In line with Al-Ofoq Foundation for Youth Development's role in promoting community engagement and empowering youth in public issues, the Foundation held a specialized dialogue session on the new election law for local council elections. This aimed to highlight the most prominent amendments in the law, discuss its implementation mechanisms, and analyze its implications for community participation and the representation of various groups, especially youth.
Firstly: Workshop Objectives
The workshop aimed to:
Study and analyze the amendments contained in the decree-law concerning local council elections.
Evaluate the impact of the new electoral system on democratic representation and institutional stability of local councils.
Develop critical and professional observations that can be built upon to improve the legal framework governing the electoral process.
Secondly: Participating Categories
The workshop was attended by a selection of:
(Local and community leaders, legal and constitutional experts, local governance experts, official and non-official election experts and committees, media experts, women leaders, youth leaders).
Third: Brief Overview of the New Electoral System
The workshop addressed the analysis of the two electoral systems approved by law, which are:
- The individual system for local councils consisting of (9) members or less, which is based on electing individuals according to the highest number of votes.
- The open proportional list system in larger local bodies consisting of (11, 13, 15) seats, where the voter votes for one list, with the obligation to choose only five candidates from within the list.
Fourth: Prominent Negative Critical Observations
The workshop concluded with a number of critical observations, most notably:
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Restricting Freedom of Democratic Choice: Obligating the voter to choose a specific number of candidates within the list (only five) is a restriction of freedom of choice and limits the full expression of the voter's will.
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Reducing the Electoral Threshold: Reducing the electoral threshold from (8%) to (5%) is seen as a negative factor, due to what it may lead to:
a. Increasing the number of competing lists.
b. Fragmentation of votes.
c. Weakening the administrative and political stability of local councils.
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Problems with Open Lists: Adopting the open list system in major cities may lead to:
a. Individual competition within the same list instead of collective work.
b. Escalation of internal disputes.
c. Social and familial pressures on voters during election campaigns.
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Disintegration of Lists and Weak Harmony: It is expected that the lists will witness fierce internal competition during the election campaign, which weakens their cohesion and turns the campaign into an individual race within the list itself.
Escalation of political conflicts: The new system may lead to:
a. Deepening the conflict between large and small blocs.
b. Intensifying disputes within the blocs themselves.
c. Exchanging accusations and engaging in political blocking practices within the councils.
Fragility of the head of the local council's position: It is feared that the head of the council will become susceptible to bargaining and political blackmail by individual seat holders or small blocs.
Absence of consideration for expert opinions: Participants noted the legislator's failure to take into account the experts' observations presented before the law was passed, in addition to the absence of a clear and transparent regulatory framework governing financial spending on election campaigns.
Requirement of complete lists: The requirement to submit a complete list may lead to the disqualification of the entire list if one of the candidates does not meet the legal requirements, which is considered a harsh and unbalanced measure.
Expected increase in the percentage of invalid votes: The complexity of the voting mechanism is likely to increase the percentage of invalid votes to exceed (10%) of the total number of voters.
Absence of efficiency criteria and limiting family considerations.
Lack of a minimum educational qualification for candidates.
Allowing more than one individual from the same nuclear family to run, which reinforces family considerations at the expense of efficiency and general representation.
Fifth: General Conclusion
The workshop concluded that the decree-law, in its current form, raises serious concerns regarding the quality of democratic representation, the stability of local councils, and the integrity of the electoral process. The participants emphasized the importance of reconsidering some of the articles and opening a broad national dialogue that includes experts and civil society organizations before implementing the law on the ground.
