ADDIS ABABA – National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) said that the ongoing electoral reform initiatives in the pipeline is expected to pay dividend to the efforts of making the upcoming election free, fair, transparent and credible.
Soliana Shemeles, Communication Consultant with the Election Board, told The Ethiopian Herald that four pronged changes are taking place aiming to make the entire electoral process free, fair and credible.
These four-pronged changes that are initiated to address some of the gaps of the organization concerns with legal, institutional/ structural issues, and the Board’s engagement with political parties and civic associations, she added.
The legal aspect, Soliana continued, the Advisory council – which is setup to reform the justice system – is currently exclusively working on the electoral laws with the view to reestablish the Board. It will look into how members of the Board are elected, what kind of institution it should be and what capabilities it should have, and what its structure should be like.
“We are expecting the Parliament to pass it in the coming days; and potential new members will join the Board as per the law, as it will crystallize the full criteria needed to be fulfilled by potential board members.”
“Not only that; but, we expect the proposed law to help us organize its regional structure,” she added.
In parallel to this, there are also works to bring the three election laws of the country into a single comprehensive law, which Soliana is expecting will solve the claim made by various political parties and (human rights activists) that the law did not help to create a facilitative environment for them. According to her, after holding consultation with political parties and civic organizations, the draft bill will make its way to the parliament to be passed sometime in the future.
Thirdly, the Board is working to improve the previously intense relationship that existed between the electoral body and political parties by setting up a dialogue platform to maintain close relations and regular meetings.
“What we are trying to do now is to extend full participation to the political parties in all of the reform process, and build a conducive electoral environment. There have been efforts for continuous dialogue to be held between political parties, and between them the Board.” As to her, the parties will establish joint council, which will have direct contact with NEBE.
The Board has initiated engagement with civic associations, which were prohibited from meaningful participation in election related topics, said Soliana, but now can get involved in democracy building, and voter and civic education. “Given its role making election process more democratic, we are also working to engage the media in the future.”
With regards to plans of using technologies in the upcoming election, Soliana stated that the Board is undertaking a feasibility study to assess on how better to introduce it in the electoral landscape, and on what stage of the electoral process. “The feasibility study, which is being done by foreign experts, is expected to deliver recommendation on how to move forward with the project by taking in to account the country’s and the Board’s capabilities. And the Board will decide upon the recommendation on how to proceed from there”.
In General, the Board is carrying out various tasks so as to be able to administer the upcoming election in a democratic, free, and most importantly, credible manner, she concluded.
The Ethiopian Herald April 9, 2019
BY ROBEL YOHANNES
