since the independence of Bangladesh 

3. The parties which established a functional central office, by whatever name it may be called with a central committee (as a base for the organizing structure of the party in various administrative level in the country, effective) district offices in at least in one-third administrative districts, offices and at least one hundred Upazilas (sub-district) or Metropolitan Thana having a minimum number of two hundred voters as its members in each of them. In this case, the committee must have 200 members at all levels.

One month notice was given to the parties to apply for registration. Moreover, parties have to submit the bank account details along with sources of fund.

The process for us in Liberia, there is a period of some three to four weeks given call candidate nomination.  this process like many other EMB'S around give the requirements, deadlines, do's and don'ts to political and independent parties to come up with the means through which they intend to go through the Process, they must provide the following:

1. Have,  for political party offices in the Districts or constituencies they intend to feature a candidate, while for independent candidate you will also need to have office within that district and must solicit and publish for two weeks 500 signatures form registered voters with voter id number that will verify through the VR database.

2. provide prove of funding, Tax Clearance, and Citizenship/ domicile

3. Declare your assets   

4. go through for data collection where an on the spot digital photo is taken for the Ballot   

5. pay into government revenue the fees charged base on areas of interest    

Thanks for these replies.  Is it usual to have the 28 day deadline nearly two years before the election?  And have you heard of a trade union official being banned from leading a party?  Thanks again.

Actually trade union officials are not even allowed to be among the initial 5000 members of the party

Such rules make up no part of the political party registration process in Canada at either the federal, provincial or territorial levels and it would indeed be considered highly unusual ans suspect if similar rules were to be introduced.  I presume we can agree on the benefits to registration in the first place, but I suspect these unusual requirements are being put in place to restrict the formation of new parties and possibly to deny registration to some existing parties who will not be able to meet the requirements for registration.  

The regional representation is an odd requirement for a national party - are not all citizens of Fiji equal under the law.  What does it matter where they come from?  The ban on union participation in registered political parties appears to be highly undemocratic.  In the past we had a restriction on voting applied to the Chief Electoral Officer, judges and returning officers, but these restrictions have been lifted in most places.  These restrictions were in place because of the role these individuals played in administering elections, or potentially deciding on the outcome of an election if the matter was being dealt with through the courts, and the need to be and appear to be impartial.  Fiji seems to have established quite a list of those individuals it does not want to be involved at the party level.  The requirement for the party to demonstrate it has the support of a certain number of electors is not that unusual.  The support can usually be demonstrated through party membership or by having electors sign a petition supporting a party's registration.  However, depending on the cost of membership, this requirement can also be seen as a restrictive measure designed to deter some parties from registration.  The 28 day time period also seems quite restrictive and quite possible designed to prevent some of the smaller parties from gaining registration.  I don't know how long it would take to complete all the necessary paperwork and obtain original signatures and membership dues for 5,000 party members in various regions of Fiji, but I can imagine it would take considerable orgaizational and logistical effort.

Mr. Gibson,

This is VERY helpful.  Thank you so much.

Political Parties

Registration  of political parties brings about some dicipline and commitment to participate officially political parties. There are variations as to who should do the registration of political parties. In some countries it is done by an independent body which has been legally mandated to do so, which is the case in Malawi. This relieves the EMB from shouldering too many responsibilities. In other countries it is done by the EMB itself which can regulate the registration to suit the environment in which elections and itself are operating. In Zimbabwe, political parties are not registered. Their arguement is that in a democracy people should be free to form political parties, i.e. freedom of association.

In the case of the Fiji government, there will be a need to consider who does the registration that political parties operate in a free environment. Secondly the number of people vouching for the party is on the higher side and can be seen as an impedment to freedom of association.

This is a good question.  This brings up also the question of citizenship. The most important requirements for political party membership requirement are 3 to avoid cheeting and problems:

1. Issue of citizenship. Only citizens of a country are allowed to be members of political parties. Citizenery must be legally defined and known.

2. Issue of identification documents. The ID documents are the proof of citizenship. Those who have ID documents showing that are citizens are only allowed to be affiliated to politcal parties. The ID documents must be showed to the political party leaders before registration as members of the party to make sure that only citizens of the country are registered. The institution that delivers the ID documents must be legally defined and known.

3. Those who have political aprty membership cards are legally recognized as members of that party.

Political party leaders must be careful and be bound by the law. It is not good to give membership cards to non citizens or to simple partisans without ID documents  on basis of simple presumption  that are known as citizens. If they do it, it would be cheeting and it will be the beginning ot the the treouble.

Those three questions cited above are , in many countries especially in Africa, the triggers of problems and some times of wars. You have to tackle them carefully.

Julius Bucumi, Insoector of Justice in Burundi

Are the 400 ACE members sure that there is no precedent for a prohibition of political party membership of elected or appointed trade union officials? Thanks, [email protected]

This is what I am trying to understand Manuel, thanks

This is hugely helpful Julia.  Thank you very much.

Dear Julia,

Thanks for your feedback. I searched online, and I came up with the following document:

http://www.ife.org.mx/docs/Internet/FAQ/Docs_ES_PDF/regimen-juridico-financiero.pdf

Is this what you are referring to? It does not seem to restrict individual membership in political parties. I understand that a trade union organization cannot merge with a political party, or become a political party, but does Mexico prohibit personal political party membership of trade union officials?

Thanks for bearing with me. [email protected]

Hello Manuel,

Individual membership is not restricted, it does not matter if you're an official of a trade union. But I can see where the mix-up arose from my previous comment. The ban to trade unions from becoming a political party is in article 22 of COFIPE.