Rules of Procedures

CIVIC COALITION FOR FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS

RULES OF PROCEDURES 

Section 1. General Provisions

1.1.  The Civic Coalition for Free and Fair Elections (hereinafter referred to as – the Coalition) is a permanent, voluntary entity, consisting of public organisations of the Republic of Moldova.

1.2.  The Coalition’s mission is to contribute to democracy development in the Republic of Moldova by the means of promoting and conducting free and fair elections, in accordance with the standards of the ODIHR (OSCE), the Council of Europe and its specialised affiliated institutions.

1.3.  The Coalition shall carry out its current activities throughout each electoral cycle (pre-electoral and electoral periods) for any kind of elections or referenda.

1.4. The Coalition shall be guided by the following principles:

  • political disengagement;
  • voluntary participation;
  • inclusion based on the professionalism and the experience in the electoral and/or related fields;
  • collegiality and fairness;
  • responsibility and transparency;
  • commitment to the adopted decisions;
  • the right of the Coalition’s members to express separate opinions, if such opinions exist, their separateness shall be mandatorily specified while expressing them.

1.4.  The Coalition’s activities shall be guided by the Charter of Free and Fair Elections (hereinafter referred to as – the Charter) and by these Regulations.

1.5.   The Coalition shall operate through its members, Working Groups, the Coalition’s Council (hereinafter referred to as – the Council) and the Coalition’s Secretariat (hereinafter referred to as – the Secretariat)

Section 2. The Members of the Coalition

2.1. The coalition consists of:

  • founding members;
  • adherent members;
  • observing members.

2.2. The founding members are those public organisations that established the Coalition and that reconfirm their affiliation at the re-launch of the Coalition’s current activities.

2.3. The adherent members are and can become those public organisations that cumulatively meet the following requirements:

  • their statutory documents provide for activities in the electoral and/or related fields;
  • have a proven track record in areas covered by the Coalition’s working groups;
  • have signed the Charter of Free and Fair Elections;
  • undertake to comply with these Regulations;
  • submitted an application dossier for membership to the Coalition and their membership was accepted by the Council.

2.3.1. A dossier containing the following documents shall be submitted for joining the Coalition: a signed application stamped by the governing body of the public association and a statement on assuming the membership of the Coalition, the statute and the CV of the organisation and 2 recommendations from other members of the Coalition (solely the names of those organisations shall be indicated in the application for membership).

2.3.2. At the first meeting held after the registration of the membership application, the Council shall make a decision and the Secretariat shall communicate it to the applicant before the following ordinary Council’s meeting.

2.4. The observing members may be nominated by the Council among the relevant international organisations (working in the electoral and/or related fields) at their request.

2.5. The members of the Coalition shall be entitled to:

  • participate in the Council’s meetings;
  • take part in the Coalition’s working groups;
  • run for a Council member seat;
  • propose to the Council issues for the agenda;
  • request to the Council and the Secretariat relevant available information on the Coalition’s activity or on the activity of any Coalition member.

2.6. The members of the Coalition have the obligation to:

  • abstain from any political activity;
  • abstain from making public any information, assessments or conclusions on behalf of the entire Coalition;
  • assume and comply with the Council’s decisions;
  • be members of the Coalition’s working groups;
  • respond promptly to the Secretariat’s requests;
  • inform the Council / the Secretariat about their own action plans relevant to the Coalition’s mission;
  • inform the Secretariat in writing about their withdrawal from the Coalition.

2.7. The failure to comply with these Regulations and/or with the provisions of the Charter by any member of the Coalition shall entail its exclusion from the Coalition.

Section 3. The Working Groups

3.1. The Working Groups shall consist of member organisations of the Coalition, depending on their field of activity and on the Coalition’s mission, as follows;

  • Working Group on the Monitoring of Electoral Processes;
  • Working Group on Media Behaviour Monitoring;
  • Working Group on Civic and Electoral Education;
  • Working Group on Advocacy for Inclusive Elections;
  • Other, following the proposal of the Coalition’s members, after acceptance by the Council.

3.2. The participation in one or several Working Groups shall be confirmed by a message addressed to the Secretariat and recorded in the minutes of the Council’s Meeting.

3.3. The Working Groups shall meet whenever necessary to discuss issues pertaining to the group’s competence, at the initiative of 1/3 of their members or of the Council.

3.4. Each meeting of the Working Group shall be chaired by a member elected by the simple majority of those present.

3.5. The decisions within the Working Groups’ sessions shall be adopted with the simple majority of the attending members and shall be recorded in the minutes that are afterwards submitted to the Secretariat and to the Council.

Section 4. The Council

4.1. The Council is the decision-making body of the Coalition, consisting of 8 organisations selected among the founding members and not more than 3 organisations selected among the adherent members.

4.2. Not more than 3 new members of the Council shall be selected every time, when the Coalition’s current activities are resumed, after the start of pre-election campaigns for any type of elections or referenda.

