Party Committees To “Inspect” Candidacy Files For The Position Of “Mayor”

Simultaneously with a number of political parties issuing calls to their activists and cadres wishing to run on their lists for the upcoming local elections, these formations are moving towards forming specialized internal committees to conduct preliminary audits of the files of those wishing to run and the extent of their fulfillment of legal conditions, before approving their names and referring the lists to the Independent National Authority for Elections.

This step comes to avoid the recurrence of candidacy rejection cases, especially since the internal screening process has become an important stage preceding official filing, preventing files that do not meet the conditions from reaching the electoral authority, which practically makes them at a point of no return for both the candidate and the electoral list.

As of August 27, only about three full months remain until the renewal of the date of the last local elections the country witnessed, which took place on November 27, 2021, and while waiting for the summons of the electoral body, political formations have effectively entered into preparations for this date, by starting to attract those wishing to run and inviting their activists and cadres to submit their files, whether it concerns the major parties or the less represented formations, as party pages have been filled with statements calling for candidacy and opening the door to those described as cadres and competencies.

According to what “Echorouk” has learned, a number of these parties are preparing to form internal committees to study the files of those wishing to run and audit the extent of their fulfillment of legal conditions before approving the names and referring them to the Independent National Authority for Elections, in order to avoid the recurrence of candidacy rejection cases witnessed in the recent legislative elections, which made parties more cautious in dealing with candidate files.

This step comes in accordance with what is stipulated in the amended election law, which reset a number of provisions related to candidacy and electoral lists, making the process of choosing a candidate not stop at the extent of their popular or party acceptance, but rather extend to ensuring in advance their fulfillment of various legal conditions and the absence of any obstacle that might lead to the rejection of their file when filing lists.

Thus, the committees that the parties are working to form will turn into something like a “preliminary sieve” for candidate files, by examining documents and ensuring the availability of eligibility conditions for candidacy, and the absence of cases that legally prevent candidacy, in addition to auditing the extent to which the list as a whole respects the legal conditions regarding its composition.

This task will be more sensitive for the local elections, given the large number of lists and names that parties must prepare across the municipal and provincial people’s assemblies, which forces them, according to party sources, to avoid leaving the audit process until the list filing stage, and to carry it out internally at an early stage.

Furthermore, the new amendment to the election law makes it necessary for parties to verify the legal status of each candidate, and not just suffice with political or party nomination, as a candidate’s fulfillment of individual conditions does not necessarily mean that the list they are on meets all the legally required conditions.

Accordingly, the next stage will witness a double sorting process within the parties, the first to choose the names they see as capable of competing locally, and the second to ensure the legal integrity of their files, before referring them to the Independent National Authority for Elections (ANIE).