Guinea Elections : Carter Center Heartened by Guinea's Election Date Announcement October 10 2010

The Carter Center election observation mission in Guinea is heartened by the Independent National Electoral Commission's (CENI) announcement recommending that the country's delayed run-off presidential election should be held on Oct. 10.

For the sake of the people of Guinea, and to allow orderly preparations by candidates, political parties, election officials, the media, and both domestic and foreign observers, the Center hopes this date will be made official very soon.  Both presidential candidates must now confirm their approval, and then President Sékouba Konaté must sign a decree formalizing the day of voting.

The Center remains hopeful that CENI will take full advantage of the interim period to fully resolve the critical technical and logistical issues that hampered the first round of elections. Center observers will monitor  distribution of the alpha-numeric voter cards prior to voting day, posting of voters lists throughout the country, allocation of polling stations, poll worker training, and all arrangements regarding the transparency of ballot counting and orderly transmission of voting results. 

The Carter Center welcomes CENI's plans to post voting results at each polling station and to establish reception centers run by trained staff to properly record and process official vote tallies and to receive ballot boxes at prefectoral and communal centralization centers.  If fully implemented, these measures should go a long way toward alleviating many of the serious shortcomings displayed during the June 27, 2010, first-round elections. Because of numerous challenges facing those involved in moving the electoral process to a peaceful and successful conclusion, The Carter Center encourages CENI to act as a strong independent body and concentrate its energies on overcoming remaining logistical and technical challenges.

Eight Carter Center long-term observers have been deployed throughout the country to monitor and document the electoral environment and preparations since May 2010. They have reported that citizens in their regions have been patiently waiting the second round election.

For the runoff election, the Center again will deploy a 30-person delegation led by General Dr. Yakubu Gowon, Nigeria's former head of state, and Dr. John Stremlau, Carter Center vice president for peace programs.

In this heated electoral climate, The Carter Center urges political parties, their supporters, and the people of Guinea to remain calm and retain their commitment to holding peaceful elections. The Center strongly commends both presidential candidates for signing in Ouagadougou the Protocol for a Peaceful Election on Sept. 3, 2010, and encourages them to respect their commitments laid out in the Protocol and in the Code of Conduct for Political Parties, throughout the electoral process as well as afterward. Only if all political leaders fully embrace their responsibilities can they guarantee the people of Guinea a non-confrontational transition to democratic civilian rule and the hope for a peaceful and more prosperous future.

The Carter Center's election observation mission to Guinea is conducted in full accordance with the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation, and assessments are made against Guinea's domestic law and international obligations for democratic elections. For the full history of public and press statements on Guinea, please visit:  www.cartercenter.org

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The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide. A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, the Center has helped to improve life for people in more than 70 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; improving mental health care; and teaching farmers to increase crop production.

 

Cote d'Ivoire president arrives in Burkina Faso on Oct. 31 elections

Cote d'Ivoire President Laurent Gbagbo arrived in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, on Monday evening for the Permanent Consultation Forum (CPC) set for next day.

Gbagbo was welcomed upon arrival by his Burkina Faso Counterpart Blaise Compaore, who is also the mediator of the political crisis in Cote d'Ivoire. They had a 30-minute meeting.

After the talks, Gbagbo declared that he had come to thank Compaore for the help he had accorded Cote d'Ivoire until this time when the country is going for the presidential elections on Oct. 31.

Gbagbo noted that Cote d'Ivoire's political leaders were working together to overcome the remaining technical challenges before going to the polls.

The CPC, created by the Ouagadougou political accord signed in March 2007 by Cote d'Ivoire's political parties, brings together President Gbagbo, Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, opposition leaders Henri Konan Bedie and Allassane Ouattara, as well as the Burkina Faso mediator.

The CPC meeting is expected to harmonize views regarding distribution of voter cards from cities to villages in Cote d'Ivoire.

The special representative of the UN secretary general, Jung Choi, also arrived in the Burkina Faso capital on Monday.

Source: Xinhua

Guinea election head convicted of fraud

The head of Guinea's election commission and a senior aide have been sentenced to a year in jail for fraud during June's presidential vote.

The verdicts are likely to increase tensions ahead of the 19 September run-off, correspondents say.

