National political parties participating in the ongoing negotiation have agreed on major technical areas of the mixed electoral system.
The ruling party, EPRDF, first proposed 1.5 percent threshold or minimum share of the primary vote required for a candidate or a political party to take seats while the opposition proposed 0.05 percent which enables individual candidates or parties with least constituency vote to take seats from the proportional representation of the mixed electoral system.
The ruling party rejected the proposed percentage of the opposition political parties explaining that it will pave the way for parties and individuals to attain seats without constituency. Yet it lowered its proportion to 1 percent which was accepted by all negotiating parties.
The political parties have also agreed on one paper vote instead of two paper vote as it minimizes complications for the voters.
Moreover, the parties have reached agreement on a closed party list in which the order of preferred candidates is fixed during registration to be submitted to the National Electoral Board. Dual candidacy will be allowed in implementing the mixed electoral system.
Similarly, the political parties reached agreement to utilize the Hare quota, where the total valid number votes cast divided by the total number of seats to be allocated for political parties through proportional representation.
Among the points that the parties failed to agree, that the mixed electoral system be used in woredas and kebeles. EPRDF, All Ethiopian National Movement, and All Oromo People's Democratic Party opted for the mixed electoral system to be applicable only to the HPR, regional councils and the two city administrations while the prevailing first-past-the-post applies to woredas and kebeles.
The remaining 11 political parties negotiating under one umbrella and the Gadaa System Advancement Party preferred the application of the mixed electoral system to all.
The negotiating parties agreed to meet on November 1, 2017 to conduct further discussions on closing the gaps on issues on which they differed. (ENA)