Essentielles - La Cour Constitutionnelle devrait faire l’objet d’un renforcement substantiel (moyens, capacité, organisation et fonctionnement).
Dirigées à - Etat Burundais Législateur Administration électorale

Electoral offences and the competent jurisdictions for their adjudication should be reviewed in order to provide clear and comprehensive guidelines in the Electoral Law, including explicit reference to the use of state resources, to ensure that all offenders are held accountable for their actions before the courts. The penalties for some electoral offences should also be reviewed to ensure greater proportionality. Recent proclamations that affect human rights and fundamental freedoms could be discussed and reviewed by all stakeholders to reduce potential repercussions on the electoral process and the overall human rights situation.

A review of constituency boundaries should be undertaken to ensure that constituencies better reflect actual population trends, thus contributing to greater equality of the vote. Any such revision should be overseen by an independent panel. The allocation of “Special Constituencies” for the representation of minority groups should also be revised.

Serious efforts should be taken to limit the involvement of governmental administrative structures, down to kebele level, in the organisation and implementation of the electoral process. The development of an independent structure for the NEBE throughout the country, gradually diminishing its dependence on local administrative structures should be envisaged. These measures could prevent and curtail suspicions of governmental control of the electoral process as well as the blurred separation between the state and the ruling party in electoral activities and the undue use of state resources at regional and local levels.

The appointment procedure for NEBE Board members should be revised to generate greater confidence in the NEBE's independence among all stakeholders. An independent, multi-party appointment panel could be considered. Members of the NEBE Board should not be allowed to hold positions simultaneously that may result in a conflict of interests.

A centralised and computerised national voter register should be created, with sufficient safeguards and crosschecking procedures to prevent multiple registrations. The possibility of introducing a permanent register could be assessed. An audit of the electoral register could also be considered. All political parties should be provided with copies of the register, including higher education and military registration, well in advance of Election Day. To enable greater inclusiveness and accuracy, the period for voter registration and the public display of the register could be extended by at least four weeks.

The absence of one opposition leader in exile, as well as the imprisonment of one political leader, qualified as arbitrary detention by the United Nations, should be addressed. The review of these leaders’ legal cases would constitute an important and necessary step in order to broaden the political space.

The ratios used to allocate campaign financing should be re-considered to limit the degree of proportionality in terms of presence in the HPR. Auditing of campaign finance and a ceiling on campaign spending could be considered to help level the playing field between parties as well as increasing the transparency and accountability of election campaigns.

The NEBE should re-consider its preference for retaining exclusive competence over voter information programmes. Greater efforts could be made to ensure that voter education is available in more minority languages.

The provisions of Article 59 of the Electoral Law, requiring state-owned media to provide free airtime to parties during the campaign, should be amended in line with the Broadcast Service Law, which requires all media to provide free airtime during the electoral period.

A permanent monitoring mechanism could be considered to verify the Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency’s (ERTA) compliance with its obligations as a public broadcaster. State owned media impartiality and balanced coverage beyond the campaign period could also be monitored by the Ethiopian Broadcasting Authority and reported to the HPR.

Women’s participation in the HPR, State Councils, political parties and the electoral administration must be further promoted. Greater funds could be provided for women candidates in the public funding of election campaigns. The NEBE could also consider introducing a gender quota throughout its structure.

Steps should be taken to ensure that all election-related offences are investigated and that all offenders are prosecuted and held accountable in a timely manner. A more proactive role for judicial authorities and prosecutors in handling electoral matters could also be promoted.

The jurisdiction of Joint Councils for Political Parties (JCPPs) should be limited to minor electoral offences, such as the removal of campaign posters and civil matters regarding the electoral process and the campaign. Other electoral offences should be immediately referred to the judiciary. JCPPs could consider including members of the police and civil society organisations to ensure greater participation and transparency in the process when addressing electoral offences.

The Electoral Law should be amended to give precedence to the voters' clear intention, regardless of the actual sign used to express it in the determination of valid votes.

A comprehensive review of the different forms required from polling station committees and constituency electoral offices should be carried out to make them simpler and easier to complete as well as reducing the number of different forms. The forms for polling station and constituency offices should be on carbonless copy paper to reduce the workload of election officials and speed up the counting and consolidation processes. The use of trained personnel sent from the NEBE headquarters to assist and possibly digitalise certain elements of the consolidation process could be considered.

To achieve an environment conducive to democratic elections, freedom of movement, association, assembly and expression should be respected with any restrictions being limited, proportional and only for reasons of strict necessity; such reasons should be transparently conveyed.

The legal immunities for the NEC and its members in the NEA should be reviewed and replaced by a defence of fair attempt to carry out the NEC functions properly.

The establishment of the Electoral Register and the voters lists should be:
i. subject to a professional and transparent auditing exercise;
ii. displayed effectively and in a timely manner to the public;
iii. reviewed and revised continuously and comprehensively to identify and eliminate inaccuracies, multiple entries and records of ineligible, ghost or deceased voters.

The requirement of literacy and soundness of mind should be narrowly defined to exclude as few citizens as possible from standing as candidates.

The Code of Conduct for Political Parties and Contesting Candidates should include a requirement for election contenders not to use public resources for campaign purposes. Clear instructions should be issued and enforced to ensure that state officials do not interfere in the election process and that state assets are not used to the advantage of any party or candidate. Any impropriety should be immediately responded to and should include a penalty for those responsible.

Consideration should be given to provision of state funding as well as indirect funding (such as free time on public television and radio) to provide a more equal playing field and to reduce dependency on wealthy contributors. Clear and transparent rules for such funding should be established and consistently applied.

The election administration should be reformed in order to effectively decentralise its administration in States, providing the necessary human and financial resources.

It should include necessary professional staff and skills, independent from political parties, and establish an appropriate structure to manage the process:
i. By establishing departments dealing with legal issues and complaints, logistics/operations, training, and voter information and implementation of expenditure ceilings and work management plans for each activity;
ii. By detailing the timing and sequencing of the election process and producing operational plans to be implemented by the NEC.
iii. By undertaking continuous, institutionalized consultation with stakeholders, in particular with political parties and civil society down to constituency level.

Making public a schedule of its meetings, all resulting decisions and all internal instructions issued.