The complaint was lodged by veteran opposition leader Alpha Conde, who faces ex-Prime Minister Cellou Diallo.

The vote was seen as the first democratic election in the mineral-rich West African state since independence.

The army seized power after the death of autocratic leader Lansana Conte in 2008.

Neither men were in court to hear the verdict. National Independent Election Commission (Ceni) president Ben Sekou Sylla has been in France for medical reasons since the day after the vote.

Ceni planning director El Haj Boubacar Diallo told the AP news agency that he first learnt of the sentence against him was when a journalist phoned him for his reaction.

"I was at the office all day yesterday [Thursday]. No-one from the court called me. Not even my lawyer was told about the judge's decision," he said.

The former prime minister is seen as the favourite in the run-off after gaining 44% of the first round vote, compared to 18% for Mr Conde.

"Alpha Conde knows he cannot win. So he is using his connections inside the army and inside the interim government to try to manipulate the outcome of the vote," the Ceni planning director said.

Some fear that the vote could raise ethnic tensions in Guinea as the two men come from the country's two largest communities - Mr Diallo is a Peul and Mr Conde a Malinke.

Guinea is the world's largest exporter of the aluminium ore bauxite. It also has important deposits of iron ore.

Despite its mineral wealth, the country is one of the poorest in West Africa.

The head of Guinea's election commission and a senior aide have been sentenced to a year in jail for fraud during June's presidential vote.

The verdicts are likely to increase tensions ahead of the 19 September run-off, correspondents say.

The complaint was lodged by veteran opposition leader Alpha Conde, who faces ex-Prime Minister Cellou Diallo.

The vote was seen as the first democratic election in the mineral-rich West African state since independence.

The army seized power after the death of autocratic leader Lansana Conte in 2008.

Neither men were in court to hear the verdict. National Independent Election Commission (Ceni) president Ben Sekou Sylla has been in France for medical reasons since the day after the vote.

Ceni planning director El Haj Boubacar Diallo told the AP news agency that he first learnt of the sentence against him was when a journalist phoned him for his reaction.

"I was at the office all day yesterday [Thursday]. No-one from the court called me. Not even my lawyer was told about the judge's decision," he said.

The former prime minister is seen as the favourite in the run-off after gaining 44% of the first round vote, compared to 18% for Mr Conde.

"Alpha Conde knows he cannot win. So he is using his connections inside the army and inside the interim government to try to manipulate the outcome of the vote," the Ceni planning director said.

Some fear that the vote could raise ethnic tensions in Guinea as the two men come from the country's two largest communities - Mr Diallo is a Peul and Mr Conde a Malinke.

Guinea is the world's largest exporter of the aluminium ore bauxite. It also has important deposits of iron ore.

Despite its mineral wealth, the country is one of the poorest in West Africa.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11258839

Uganda 2011 elections : King by acclamation

IN CONTRAST to the scrutiny afforded President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Uganda's president, Yoweri Museveni, has been treated kindly by international media. But that may change now that he has announced he is running for another term as president in elections due in 2011. At some point, a closer examination is due.

Uganda is not as oppressive as Rwanda and is not implicated to the same extent in the bloodletting in neighbouring Congo. But it cannot boast the same success. Peace is holding in troubled north of the country, but the economy there remains in a pitiful state. Joseph Kony, the messianic and sadistic leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, which displaced a million people in the north and butchered thousands more, remains at large. Mr Museveni takes no responsibility for that failure.

Indeed, judged by his original promises when he came to power in 1986, Mr Museveni has performed dismally. Democracy has increasingly been corroded by militarism and jawing about a liberation struggle most Ugandans are too young to remember. Achievements in macroeconomic policy have been offset by favouritism and corruption. The country is drifting at best. Mr Museveni disparages donors, but uses them to pad out his national budget. Recent oil finds in the Lake Albert basin have made him indispensable to many of those donors, but they need to think carefully about whether another five years of Mr Museveni's increasingly regal and shuffling rule could spell disaster for a country that desperately needs ideas and impetus.

At a recent Youth Day parade, Mr Museveni sought to win over angry unemployed young men with a promise to lower the retirement age in the civil service to 55 (he is 66, but would be exempt). The government might create 40,000 new jobs with the move, but that is not nearly enough for a country that needs to create 400,000 jobs each year to stand still.

