Role of Local and International Observers (Including Party

Monitors) in the 2014 Tripartite Elections

PRESENTER: HAPPY MHANGO (PROGRAMME MANAGER)

CHURCH AND SOCIETY PROGRAMME, SYNOD OF LIVINGSTONIA

PRESENTATION OUTLINE

• UNDERSTANDING THE TERMS (MONITORING OR OBSERVATION)

• ROLES OF LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL OBSERVERS

• SUCCESSES AND CHALLENGES

• SUGGESTIONS

ELECTION MONITORING

• In a simple sense, monitoring and observation of election is a process through which an election is scrutinized and evaluated “for purposes of determining its impartiality in terms of organization and administration”.

• It involves “stationing of independent missions, officials or individuals representing international or local organizations for a specified time in a country which is in the process of organizing a national election with a mandate to closely observe and pronounce on the entire process and outcome

MONITORING AND OBSERVATION (CONT’D)

• To function effectively as a midwife of democratic succession andcommand the confidence of the electorate however, elections mustnot only be free and fair, they must also be seen to be so. Hence theneed for observation.

• Election monitoring and observation have evolved as standardmechanisms for assisting in the conduct of free and fair elections,increasing voters’ confidence in the electoral process, enhancing theacceptability of election outcome and the legitimacy of thegovernments constituted through such elections.

MONITORING (CONT’D)

• Election observers, THEREFORE MUST FOLLOW an established methodology which focuses on a comprehensive analysis of all stages of an election process –

• political and legal context, • campaign environment, • media coverage, • level of preparation of election management body, • voting, • counting and tabulation • complaints and appeals process. • DID BOTH LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL OBSERVERS STICK TO THIS?

MANDATE FOR INTERNATIONAL OBSERVERS

• Do international observers violate the sovereignty of host nations? Malawi has signed international and regional agreements to uphold democracy and hold clean elections.

• More importantly, international observer organizations only operate in countries based on invitations from the host governments.

• To enter polling booths and conduct their work, they generally need access, and access usually comes with formal registration and accreditation as observers.

• Host governments are aware of and have normally consented to their presence.

• Monitoring missions operate in the open, holding press conferences and issuing reports.

ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL OBSERVERS

Disseminating international standards and good practicesIn the May 20, 2014 TPE, Electoral administrators, politicians and national observers engaged with international observers to harmonize international standards and local ones for free and fair elections.

International observer (NGOs) missions also provided local electoral administrators the opportunity for comparative exchange of professional knowledge with other experts, particularly on integrity mechanisms

International Observers (cont)Deterring integrity problems• The presence of international observers monitoring the election

process may help deter attempts to disrupt or tamper with the process. There is a public perception in most countries that international observers will be able to uncover fraud on election day.

Holding a fragile process together

• In situations of conflict or in countries in transition, the presence ofinternational observers can to some extent deter violence andintimidation. Their presence during the TPE to some extent helpedreassure candidates, monitors and voters that it is safe to participate.

• The presence of international observers also helped to convince oppositionpoliticians that competing in the election is preferable to boycotting, orengaging in civil disobedience or disturbance.

• The International Observer team came in at a time when some oppositionparties had started losing trust in MEC, following its partnership with ZEC,the International Observers assured Malawians that there was no room forrigging in the 2014 Tripartite elections MEC.

Increasing the credibility and legitimacy of the process• Through their reporting and analysis, observers can uphold or

denigrate the legitimacy of the electoral process and its outcome. If their reports show that the election is proceeding within acceptable parameters, this finding reinforces the acceptability of the process and the legitimacy of the results. The international team was able to do that as evidenced by the EU report.

Developing the capacity of national observers

• If international observation is occurring simultaneously with national observation, the example set by international observers can help develop and improve the capacity of national observation efforts.

• For example, international NGOs or observers assisted MESN/MEIC concerning how to set up a nationwide election observation effort, conduct a parallel vote tabulation and assimilating field observation reports. They can also contributed towards national observers efforts, and perhaps inform them of standards and best practices relevant to their activities.

Challenges with International observers

• There assessment may be misplaced since international observers have only limited data and may not understand the ”local” way of doing things. This is evidenced by the fact that they were here mainly for a short time (EU Team arrived on 12 April, 2014, about 18 days).

• The team was not around from the first day of registration.

CHALLENGES WITH INTERNATIONAL OBSERVERS• International observers are not available during the entire electoral

process (registration to announcement of results). Yet rigging or electoral fraud can happen at any stage of the electoral process)

• It is possible therefore that international observers may declare results free and fare when they were not.

THE ROLE OF LOCAL OBSERVERS

• CSO have a critical role to play in local elections. The principal role if CSO is to safe guard principles of human dignity, rule of law and justice.

