The local- international joint mission to observe the parliamentary elections has stressed the necessity of involving politicians and NGO representatives in the government committee created to amend the law on electoral constituencies, as well as taking into account the political parties' response to the amendments.
In a press release, the mission said that the Parliamentary Elections Observatory had issued its first report, reviewing the governmental and legislative measures taken to amend the law. The report also mentioned the political groups' assessment of the situation, stressing the necessity to include political figures in the committee. It also highlighted the importance of dialogue with political parties in order to tackle their reservations and fears regarding the committee, and to guarantee to them that the committee members will not hold on to the viewpoints they proposed before.
The mission also called on the committee to organize an institutional mechanism to receive proposals from political parties and NGOs. It suggested that the committee should launch a website to serve this purpose or organize hearing sessions.
The mission includes the Global Network for Rights and Development - GNRD (Norway), as well as the International Institute for Peace, Justice and Human Rights – IIPJHR (Switzerland), MAAT for Peace, Development and Human Rights, in addition to 31 local NGOs.
The Administrative Court decided earlier this month tht the parliamentary elections will be postponed, after the Supreme Constitutional Court deemed one of the articles of the constituencies law unconstitutional.
In related news, several political figures, including former Prime Minister Ali al-Selmi and former MP Margaret Azer, along with other public figures and legal experts will meet on Monday to discuss the ongoing constitutional impasse concerning parliamentary elections, as well as ways of resolving the issue.
