III. DISCUSSION OF THE DRAFT NATIONAL ELECTIONS LAW AND THE DRAFT ELECTION COMMISSIONS LAW
H. Parliamentary candidacy rights
Under Article 60(2) of the draft national elections law, parliamentary elections are limited to candidates nominated by a political party. This prevents individuals from standing for office as independent candidates, which is not in line with the 1990 OSCE Copenhagen Document. Paragraph 7.5 of the 1990 OSCE Copenhagen Document states: “[The participating States will] respect the right of citizens to seek political or public office, individually or as representatives of political parties or organizations, without discrimination”. See also General Comment 25 (1996) of the UN Human Rights Committee to Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Point 17 states that the “right of persons to stand for election should not be limited unreasonably by requiring candidates to be members of parties or of specific parties.” The Venice Commission and OSCE/ODIHR recommend that law be amended to provide for the candidacy of independent candidates in elections.