Mr Museveni has been careful to prevent any younger candidates building up a power base that could challenge him. He appears determined to stay until 2016, even if it means dividing his party, alienating military commanders, and arresting opposition leaders such as Olaru Otunnu, who used to work for the United Nations. That Mr Museveni is even willing to try is a reflection of the failure of the media, human rights groups, and diplomats to push back against the dubious landslide victories credited this year to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia, as well as to Mr Kagame.

Negotiations with oil companies appear to have been tough and in Uganda's national interest. But will the predicted oil revenues be used transparently? Even some of Mr Museveni's former allies have their doubts, arguing that the president has been too willing to turn a blind eye to corruption in return for political support.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/baobab/2010/09/yoweri_museveni

Nigeria elections 2011 : It’s Official: Presidential Election to Hold Jan 22

After extensive legal and administrative brainstorming, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday released the timetable for the conduct of the 2011 general election, fixing the presidential election for January 22 next year.

The National Assembly polls will take place on January 15, while the governorship and House of Assembly elections will hold on January 29.

Any run-off for governorship and presidential election will be held seven days after the announcement of the result of the poll election.

But the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has predicted post-election crisis because of the provisions of the amended Electoral Act which now make the Court of Appeal the court of first instance (original jurisdiction) in election petitions.

NBA said the Court of Appeal would be “overwhelmed” given the number of judges it has and the number of cases it is likely to handle in the 36 states of the federation – in addition to presidential election petitions.

The election timetable, INEC said, is in line with sections 76, 178, 116 and 132 of the 1999 Constitution and section 26 of the Electoral Act, 2010, which define the dates of elections to be set by the commission.

According to the timetable released by the INEC National Commissioner in charge of Information and Publicity Committee, Prince Solomon Adedeji Soyebi, all parties’ primary elections would hold between September 11 and October 30 this year.

The last date for campaigns for the National Assembly is January 14, while the last date for the presidential campaigns is January 21. The last day for the governorship and the state Houses of Assembly is January 28. This, it said, is in line with section 99 (1) of the Electoral Act 2010, which prohibits advertisements or broadcast of campaigns 24 hours prior to the date of election.

INEC also said the publication of the list of nominated candidates for the National Assembly would take place on December 16, while the presidential list is expected to be published on December 23 and governorship and the House of Assembly on December 30.

INEC said the last day for the submission of nomination forms by political parties for the National Assembly is December 4; presidential December 7; governorship and House of Assembly December 10 and 11, while the collection of nomination forms for all categories of elections is between November 22 to 25.

Similarly, the commission said the publication of personal particulars of the candidates (form CF001) substituted candidates for the National Assembly is December 4, 2010; presidential December 11; and governorship and Assembly December 18.
INEC will publish official register of voters for the election on December 16. This, it said, is in line with section 20 of the electoral act, which provides not later than 30 dates before the election date.

The last day for the withdrawal of candidates and substitution of withdrawn candidates by political parties for the National Assembly is November 30; presidential December 7; and governorship and House of Assembly December 14.

The dates for the publication of personal particulars of the candidates in form CF001 are as follows: National Assembly November 22; presidential election is November 29 and governorship and House of Assembly December 6, 2010.
Registration of voters holds from November 1 to 14, 2010, which is in line with section 9 (5) of the electoral act. The display of voter register for claims and objection is slated for November 20 to 25.

Meanwhile, NBA has raised the alarm over what it described as the “inherent danger and risk” contained in the 2010 Electoral Act.
Speaking at the inauguration of three committees – the NBA Constitution Review, Electoral Justice Reform and Data Base and Documentation Committees – President of the association, Chief Joseph Daudu (SAN), said the law would make the determination of election petitions “a very difficult task”.

According to him, crucial preliminaries to elections such as the preparation of a credible voter register, the enactment of an Electoral Act which should correct past mistakes, the conduct of voter and other civic education, the harmonisation of all relevant electoral legislations and the disposition of post election disputes are yet to be put in place.
He said the Electoral Act 2010 would result in many post-election crises.

