The 17 national political parties have concluded their negotiation on the proclamation for registration of political parties on Saturday.
In their last day negotiation the parties have added two new sub-articles, amended one and omitted another.
One of the introduced sub-articles is related to government financial support to political parties.
Previously, the government grants support to parties for election purpose for federal or state houses to be apportioned on the basis of the number of candidates and number of women candidates nominated by the parties.
The parties have now added a sub-article that incorporates additional requirement to the apportionment – number of votes the parties had obtain in a previous election.
The other sub-article introduced is regarding the authority of the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia in facilitating judiciary procedures.
The newly added sub-article allows the Board to enforce its decisions through the first court of law, if they are not implemented.
Previously, the manner and time of apportionment of the government support was set to be determined by a directive issued by the Board. By ensuring the engagement of political parties in the apportionment process, the parties amended the sub-article.
The parties have also omitted a sub-article regarding the right of every member of a party to seek information concerning the revenue and expenditure accounts of the political party of which he is a member.
The parties in their negotiation on the first agenda have introduced a total of 12 sub-articles amended 14 and omitted one.
The political parties have agreed to meet after a month to continue their negotiation on the second agenda – the electoral law.