SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC FRONT (SDF)
OPENING OF NOMINATIONS TO POSTS IN THE NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE (NEC)
The 7th Ordinary Convention of the SDF will hold in February 2006. During the Convention, the National Executive Committee of the SDF will be renewed. In conformity with Rule 10 of the Standing Orders of the National Convention of the SDF which states that “[T]he National Secretariat shall, not later than five months to the Convention at which the members of the national Executive committee shall be elected, declare nominations open”, nominations for posts in NEC are declared open on Monday 5 September 2005.
A. Some provisions of the Standing Orders recalled:
a) Meaning of Post in the National Executive Committee: Every office, be it that of assistant, deputy or vice shall constitute a post for the purpose of election of members of the National Executive Committee.
b) Qualification for Nomination: Every member of the Party who satisfies the conditions laid down in Section 7 of the Party Constitution shall be entitled to present his/her nomination for election to any post in the National Executive Committee. Further, in conformity with the decision of the Extraordinary Convention of 22 September 2004, members whose longevity in the party was interrupted, and who successfully took part in the National Reconciliation Forum of 8 September 2004, are eligible to present their nominations.
c) Nomination only for One Post of Choice: Every prospective candidate shall be entitled to present his/her nomination only for one post in the National Executive Committee.
d) Application for Nomination: Nominations shall be made by filling the form attached to these instructions.
e) Nomination Paper to be Deposited at the Ward Executive Committee: The nomination forms duly filled shall be deposited at the Ward Level. Where there are more than one candidate for a post, the Ward Assembly shall conduct a primary and the candidate with the highest number of votes cast shall be declared the candidate of the Ward for nomination to the said post.
f) Ward to Transmit Nomination Paper within One Month: Not later than 5 October 2005, the Ward Chairpersons shall submit to the Electoral District Executive Committee, the nomination papers of their candidates for the various posts in the National Executive Committee. Forms of those who did not win the primaries should also be transmitted.
g) Electoral District Primaries: Where there are more than one candidate for nomination to a post in the National Executive Committee, the Electoral District Conference shall conduct a primary and the candidate with the highest number of votes cast shall be declared the candidate of the Electoral District for nomination to the said post.
h) Electoral District to Transmit Nomination Papers within : Not later than 5 November 2005, the Electoral Districts Executive shall submit to the Provincial Executive Committee, the nomination papers of their candidates for the various posts in the National Executive Committee. All other forms of candidates who did not win primaries at the Ward/or the Electoral District should also be transmitted. Further, the list of TWO additional delegates to attend the Convention elected by the Electoral District Conference should be forwarded to the Provincial Executive Committee with the forms.
i) Provincial Primaries: Where there are more than one candidate for nomination to a post in the National Executive Committee, the Provincial Conference shall conduct a primary and the candidate with the highest number of votes cast shall be declared the candidate of the Province for nomination to the said post.
j) Province to Transmit Nomination Papers not later than One Month: Nomination papers shall be transmitted to the Secretary General not later than 5 December 2005. Forms of all those who did not win primaries at the Ward, Electoral District and Provincial levels should also be transmitted.
k) National Investiture Committee: The National Investiture Committee of the SDF will meet before 15 January 2006 to review all candidature files and take decisions on final investiture of candidates. They shall also examine complaints from all levels of the exercise and make final rulings on them. Following the meeting of the Investiture Committee, and in collaboration with the Secretary General, the list of candidates retained for the various posts shall be published not later than ten (10) days to the opening date of the Convention.
l) Mode of Conduct of Primaries: Primaries shall be conducted, mutatis mutandis in accordance with the provisions of Part II (Section 9) of the Party’s Internal Rules and Regulations and Rules 3, 11 and 12 of these Standing Orders. Briefly, each delegate to a Ward, Electoral District or Provincial Conference shall be entitled to only one vote; voting shall be by direct and secret ballot.
