A significant amendment introduced in 2007 party-appointed members to the Central Election Commission (CEC) as requested by the opposition. Then in March 2008, an amendment extended party-appointments to the District Election Commissions (DECs) specifically for the 2008 parliamentary elections (in July 2008, this provision was incorporated into the main body of the Election Code.) Consistent with Venice Commission and OSCE/ODIHR recommendations and European practice, the March 2008 amendments lowered the number of signatures required to register a party not yet represented in the Parliament to participate in presidential and parliamentary elections, from 50,000 to 30,000 (Article 95 par.10 & Article 129. 8 par.3; the latter now Article 95, par. 26.) The threshold for awarding Member of Parliament mandates was also modified from 7% to 5% (Article 105). In addition, provisions were introduced in the Election Code to draw the registration process of domestic and international observers closer together. With the revised Article 69 par. 3, a domestic monitoring organisation shall apply to the appropriate election commission 10 days before election day (rather that 30 days as required previously), while international organisations must register at the CEC the latest 7 days prior to election day. Although the complaints and appeals procedures were simplified and clarified to some extent in the March 2008 amendments, and dual jurisdiction was eliminated, the procedures remain unnecessarily complex, contradictory and ambiguous, which continued to cause confusion and hinder due consideration. As a negative development, in March 2008, amendments were introduced permitting public officials to combine campaigning with public duties and for a variety of public resources to be used for campaign purposes. In addition, the Election Code was amended at that time to include substantial changes to the election system for parliamentary elections.
