Ethiopia’s National Election Board has drafted a bill that prohibits government offices from deducting political party membership contributions “directly” from their employees’ salaries. The draft law also stipulates that when it is not possible to hold general elections in all areas at the same time, the elections can be held “at different times”.

The National Election Board of Ethiopia introduced these issues in the draft amendment of Ethiopia’s election, registration of political parties, and election ethics decree that it submitted for discussion.

This draft, which has been discussed with various stakeholders since last January, replaces the Decree on Elections and Political Parties that has been in force for the past five years. The Election Board’s draft is composed of nine sections and 177 articles.

One of the new issues included in the new election, registration of political parties, and electoral conduct amendment bill is the provision that if it is not possible to hold general elections in all areas at the same time, the extension of elections will be applicable.

The general election to elect members of public representatives and regional councils is settled on the draft that it will be held “at the same time throughout the country” every five years. The draft notes that situations may arise where holding general elections everywhere at the same time may not be feasible.

The issues listed by the draft law as “not enabling the holding of general elections at the same time” include “situations such as security problems, epidemics, and natural disasters.” When faced with such situations, the Election Board has decided that “in consultation with the House of Representatives, the election may be held at a different time.”

The National Election Board of Ethiopia, due to the security problems mentioned earlier in the amendment bill, held general elections in different places at different times in the past election.

A new procedure has also been introduced for elections extended after the registration of candidates and voters. According to the draft, if an extended election is not held within six months after registration, a “new registration of candidates and voters” will be conducted.

The draft states that the term of representation of the winners elected in the extended election will be determined by the remaining term of office of the council they join. “If the remaining term of a council is one year or less, the extended election will not be held,” the election board stated. It also stated that there may be a situation where the election cannot be held after the extension.

Among the new issues included in the draft decree submitted by the Ethiopian National Election Board for discussion regarding political parties, there is an amendment regarding the source of income of political parties. Both the existing and the amended versions mention that the main source of funding for political parties is the contributions collected from members.

This type of contribution is what members voluntarily contribute to the political party. Government employees who are members of the ruling party in various areas pay their membership dues through the offices they are employed in. Deductions are being made from their monthly salaries.

Government employees who are members of the ruling party make these contributions voluntarily, but there have been occasions when government employees have complained that contributions have been deducted from their salaries without their consent.

The amendment bill prepared by the Election Board prohibits the practice of offices deducting membership dues from their employees’ wages.

The draft states, “If a government employee is a member of a political party, the office cannot directly deduct the employee’s salary and deposit it into the bank account of the political party he is a member of.” This is not the only restriction on the source of income. It also prohibits candidates of political parties from personally accepting “gifts or assistance from any person.” According to the draft, they can only accept this kind of gift or assistance “on behalf of the party.” It is stated in the draft that a candidate who receives help in this way must inform the election board “within 48 hours of the act being done or knowing that it has been done” and “hand over the gift or help to the party that nominated him.”

In addition to the changes included in the draft, the National Election Board of Ethiopia has imposed mandatory gender contributions on political parties. One of the parts of the draft where gender composition is made mandatory concerns the leaders of political parties.

This issue of gender composition is addressed in the draft section on political parties’ constitution. The existing proclamation mentions that elections for party responsibilities should be “gender sensitive.”

The new draft, on the other hand, replaces this gender component with a numerical requirement. The draft stipulates that the bylaws of any party must contain “a provision stating that at least 30 percent of the leaders of the political party will be women.”

The draft also includes a similar numerical requirement on the gender composition of candidates nominated by parties. The draft mandates that political parties, fronts, and coalitions must make up “at least 20 percent” of their candidates. “A political party that submits the list of candidates without fulfilling this requirement will have to correct it and present it on the dates decided by the board before the registration of candidates is completed,” the draft states.