• Calls for professional opinions
The FDRE Council of Constitutional Inquiry announced some measures so as to discharge the responsibility assigned to it by the parliament to seek a constitutional interpretation to address electoral postponement induced by COVID-19 pandemic.
The Secretariat of the council disclosed on Monday that though time is a critical constraint, the council has been taking measures since it received the parliamentary request on May 5, 2020.
The House of Peoples’ Representatives passed a resolution to seek a constitutional interpretation to address the electoral postponement. The parliament had arrived on that decision on May 4 after the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia had officially declared earlier that it would not be able to conduct the general elections slated for August due to the strains put by COVID-19.
Among the measures taken by the Council, according to the statement released by its secretariat, is the involvement of legal experts, especially those qualified constitutional lawyers in the due process. This way it said it could address the time constraints; could make the procedure as reliable; and the decisions or recommendations it would make as legitimate.
According to the secretariat the situation would help boost constitutionalism as a culture in the country.
The inquiry council has invited Ethiopian constitutional law experts, living here abroad to submit professional opinions in writings in line with matters requested by the parliament.
The secretariat has also announced that a specified number of legal experts who would be screened by the Council would make hearings to it and other relevant bodies over the coming Saturday and Monday.
“Such participation is important to demonstrate to the public the integrity of the process and the outcome as well as to cultivate a positive tradition of constitutionalism in Ethiopia” Meaza Ashenafi, President of the FDRE Supreme Court opined on her personal Tweeter page.
The Ethiopian Herald May 13/2020
BY STAFF REPORTER
