The President of the National Independent Authority for Elections, Mr. Mohamed Charfi, met today, Wednesday, with representatives of the independent electoral lists, in preparation for the election, next June 12, of the National People’s Assembly’s MPs.
Charfi said in a declaration to the media after the meeting, held behind closed doors at the headquarters of the National Independent Authority for Elections at the Palais des Nations, that his meeting with representatives of the independent electoral lists from 9 provinces of the country came “at their request, to express their concerns and proposals related to the preparation of the legislation of next June 12.”
He revealed the most important concerns presented by the representatives of the independent lists, which he described as “common concerns” with those raised by some representatives of the political parties with whom he met last Sunday.
Mr. Charfi said that “the concerns related to monitoring the running of the electoral process by the National Independent Authority for Elections to ensure its integrity are among the most important concerns that were raised. He added that the representatives of the independent lists took stock of the measures put in place to this effect.
This meeting constituted an opportunity to discuss the independent candidates’ request, which consist of “monitoring the polling station and election center by the candidate in order to personally verify the smooth running of the electoral process”.
Mr. Charfi stated that “the financing of the electoral campaign, which will be launched on May 17 is organized in accordance with the requirements of the law. An executive decree has been issued in the Official Gazette defining these procedures, and the decree clarifies in the same context the role of the National Committee of Monitoring the Financing of the Election Campaign.” .
He affirmed that “with the start of the election campaign, all matters will be clear and all means will be available to allow all contenders to vye for the legislative election of June 12 in the best possible conditions, by providing all the material, logistical and organizational means, necessary to ensure a modern campaign with democratic standards.
Mr. Charfi added that “the presented lists show that everyone has realized the necessity of change that cannot be undertaken without new ideas, and this has been reflected through the level of the candidates who presented themselves for the upcoming election.”
The president of the National Independent Authority for Elections announced the creation, with the start of the election campaign for June 12 legislation, of a health structure consisting of 58 doctors who will be mobilized across all the country’s provinces, within a management cell that will assist the authority in organizing the electoral process, especially in what is related to respecting the health protocol to fight against the Coronavirus.
He stressed, in this regard, that “all measures that guarantee the integrity and transparency of the election campaign and the voting process on the one hand, and the compliance with all measures to prevent the virus on the other hand, have been taken and seriously highlighted.”
Answering a question related to the appeals regarding the rejection of some electoral lists, Mr. Charfi affirmed that he is in charge of implementing the law and respecting the legislator, and that justice is represented in the administrative court alongside the State Council, the only bodies entitled to deal with those appeals.
It is worth recalling that the President of the National Independent Authority for Elections met last Sunday with representatives of 16 political parties, at the request of the leaders of the concerned parties who had protested against the exclusion of the lists of their candidates in a number of the country’s provinces.
It should be noted that the totally and unreservedly accepted lists to run for next June legislative election amount to 1483 lists, including 646 party lists and 837 lists of independent candidates. The number of lists that submitted forms reached 2,490, of which 1,237 belong to political parties and 1,253 are independent lists.
