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Report/Paper
United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara: Approaching the Eleventh Hour
This paper explores the strategies, operational considerations and political options available to the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) to complete its mandate. These options are further elaborated into a plan of action to end the current stalemate over issues of voter eligibility associated with the status referendum. MINURSO’s principal implementing partners are the government of Morocco and the Frente Popular para la Liberación de Saguia el Hamra y Rio de Oro, or Frente POLISARIO. The threat of violence emanating from both camps has been an undercurrent to the implementation of the Settlement Agreement. This threat has taken the form of human rights violations and intimidation of Saharawis, as the inhabitants of Western Sahara are known, and extends back to the 1960’s. According to Human Rights Watch, “In Morocco/Western Sahara, both civil society and state institutions are engaged in a lively debate over how to reckon with the legacy of gross human rights abuses committed during the reign of King Hassan II, notably during efforts to suppress leftist dissidents and advocates of self-determination for the disputed territory of Western Sahara between the 1960s and 1980s. These abuses included hundreds of cases of ‘disappearances’ that remain unresolved today, prolonged arbitrary detention, torture and long-term imprisonment on political charges.” The Frente POLISARIO has kept the pressure on the conflict by its longstanding threat of resuming military action if progress is not made on the political front. After voter registration was temporarily suspended in May 1996, the Frente POLISARIO stated, “If POLISARIO decides to recommence its military operations, then it is entirely justified in doing so. POLISARIO has shown in recent years that it wants to choose the path of peace, but in the absence of a political solution it is now left with no choice but to fight for the rights of the Saharawi people.” Such instability is not in the interest of the region or the international community. A vacuum in governance can create a haven for transnational crime and terror networks, which have become a focus of international concern since September 11. An eruption of violence on the western edge of the Mahgreb States threatens further destabilization in Algeria and creates another external concern for Egypt, already managing internal security problems while attempting to exert influence on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Therefore it would seem that the time is ripe for the international community to generate the political will to hold the referendum and reach a final settlement. However, for more than a decade, the referendum has been stalled on the key issue of voter identification. Each side has a distinct view of how the electorate should be determined. This impasse illustrates a general principle: the importance of establishing personal identity for the conduct of democratic processes. It is the first of four issues related to personal identity in electoral processes: 1) identity establishment; 2) identity confirmation; 3) identity theft; and 4) identity cleansing. The second phenomenon, identity confirmation, is by far the most common and is carried out every time a voter presents his or her voter ID card at a polling station. Identity theft, also known as voter impersonation, occurs when an identity is stolen for the purpose of casting a ballot. Identity cleansing is the systematic and widespread confiscation or destruction of identity documents to disenfranchise and displace significant populations of people. The impasse in Western Sahara centers on the first category: identity establishment or the recording of an officially recognized identity with public authorities. This task is complicated in Western Sahara because of large refugee and displaced populations and differing definitions of who are the legal residents of the territory. By solving the technical and political issues associated with the identification and registration of eligible voters, a resurgence of violence can be avoided and a political process established to peacefully broker the conflicts between the two parties.
June 30, 2002
Publication
Survey
2001 Nationwide Survey of Zone and Local Government Election Officials
The aim of this report is to present key findings from the first nationwide survey of local election officials, held in November and December 2001 in Albania. During this period, both local government and zone election officials were interviewed, with the objective of seeking their views on a range of topics relating to election administration and their experiences during the parliamentary elections in 2001. This report has been produced for the Central Election Commission, following an extensive analysis of the results and the extraction of key findings by the International Foundation for Election Systems. The survey findings highlight various improvements as identified by the election officials and potential focus areas for the Central Election Commission, local election commissions and political parties, leading up to the local government elections in 2003. This report contains three sections. Part one contains a brief overview of the election officials survey project, the structure of the questionnaire and the classification system used for grouping responses in this report. Part two of this report highlights key findings based on data collated and analyzed by IFES. For easy reference, findings are presented both as percentages and totals, in one of seven topic areas. In part 3 of this report, IFES offers comments and observations in a number of areas in the context of future requirements for the improvements of the democratic electoral process in Albania.
June 30, 2002
Election Material
Election and Political Party Law
Political Party Law
Law of the Republic of Indonesia number ... of 2002 concerning political parties.
Publication
Report/Paper
Young Womens Leadership Conference, May 9-11 2002
This report discusses IFES findings from the Young Women’s Leadership Conference where students received training through interactive activities designed to promote understanding of gender equality issues, leadership, and a woman's role in a democratic society.
May 31, 2002
Publication
Report/Paper
IFES Bosnia and Herzegovina Voter Education and Civic Organizing Project, FINAL REPORT, Concerning USAID Indefinite Quantity Contract (IQC)
This report summarizes IFES efforts in Bosnia and Herzegovina to spread and enhance voter education and civic organizing. The report details ho IFES urges citizens to realize the information and tools to engage in the political process; help them understand that they have a right and an obligation to demand government accountability; assist them to develop the skills and confidence to approach authorities; and counsel them through the process of seeing their needs met.” The report also details IFES Citizens' Guides for a number of municipalities, with the goal of completing one in each municipality where IFES has a presence. These guides explain local government structure and the responsibilities of each agency and official and provide the municipal budget and phone numbers to contact officials.
