III. DISCUSSION OF THE DRAFT NATIONAL ELECTIONS LAW AND THE DRAFT ELECTION COMMISSIONS LAW

M. Election campaign provisions

Article 21(2) of the draft national elections law states that candidates “acting for agencies with state share of more than 30 per cent (or agencies with more than 30 per cent of State involvement) cannot take advantage of their official position”. This provision arbitrarily approves the abuse of position provided the percentage of state involvement in 30 per cent or less. It is not clear whether there are available data that would explain why 30 per cent is a rational choice for this provision. It would be relevant to know how many persons are within the categories just below and above this 30 per cent. Without additional information as to why this 30 per cent was included in the draft law, it would appear to be an arbitrary percentage that allows a certain level of misconduct. The Venice Commission and OSCE/ODIHR recommend that Article 21(2) be assessed to determine its practical implementation and revised to the extent necessary to achieve the public policy goal of preventing the abuse of official position no matter what percentage the state share is