The draft law on the organization and functioning of the National Elections Authority in the Central African Republic was in the hands of MPs on July 7. New commissioners are expected to take office as soon as the law comes into force. They will be in charge of participating in the conduct of electoral operations.
The draft law on the organization and functioning of the National Elections Authority (ANE) was before the National Assembly as the current mandate will end at the end of the year. One of the amended articles provides for the new commissioners to be put in place as soon as the law comes into force, to participate in the conduct of electoral operations until the expiry of the term of office of the current members. Deputies voted the law.
Bernard Dillah, MP, First Secretary of the National Assembly, member of the MLPC party, explains the reasons for this amendment: “The concern of the MPs is that elections are a major issue for our country. More often than not, when an election is badly conducted and the result is contested, it is really a source of political-military crisis. So our MPs felt that we have suffered too much and that it would not be possible at all to leave the elections conducted by the current ANE, which has proven its worth with a lot of slip-ups. The composition of this ANE needs to be reviewed. So it is in this sense that Members of Parliament have opted for a new configuration of the ANE Especially since the current ANE, whose mandate expires on 23 December, cannot stay and conduct the elections which are scheduled for 27 December. A new ANE must automatically be put in place to conduct the elections. »
Évariste Ngamana, spokesman for the MCU, the presidential party, takes note of the deputies’ vote and is waiting to see what the Constitutional Court will say, which will have to rule on the text adopted in a fortnight’s time.