He said: “Section 133(1) of the Electoral Act 2010 provides that no election and return election under this Act shall be questioned in any manner other than by a petition complaining of an undue election or undue return presented to the competent tribunal or court in accordance with the Constitution or of the Act, and in which the person elected or returned is joined as a party.

"Ordinarily the above Section would not have posed a problem but for Section 133(2) of the Act which defines tribunal or court to mean in the case of the presidential or governorship election, the Court of Appeal and in the case of any other elections under the Act the election Tribunal as established under the Constitution or Act."

According to him, the implication of the foregoing is that it is the Court of Appeal that now has the original jurisdiction in the determination of governorship election disputes.

"If this is correct, it means that the unaccented amended Constitution contains amendments to Section 246(1)(b)(i)(ii) and (iii) Section 285 (2) and the 6th Schedule to the 1999 Constitution to the effect that original jurisdiction in governorship matters shall henceforth be determined by the Court of Appeal,” he added.

In his view, the new Electoral Act would overwhelm the Court of Appeal.He described the inherent risk and danger posed by the new Electoral Act thus: "First by Section 1 of the Court of Appeal Act as amended, the total number of Justices to the Court of Appeal is 70 and if that number 70 is divided by five which means is the standard panel for election cases then you have only 14 panels. Even if the constitution of the panels is reduced to three which is most undesirable one can only get 23.3 panels.

"With 36 states of the federation and usually in the heat of election petitions some states get more than two active and indeed overworked panels. The position as it appears is that there is not even one panel to go round the states.

"Ancillary to this is the fact that by section 134[2] of the Act every petition is required to be determined by the Tribunal within 180 days from the date of filling of the said petition whilst appellate tribunal has 90 days to determine the appeals to conclusion.
“These provisions ought to alert the alarm bells of any practitioner conversant with the determination of election petitions.

"If the objective of setting time limits is to achieve harmony in governance so that petitions do not continue even after elected officials have been sworn in then even the laudable objective has been defeated because the combined statutory period for the resolution of a petition is now 270 days about nine months which takes it well beyond the May 29th 2011 from the January 8th 2011 when the first election is to take place."

He said the principles of fair hearing would be trampled upon and that justices of the Court of Appeal would be grossly overworked as they have their existing cases to contend with as well as the new constitutional functions thrust on them which include the determination of appeal from the legislative houses at federal and states.

He said the NBA through its Legislative Advocacy Group recommended the setting up of a Constitutional Court with both original and appellate levels but that the National Assembly appeared to have ignored this proposal as with others submitted by the association.

Daudu has consequently constituted an Electoral Justice Reform Committee headed by Chief Mike Ahamba (SAN) with Alex Iziyon (SAN) as Alternate Chairman to examine whether the vesting of the jurisdiction as the final court to entertain governorship petition on the Supreme Court is good or bad.

He said: “Those who support this situation cite the increasing corruption in the Court of Appeal as the reason for the alleged abuse of its finality in such decisions while opponents cite the insufficiency of manpower in the apex court to effectively deal with the situation.”


Nigeria 2011 Elections Timetable

•Sept 11-Oct 30: All primaries
•Jan 15: National Assembly poll
•Jan 22: Presidential poll
•Jan 29: Governorship/ Assembly polls



http://www.thisdayonline.com/

Burkinabe President Tries to Mediate Differences between Guinea’s Presidential Candidates

The president of Guinea’s Research Institute on Democracy and Rule of Law, a non-governmental organization, says Burkinabe President Blaise Compaore is mediating talks between Guinea’s two presidential candidates.

Attorney Thierno Balde said the ongoing talks are aimed at preventing violence, as well as resolving all outstanding issues, ahead of the September 19 second round presidential vote.

“When President Blaise Compaore came to visit General Sekouba Konate two weeks ago, they agreed that he will invite the two leading candidates to Ouagadougou to hold talks and to agree on the process which will lead to the elections on September 19th,” he said.

Backed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), President Compaore is helping Guinea’s efforts to return to constitutional rule.

There has been reported tension between the two presidential aspirants and their supporters during campaigns ahead of the vote.

Long time opposition leader Alpha Conde accused some members of the electoral commission of violating the country’s electoral code and demanded their removal ahead of the vote.

