Arab Guide for Free and Fair Elections

ﺍﻟﻤﺠﻤﻮﻋﺔ ﺍﻟﻤﺘﺤﺪﺓ Arab Guide for Free and Fair Elections Pr. Ali Saoui (Main Researcher and Writer) Project Overall Manager Project Consultant Pr. Najed Bor’ai Dr. Waheed Abdelmajeed 2005 The Arabic version of this report has been funded by the Ford Foundation. The translation has been funded By The Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI). Experts preparing background papers (alphabetical order) Pr. Besma AL Hassen, Electoral System in Jordan Pr. Jihad Aouda, Electoral System in India and Indonesia Pr. Aref Jeffal, Electoral System in Palestine Pr. Abdelhedi Khaouaja, Electoral System in Bahrain Pr. Issam Hassen, Electoral System in Egypt Pr. Marwane Sakr, Electoral System in Lebanon Guide preparation team (alphabetical order) Pr. Rami Mustapha Pr. Ajlane Brahim Pr. Ali Moussa Pr. Karim Essaied Pr. Nevine Mohsen Pr. Houda Chahed Pr. Yasser Fethi Presenters and Comment Makers (alphabetical order) Tharwat Chelbi Issameddine Hassen Juhad Awdat, Ph.D Alaeddine Helal, Ph.D Jilani Kessab Fatma Al Hawaj Ridha Mohamed Hellal Leila Khaouaja, Ph.D Zahda Chami, Ph.D Mohamed Barakat Said Abdelhafedh Mohamed Zahran Said Abdelhami, Ph.DMohamed Awadh Tarek Abdellatif Mohamed Farid Zakaria Adel Alkela Mohamed Kutaichat Aref Jaffel Mohamed Nabil Assem Abdeljabbar, Consultant Hichem Bastouissi, Consultant Special Thanks A very special and warm acknowledgement to the person who initiated the idea of designing this guide, Professor Nejad Bor’ai, a friend but also a legal expert, a political shaker and a brilliant human rights activist. I have heard of him for fifteen years and known him for ten, and I started to know him well, and am still trying to, he is a born researcher interested in public issues, known for his brave positions and wide knowledge. When he launched the idea of this guide, he was aiming at a scientific product achieving noble moral values, and called it “Unity for Democracy,” and when discussions were made with him and with our dear friend Dr. Waheed Abdelmajid concerning the orientations of the Guide, and the type and content of values to be transmitted, he was always open and pragmatic, keen on moving forward to design the Guide, then had it carefully studied and examined by a well selected and specialized team of Arab and foreign scholars, then reviewed several times, while accepting commentaries, so that the Guide can represent an Arab product that may enhance the construction of entities, mechanisms and behaviors to ensure the holding of free and fair elections in the Arab World. Dr. Jihad Aouda took large credit for pushing forward the implementation of the project, as did Pr. Aymen Hantish and the Democracy Support working staff, who looked after the many technical and administrative constraints throughout the project. This Guide is a teamwork output. I have had the privilege to work and learn with this team. It could also be realized thanks to the staff of Democracy Support, the sponsor of this Guide in partnership with the Ford Foundation, with their long experience in supporting scientific research in Egypt, and also thanks to the technical and scientific support of Dr. Basma Kadhmane, to whom we feel very grateful. The Editor. INTRODUCTION Elections are the basis for democracy and the most important mechanism for the political system legacy in general, as they are the foundations upon which electoral institutions are constructed. Electoral systems differ in a number of legal and procedural aspects, starting from the identification of the voter and the candidate, the electing system (individual, grouped …), up to the screening of votes and contestations raised about the vote; all of this is made with regard to constitutional, political, social, cultural and economic factors characterizing society, but what characterizes democratic electoral systems is fairness in the broad sense of the word, including different operations, procedures and behaviors, which aim at ensuring as much as possible the “respect of voters’ choices” in selecting their representatives (Parliament). The purpose of this Guide is to provide Arab readers with a set of political principles, theories and procedures, in order to strengthen the electoral operation and reinforce efforts to hold free and fair elections. The Arabic library may need further materials and publications explaining and analyzing political practices and the construction of democratic institutions, the first of which is Parliament. This Guide includes comparative studies of electoral systems and actual practices in Arab countries, as well as contributions of private international institutions. The Guide also recommends a practical method to manage elections process that may be debated and tailored according to national environments. The Guide is made up of three sections following the election procedure: pre-election phase, during elections, and post-elections. Each section includes a number of principles and procedures, taking into account the need for coordination during implementation. The Guide has been prepared based on three theories: 1- The translation of key principles for the holding of democratic and fair elections throughout the election process. For instance, the “equal opportunity” principle was used to discuss candidates’ promotion and campaigning tools, as was the “fairness” principle central in the composition and liabilities of the national election committee, or the “impartiality” principle in organizing campaigns and avoiding the use of public money, facilities and properties during elections, or the “transparency” principle in the design of procedures related to the screening of votes, the announcement of results and reservations raised against the vote. 2- Taking the social, political, economic and cultural conditions in the different Arab countries into consideration, reflected namely in prohibiting the use of religious shrines for campaigns, reducing the age of voters and candidates, the representation of women and youth in the national elections committee, or candidates’ level of instruction requirement; the absence or risk of dissolving parliaments in several Arab countries requires considering this fact during elections as a frequent and likely alternative; several principles have therefore been designed that would transfer some prerogatives related to elections to the Head of State in case the Parliament is dissolved (and not during holidays); similarly, the Guide also suggests the impartiality of high officers by not participating in the vote, though they may run for elections after - temporary - Deleted : – resignation from their posts, such as high officers in the armed forces, police and intelligence, diplomatic and consular corps, justice and members of the supreme court, and prefects, as has been adopted by several Arab countries; 3- The Guide also includes a strategic line concerning contestations raised against the National Elections Commission that may not be compatible with legal procedures performed in the framework of constitutional or supreme courts . T hat Deleted : t is, the ability to raise reservations against decisions taken by the National Commission (after exhausting all appeal possibilities before the Commission itself) through a direct suit filed before the Constitutional Court. Some raise doubts about the feasibility of such an action in the light of current legal procedures, but this can be avoided by submitting reservations to the Administrative Court (or Supreme Court in some countries), or the Appeal Court (in other countries), or to the Constitutional Council (in others). It is important to assign the examination of appeals against decisions of the National Election Committee to a higher instance (according to the hierarchy of courts and judgment processes in different countries), and to enable contesters to submit their reservations directly to said Court, with a stability guarantee in all legal centers, which would ensure the stability and fairness of the elected body (Parliament). Definitions: • Electoral system: the set of principles and procedures regulating the election process, according to national laws; • Head of State: President of the Republic, the King, the Prince, the Sultan; • Elections National Commission: the only entity responsible for the direction of the elections process; • General elections: election of members of the national parliament; • Presidential elections: election of the President of the Republic (in republican systems); • Local elections: election of county or community councils members; • Electoral body: a group of eligible citizens to elect members of (local or national) parliaments, as well as to elect the Head of State; • Candidates: voters willing to run for parliament or for president; • Elections support fund: a private and independent account to protect all types of election operations, and the work of the elections national commission; • Electoral district: a group of voters in a specific geographic area; the whole state can be one single electoral district (such as Iraq) according to the electoral system in place; • Voters’ lists: or voters’ tables or registers; they are official documents identifying voters; • Voting association/sub-commission/ballot center: the place where the voter can vote; this place and its vicinity are under the control of the Elections National Commission; • Ballot box: the container where voters actually place their vote. General Rules First: Elections National Commission This Guide considers the creation of the Elections National Committee 1 as a means

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