May 31, 2002
Publication
Report/Paper
Kosovo: Election Assistance to Muncipal Election Officials: IFES Final Activity Report of Phase I, Oct 2001- March 2002
This report summarizes IFES’ role in the professional development of Municipal Election Commissioners in Kosovo. The report details the lessons imparted on Municipal Election Commissioners; voter education techniques; maintenance of impartiality in election administration; skills development including management, strategic planning, budgeting, personnel and human resource management, and preparing information sessions with the media, the general public and the international community; and interacting with political entities, NGOs, and municipal assemblies
May 31, 2002
Publication
Report/Paper
Macedonia Final Report, May 2000-March 2002
This report summarizes IFES programming in Macedonia under the Europe and Eurasia Cooperative Agreement beginning with the 2000 pre-election technical assessment and concluding with initial 2002 parliamentary election preparations. Since April 2002, all IFES programming in Macedonia has been conducted under the CEPPS 2 funding mechanism and is covered in separate reports to USAID.
May 31, 2002
Publication
Report/Paper
Citizens Activity is Basis for Democratic Society, April 2002
This report serves as an educational summary on civic education for citizens of Azerbaijan. The document covers topics such as who is an active citizen and what does being an active citizen involve? The report continues to outline constitutional rights, priorities of a democratic government, and citizen participation in democracies.
April 30, 2002
Publication
Survey
2001 IFES Survey in Kyrgyzstan
The purpose of this survey was to analyze the views of the Kyrgyzstani public on political and economic developments, public institutions performance, media, elections, civil society, democracy and human rights, and to gauge any shifts in the opinion environment since the 1996 International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES) public opinion survey. A similar public opinion poll was also implemented by IFES in 1995. The results of these surveys have been used by IFES and other international assistance organizations to design programs for voter information, civic education and civil society development. Feedback from the surveys has proved to be useful when shaping such IFES’ activities as its civic education course, civil society development programs and technical elections assistance. Currently, IFES is piloting its civics textbook and course in schools throughout Kyrgyzstan, with all materials available in Kyrgyz, Uzbek and Russian. It also encourages greater student activism in the community/school and greater political efficacy and involvement in representative governance through programs like Student Action Committees (SACs), Student Local Government Days (SLGDs), Democracy Summer Camps, and University Student Elections Assistance. In addition, IFES, in close coordination with USAID and the U.S. Embassy, continues to monitor ongoing electoral reform efforts in Kyrgyzstan and provides necessary technical elections assistance. IFES is confident that the data from this 2001 survey will prove integral to the development of these ongoing programs. This report’s findings are based on the IFES nationwide opinion survey fielded in Kyrgyzstan between July 27 and August 17, 2001. The survey was conducted with a sample of 1,600 respondents, including an oversample of 100 interviews with young adults aged 18-25. The data file has been weighted to be nationally representative by region, age, and gender. The margin of error for a sample of 1,600 respondents is plus/minus 2.4%. All interviews were conducted face-to-face at a respondent’s home. The Executive Summary of the survey provides an overview of the survey data and its major findings in all of the categories of questions, while the body of the survey analysis focuses on individual categories in greater detail and discusses the data in terms of their meaning. The presentation of the survey results, organized thematically, reports opinions on the following subjects: • Information and Major Media Sources • Overall Situation and the Economy • Political Interest, Efficacy, and Knowledge • Democracy and Human Rights • Institutional Performance, Confidence and Corruption • Elections and Civic Society
April 30, 2002
Publication
Survey
National Public Opinion Survey in Indonesia (2002)
From 30 March to 22 April, Taylor Nelson Sofres Indonesia, in cooperation with the International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES), conducted a national public opinion survey in Indonesia. The field work was conducted in 30 provinces, including Aceh and North Maluku. The 3,580 respondents came from rural and urban areas using a random sample method. The objective of the survey was to inform members of the House of Representatives (DPR) and the People's consultative Assembly (MPR) about the perceptions, hopes and attitudes of the Indonesian people. The survey covered a number of current topics such as the performance of the Indonesian government and national leaders, the popularity of political parties, the electoral law reform process and regional autonomy. In general, this study showed an apparent increase in people's awareness of economic and political issues. Compared to the survey conducted in June 2001, a greater proportion of people were able to provide an answer to most of the questions. In other words, there was a significant decrease in "don't know" and "can't say" responses. What has contributed to this shift is difficult to say and one can only speculate. However, it does highlight that compared to 12 months ago more people hold an opinion on the issues raised in the survey.
April 30, 2002