Election law reform delayed

A LACK of money is hampering a planned overhaul of the law governing elections in Namibia.

The exercise is estimated to cost some N$1,5 million. The European Union offered to fund the process, which was supposed to have kicked off last year.However, the EU wanted one of its own experts to join the review team, but this was not favourably received by the Namibian Government.”Certain conditions came with the EU offer for funding, which the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) and the National Planning Commission (NPC) found difficult to accept,” Director of Elections Philemon Kanime, told The Namibian.”The EU wanted to have foreign expert appointed from outside, which is difficult for us to go along with.We want local experts.There are Namibians who can do this work,” Kanime added.As an alternative, the ECN turned to Government for funding via the Ministry of Local and Regional Government and Housing.He said about N$1,5 million was required.The European Union said it had received a request for funding from the National Planning Commission on behalf of the Electoral Commission of Namibia for the project, but the matter had not been concluded.”Last year the NPC asked for financial assistance to commission a study on the electoral law reform, but according to EU regulations, the tender can not only be advertised locally, but also internationally to get the best offer and the best consultants,” Alain Joaris, First Councillor of the EU Commission in Namibia, told The Namibian yesterday.”The Namibian side wanted local experts to do the job and that they could travel abroad while conducting the study.”In July last year, The Namibian reported that a reform of the electoral law was on the cards, and was supposed to be completed this year.However, the project has still not started.With the next national and presidential elections scheduled for the end of 2009, there are barely 24 months left to amend the act, which will have to pass through the National Assembly and the National Council.Two years ago, a regional organisation, the SADC Parliamentary Forum, urged all 14 member states, including Namibia, to make several election norms legally binding.They are the Norms and Standards for Elections in the SADC Region of 2001, the Declaration on Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa (2002) of the African Union and the SADC Principles and Guidelines for Democratic Elections of 2004.”Member countries should ensure that they are not only legally binding but enforceable, possibly through a SADC Protocol on Democratic Elections,” the SADC-PF urged after a regional conference in Maputo, Mozambique.The conference further urged those countries that had not yet started this process to do so as a matter of urgency.The European Union offered to fund the process, which was supposed to have kicked off last year.However, the EU wanted one of its own experts to join the review team, but this was not favourably received by the Namibian Government.”Certain conditions came with the EU offer for funding, which the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) and the National Planning Commission (NPC) found difficult to accept,” Director of Elections Philemon Kanime, told The Namibian.”The EU wanted to have foreign expert appointed from outside, which is difficult for us to go along with.We want local experts.There are Namibians who can do this work,” Kanime added.As an alternative, the ECN turned to Government for funding via the Ministry of Local and Regional Government and Housing.He said about N$1,5 million was required.The European Union said it had received a request for funding from the National Planning Commission on behalf of the Electoral Commission of Namibia for the project, but the matter had not been concluded.”Last year the NPC asked for financial assistance to commission a study on the electoral law reform, but according to EU regulations, the tender can not only be advertised locally, but also internationally to get the best offer and the best consultants,” Alain Joaris, First Councillor of the EU Commission in Namibia, told The Namibian yesterday.”The Namibian side wanted local experts to do the job and that they could travel abroad while conducting the study.”In July last year, The Namibian reported that a reform of the electoral law was on the cards, and was supposed to be completed this year.However, the project has still not started.With the next national and presidential elections scheduled for the end of 2009, there are barely 24 months left to amend the act, which will have to pass through the National Assembly and the National Council.Two years ago, a regional organisation, the SADC Parliamentary Forum, urged all 14 member states, including Namibia, to make several election norms legally binding.They are the Norms and Standards for Elections in the SADC Region of 2001, the Declaration on Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa (2002) of the African Union and the SADC Principles and Guidelines for Democratic Elections of 2004.”Member countries should ensure that they are not only legally binding but enforceable, possibly through a SADC Protocol on Democratic Elections,” the SADC-PF urged after a regional conference in Maputo, Mozambique.The conference further urged those countries that had not yet started this process to do so as a matter of urgency.