Former Prime Minister Cellou Dalein Diallo also accused Mr. Conde of having an agreement with the transitional Prime Minister, Jean-Marie Dore, to help manipulate the results of the vote.

Attorney Balde said the presidential candidates are expected to sign an agreement after the talks pledging to use legal means, not violence, to address their concerns over the results of the September vote.

“According to close [aides] of the two candidates, the idea is to have an agreement between them so that, when the elections will be organized, both of them will accept the results. And that, if they have any issue, they will use the legal means and, that no matter what happens, they will avoid using violence as a means of expressing their views,” Balde said.

He said officials in the transitional government have announced that they have been able to resolve the controversial issues surrounding the first round of voting to ensure a better second round.

International poll observers have concluded the June 27 first round vote was credible despite isolated reports of voter irregularities. It was Guinea’s first democratic vote since the country gained its independence in 1958 from France.

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/Burkinabe-President-Tries-to-Mediate-Differences-between-Guineas-Presidential-Candidates-102118689.html?utm_source=voa_news-twitter-account&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=twitterfeed

Texts a New Tool in Guinea’s Historic Election

Mobile phones turned citizens into election observers in Guinea’s landmark presidential election. The technology will also be used to help voters in the upcoming September run-off poll.

By Kwami Ahiabenu II

On June 27, 2010, Guinea held what is widely being hailed as the nation’s first freely run democratic election since gaining independence in 1958. A run-off between the two presidential candidates earning the most votes will take place on September 19, 2010. Another first in this landmark election process is the use of mobile phone technology.

Mobile phones have become a preferred means of communication in Africa because they are convenient and affordable relative to other methods. Most countries on the continent are now recording the use of mobile phones by all key stakeholders in their elections: from electoral officials, political parties and individual candidates, to electoral security agencies, civil society organizations, and local and international observers.

Candidates use mobile phones to raise funds and campaign. Voters can use mobile phones to verify their registration information and correct it if necessary before going to the polls. Mobile phones are also used to inform citizens about voter registration, and to inform registered voters about when, where and how to vote. And, in Guinea, phones have been used as a tool for election observation.

"If you have a problem during voting, send a text message to 8080." During the first round of elections in June, this was the message that Guineans around the country received at public forums, on the radio and in newspapers. The message advertised an election-monitoring service based on SMS text messages. The SMS service used a short code number, "8080," which enabled all mobile users in Guinea, regardless of their mobile operator, to send election-related queries, comments and report problems. The service was implemented by a coalition of government, private and business partners. These included the nonprofit group Alliance Guinea, the African Elections Project, Guinea's National Independent Election Commission (CENI), mobile operators (Areeba, Cellcom, Intercel Guinee, Orange or Sotelgui) and African Business Services.

Commenting on the SMS election-monitoring service, U.S. Ambassador Patricia Moller said at a briefing before the June election: "The United States is committed to ensuring that these are the freest and most transparent elections in Guinea's history. This innovative initiative will help to make this vision a reality…By providing voters with the means to protect their vote, we have helped to place the future of their country in the palm of their hands. This technology will allow CENI, local and international observers, and security forces to respond to incidents in real time."

After voters went to the polls, Alix Davilmar of the Guinea-based African Business Services, the providers of the short code service, declared the service a success. Davilmar said: "We received about 4,000 SMS [messages] before the day of election and on the day of elections there were approximately 8,000 SMS entries. After the Election Day, over 2,000 SMS entries also came in. These messages were all posted online and distributed as e-mail alerts to election administrators and observers, international media, civil society organizations or the general public.”

The election did experience some glitches, according to the Carter Center, a U.S. NGO with expertise in observing elections which was on the ground in Guinea. In a statement, the Carter Center described some of the problems observed, “Confusion about several important aspects of voting and counting procedures, delay in allocation of polling stations, and late delivery of essential voting materials negatively affected the quality of polling.”

Despite these difficulties, the period following the election has been calm and the results respected by all parties. The Carter Center itself declared the elections a success and noted, “the elections were marked by broad political participation, a spirit of open campaigning, and transparency.”

Now all eyes are on the September poll, as Guineans prepare for the country’s return to civilian rule.

http://audiencescapes.org/texts-new-tool-guinea-historic-election-mobile-communications-carter-center