EISA Pre Election Assessment Mission to the Central African Republic

March 2010

In accordance with its vision of “promoting credible elections and democratic governance in Africa”, EISA plans to deploy a 3 member pre election assessment mission to the Central African Republic (CAR). This forms part of EISA’s election related activities in the CAR which will include the deployment of a continental observer mission to the Presidential and Parliamentary Elections scheduled for April 2010.

The pre election team will examine political and legal conditions, technical preparations and political dynamics around the forthcoming elections. It will be in the capital city of Bangui from 6 - 12 March 2010 in order to gather, analyse and collate all the information upon which the EISA observer mission will be based.

Mission objectives are to

• focus on issues and challenges related to the electoral process, including the political context and legislative framework within which the elections will take place;
• assess the preparedness of relevant institutions to effectively organise the 2010 elections;
• assess whether the political environment is conducive to open and unhindered participation in the elections by the people of the CAR;
• provide background information and a set of baseline data for the EISA observer mission.

Mission activities include

• Familiarisation with the political system and electoral process in the CAR in preparation for the EISA continental observer mission;
• Collection of constitutional and legal documents related to the current electoral process and assessment thereof according to accepted standards for fair electoral competition;
• Consultative meetings with the chief stakeholders in the electoral process to review election preparedness. These include the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) established in August; political parties; government officials; civil society groups operating in the field of elections; faith based organisations; the media and international organisations providing assistance for the elections.

Team members

• Dieudonné Tshiyoyo, Programme Manager, EISA Johannesburg
• Anselme Nana, Programme Officer, EISA Johannesburg
• Aimé Konan, Assistant Head of Project, EISA Cote d’Ivoire

Contact

Anselme Siakam Nana, EISA Johannesburg T +27 11 381 60 00 M +27 73 293 31 00

The pre election assessment mission is made possible by a generous sub grant provided by the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI).