The High National Election Commission (HNEC) has requested amendments to the presidential election law, which the House of Representatives issued few weeks ago to serve as legal framework for the election on December 24.
In a letter addressing the parliament, the HNEC asked that Article No. 12 be amended, which stipulates that any official must resign from his or her post if they were to declare presidential candidacy. The amendment allows for official to serve in office again if her or she wasn’t elected.
The commission also amended Article 16 of the law, which authorizes the parliament to set the date of polling day based on a proposal by the commission.
In Article 20, the HNEC stipulated that “in case of breaching any procedure or condition for nomination, the commission shall notify the candidate that his or her candidacy wasn’t accepted within a period that shall not exceed 5 days from the submission of the candidacy application”.
The HNEC amended the text of Article 22 to state that “the applicant may withdraw his or her candidacy with a written request submitted to the Commission before it announces the final list of candidates. The candidate has the right to relinquish his or her candidacy by notifying the Commission in writing within the time period determined by the Commission, and the Commission shall publishes the waiver through the available media within two days from the date of submission.”
The Commission also asked the parliament to add a provision in Article 13, which stipulates that “the regulations and executive procedures issued by the Commission are an integral and complementary part of this law.”