• This is done by CSOs ability to protect the vulnerable majority in the rural areas through awareness raising such as

• Debates

• Theatre for development activities

ICE BREAKER

SOCIAL STUDIES CLASS IN MALAWI

FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS

LOCAL NGOS

• Provide Civic and Voter Education.

• This was one of the major areas that CSOs make sure that the rural people, majority of whom are illiterate are not taken for a ride by politicians. This was done by civic educating communities on:• A. issue based violent free campaign

• B. roles of President, MPs and Councellors

• C. voting process etc

• D. citizen manifesto through know your candidate debates

ROLE LOCAL OBSERVERS PLAYED

• The Malawi Election Support Network (MESN) implemented a nationwide, nonpartisan citizen election observation using parallel vote tabulation (PVT) and a long-term observation (LTO) - systemic observation over a period of time prior to and after an election to assess different types of the electoral process to provide an independent evaluation of its fairness with financial assistance from NDI.

• This was especially critical because it saved Malawi from potential civil unrest especially when roumers started going around that some political party was busy manipulating results with its hacking machine.

Detecting integrity problems

• Experienced observers can detect problems or questionable activities, and bring them to the attention of the election management body and the public.

• Local observers asked questions about MECs conduct in an informational way. A good example in mind is the statement from Grand Coalition,

• Early identification of issues in this manner can allow a problem to be solved before it is too late

LOCAL NGOS

• NDI partnered with 35 national and community-based organizations to increase citizen involvement in the electoral process around issue organizing and to engage actively with elected public officials so that they can be held accountable to their electoral promises.

• Through issue-based civic and voter education (CVE), NDI and partner organizations helped Malawians to identify and prioritize local service delivery needs; understand formal and informal political processes that impact how development and service delivery projects are allocated; engage with and evaluate candidate positions on campaign promises in the context of local priorities.

ROLE LOCAL OBSERVERS PLAYED

• The setting of the situation room was another important. This allowed various organizations to come together and discuss electoral issues basing on results that were coming from the field. It also saved as an early warning system

SOME NOTABLE EFFORTS

• When electoral related violence erupted CSO leaders decided to embark on maintaining peace to prevent or address the spontaneous violence.

• Chairperson National Integrity Platform, Civic and Political Space Platform and member of MESN Taskforce(Situation Room Project)

• Chairperson NGO Board

• Chairperson NGO GCN and Deputy Chair-MESN

• A Commissioner MHRC and chair NGO Board of Trustees

• Deputy Chair HRCC

• Deputy Chair for the NGO Board

• Chairperson MHRC

EFFORTS MADE

• The team decided to engage the leadership of the four major parties (UDF,PP, DPP and MCP) and the leadership of the Electoral Commission on one- to- one discussions in order to share with them and also hear their thoughts around the electoral process. It was also important to work out strategies that could prevent an escalation of violence during this trying moment for our country.

• The Pre-Voting Issue Paper issued by Grand Coalition and the NGOGCN confirms the efforts by CSO.

CHALLENGES

• Capacity challenges both institutional and human

• Late transfer of resources from Donors also affected implementation of election related activities

• CSO mainly do CVE which basically aimed at motivating people and not the entire process. This was mainly done during the registration process

• Linkages and synergy

• Follow up on issues: Post election process e.g. Promises made by politicians and implementation.

• Fielding of incompetent monitors especially political parties some of whom are not party members. (How can a party that has deployed 4 Observer get two votes? Are they really his?

SUGGESTIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS

• Election observation should be a process, not a one-off event

• Why observe elections? For many, the idea is still to get an independent verdict on the quality of the process: If the observers declare the elections "free and fair", then the outcome should be respected by both the citizens concerned and the international community.

• ONLY THEN WILL NEWLY ELECTED GOVERNMENT IS CONSIDERED LEGITIMATE AND ITS DECISIONS UNDERSTOOD TO BE IN LINE WITH THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Holding regular, free and fair elections is thus seen as an indicator for a healthy democracy, but we should be mindful not to equate one with the other. Democracy, as I understand it, is an on-going participatory process of forming opinions and taking decisions on issues affecting the larger community - and elections are just one part of this process.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Election observation can be a useful tool to strengthen democratic practices, but only if it puts elections into a wider perspective.

• First, by seeing elections as ONE element of a larger process.

• Second, by not reducing elections to an isolated event on polling day, but by including all its phases such as internal political party nominations, public campaigns, voting, counting and possibly judicial procedures in case of contentious outcomes.

• Third, by taking a longer-term perspective - not just judging the current elections, but working towards improving the next ones.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Election observation should thus not be a one-off event. Institutions and organisations should make a firm commitment to stay involved, not only by observing consecutive elections, but also by staying engaged in between elections.

END OF PRESENTATION