B. Posts open for competition in the National Executive Committee:
1) The National Chairperson;
2) 1st National Vice Chairperson,
3) 2nd National Vice Chairperson;
4) 3rd National Vice Chairperson;
5) 4th National Vice Chairperson;
6) 5th National Vice Chairperson . At least one of whom shall be of the opposite sex;
7) The Secretary General;
8) 1st Assistant Secretary General;
9) 2nd Assistant Secretary General;
10) 3rd Assistant Secretary General. One of whom shall be of the opposite sex;
11) The National Secretary for Education and Training;
12) 1st Assistant National Secretary for Education and Training;
13) 2nd Assistant National Secretary for Education and Training;
14) 3rd Assistant National Secretary for Education and Training. One of whom shall be of the opposite sex;
15) The National Secretary for Communication;
16) 1st Assistant National Secretary for Communication;
17) 2nd Assistant National Secretary for Communication. One of whom shall be of the opposite sex;
18) The National Financial Secretary;
19) The Assistant National Financial Secretary;
20) The National Treasurer ;
21) The Assistant National Treasurer ;
22) The National Organising Secretary;
23) 1st Assistant National Organising Secretary;
24) 2nd Assistant National Organising Secretary;
25) 3rd Assistant National Organising Secretary. One of whom shall be of the opposite sex;
26) The Chairperson of the External Relations Committee;
27) The Vice Chairperson of the External Relations Committee;
28) The Chairperson of the Constitutional and Political Affairs Committee;
29) The Vice Chairperson of the Constitutional and Political Affairs Committee;
30) The Chairperson of Economic and Finance Committee;
31) The Vice Chairperson of the Economic and Finance Committee;
32) The Chairperson of the Cultural and Social Affairs Committee;
33) The Vice Chairperson of the Cultural and Social Affairs Committee;
34) The Chairperson of the Councils Committee;
35) The Vice Chairperson of the Councils Committee;
36) The Chairperson of the Science & Technology Committee;
37) The Vice Chairperson of the Science & Technology Committee;
38) The Chairperson of the Rural Development Committee;
39) The Vice Chairperson of the Rural Development Committee;
40) The Chairperson of the Judicial & Human Rights Committee;
41) The Vice Chairperson of the Judicial & Human Rights Committee;
42-47) Six (6) National Legal Advisers;
48-50) Three (3) Auditors;
51-60) Ten (10) other members of whom at least four shall be of the opposite sex, proposed by the newly elected National Chairperson for ratification by the Convention.
C. Candidature fees:
Each candidate shall pay a non-refundable candidature fee of 20.000 FCFA each. The fees will be distributed as follows:
• Ward of candidate: 4.000 frs
• Electoral District: 4.000 frs;
• Province: 2.000 frs
• NEC: 10.000 frs.
D. Recent photograph:
Two recent passport-sized photographs should be sent with the forms of each candidate.
E. Campaigns:
With the launching of the primaries for posts in the National Executive Committee of the SDF on 5th September 2005, campaigns are open in the various structures of the party. A candidate shall be free to choose his/her means of campaigning and the form in which he/she wishes to present it. The use of all avenues open by the new information and communication technologies is allowed. The campaign of each candidate during the various Conferences will last for a maximum of three minutes. No candidate shall be allowed to injure the honour or reputation of another candidate by direct or indirect imputation of facts that cannot be proved. During the three minutes, any other person can intervene on behalf of the candidate.
F. Delegates to the various Conferences:
Delegates to the Ward Assembly (Section 9.7), Electoral District Conference (Section 9.10), the Provincial Conference (Section 10.4) and the Convention (Section 12.1) shall be as defined in the Constitution of the Party. All Provincial Chairpersons should forward the lists of the members of their Provincial Executive, Divisional Coordinating Committees and the Electoral District Executive Committees to the National Secretariat, as already requested, latest 30 October 2005 to allow for the computerisation of the lists and eventually the delegates to the Convention. The Candidature forms should be forwarded to the National Secretariat accompanied by the names of the TWO additional delegate for the Convention elected at each Electoral District Conference. This will allow Convention badges to be made for the delegates long before the date of the Convention. It will also allow the list of accredited delegates to the Convention to be published, Province by Province, before the opening of the Convention. Provinces should ensure that they check the published lists against the lists they sent to the Secretariat in order to signal any abnormalities (omissions, wrong spellings, wrong order of names, etc.). Only delegates that have an accreditation batch and who identify themselves with their national identity cards will be allowed to vote at the Convention. This will prevent swapping of delegate batches to promote electoral fraud.
G. Discipline:
To ensure that during the build-up to the Convention, no Disciplinary proceedings are used as a means:
- of stifling debate;
- of denying members their basic democratic rights;
- of solving private problems or interfering in the private lives of members;
No new disciplinary proceedings should be initiated from 5 September 2005 against any member of the party until a new National Executive Committee is put in place at the upcoming Convention. Candidates who injure the honour or reputation of another candidate by direct or indirect imputation of allegations that cannot be proved should be reported in writing, with the facts well laid out, through the office of the Secretary General to the National Investiture Committee.
Prof. T. Asonganyi
Secretary General
Tel: 775 73 99
E-mail: asontaz@yahoo.com
The end
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