4.3. The Coalition’s adherent members aspiring to the membership in the Council shall submit to the Secretariat a dossier whose content shall be a proof of the compliance with the following criteria:

  • track records in the electoral and/or related fields throughout at least one electoral cycle;
  • carrying out current activities in the electoral and/or related fields;
  • the holders of key-positions within the organisation did not participate in political projects at least throughout the previous two electoral cycles;
  • the holders of key-positions within the organisation have a good reputation.

4.4. The new members shall be voted by 2/3 of the permanent members of the Council.

4.5. The membership of the Council, except for the founding members, shall expire at the end of the period of observation of the election campaign, after summing up the Coalition’s activity throughout the respective period.

4.6. The Council shall fulfil the following tasks:

  • adopt and, when appropriate, amend the Charter of Free and Fair Elections;
  • adopt and, when appropriate, amend the Regulations;
  • approve the Secretariat;
  • adopt decisions on behalf of the Coalition;
  • adopt and, when appropriate, amend the Development Strategy and the Communication Strategy of the Coalition;
  • approve the Coalition’s priorities;
  • approve statements and other documents of the Coalition;
  • adopt decisions on behalf of the Coalition;
  • establish and maintain public relations on behalf of the Coalition;
  • adopt progress and final reports on the content and the quality of each electoral cycle, as well as on other issues related to the Coalition’s mission (an exclusive authority of  the Council);
  • approve, suspend or withdraw the membership of the Coalition/Council.

4.7. The Council’s working method shall be the meetings that shall be open to the Coalition’s members.

4.7.1. The Council shall meet at least twice a month throughout each electoral cycle. Otherwise, the Council shall meet in ad hoc meetings. The Council shall hold extraordinary meetings at the request of 1/3 of the Council’s members or at the request of the Secretariat.

4.7.2. The Council’s meetings shall be chaired by a member of the Council, in rotation.

4.7.3. The draft agenda of each Council’s meeting shall be drawn up by the Secretariat and validated by the Council’s members. The final draft agenda shall be communicated to the members of the Coalition no later than one day before the Council’s meeting.

4.8. At its meetings, the Council shall:

  • adopt and/or amend the Charter of Free and Fair Elections with the 2/3 vote of its members;
  • adopt and/or amend the Regulations with the 2/3 vote of its members;
  • approve the Secretariat with the 2/3 vote of its members;
  • adopt and/or amend the Development Strategy and the Communication Strategy of the Coalition with the simple majority vote;
  • approve the Coalition’s priorities with the simple majority vote;
  • approve statements and other documents of the Coalition with the 2/3 vote of its members;
  • adopt decisions on behalf of the Coalition with the 2/3 vote of its members;
  • establish and maintain public relations on behalf of the Coalition with the simple majority vote;
  • approve, suspend or withdraw the membership of the Coalition/Council with the 2/3 vote of its members;
  • adopt progress and final reports on the content and the quality of each electoral cycle, as well as on other issues related to the mission of the Coalition with the 2/3 vote of its members.

4.8.1. The decisions related to the Coalition’s mission, including the final decisions on the assessment of the election campaigns shall be brought to the attention of the public by the Coalition’s Secretariat or by the members of the Council. Such decisions shall be made public on behalf of all members of the Coalition with the mandatory signature of each member of the Council who voted for that decision.

4.9. The membership of the Council shall terminate in the following situations:

  • voluntary withdrawal from the Council;
  • unannounced absence from two consecutive meetings of the Council;
  • promoting actions that contravene these Regulations and/or the Charter of Free and Fair Elections.

Section 5. The Secretariat

5.1. The Secretariat is the executive body of the Coalition that shall be held by a member organisation of the Coalition Council.

5.2. The Secretariat shall ensure the implementation of the Coalition Council’s decisions; perform tasks related to the internal activities of the Coalition, as well as to the external representation of the Coalition.

5.3. The Secretariat of the Coalition shall be headed by a Secretary, appointed by the Council from among the organization providing the Secretariat. The Secretary of the Coalition shall be accountable to the Council for the results of the work of the Secretariat.

5.4. The Secretariat shall consist of headquarters and, if appropriate, of regional offices of the Secretariat, with tasks specified by the Secretariat.

5.5. The Secretariat shall fulfil the following tasks:

  • draw up and submit to the Council the draft agendas for the Council’s working sessions;
  • organise the Council’s sessions;
  • take part in the Council’s working sessions, draft the minutes of the sessions and, afterwards, disseminate them among the members of the Coalition;
  • ensure the implementation of the Council’s decisions;
  • perform the internal and external communication on behalf of the Council/Coalition, in accordance with the Communication Strategy;
  • disseminate the information on the activities of the Council/Coalition;
  • organise the meetings of the Council/Coalition with the international delegations, donors and State authorities;
  • represent the Coalition in the relations with State bodies, in the communication with the donors and with the international delegations;
  • participate, when appropriate, in seminars, conferences and other events on behalf of the Coalition;
  • coordinate the development and dissemination of social advertising on behalf of the Coalition;
  • contribute to creating and promoting the image of the Coalition;
  • keep and update the full list of the Coalition’s members;
  • collect from the Coalition’s members information on the projects/programmes and the activities undertaken by them;
  • coordinate the activities of the headquarters and of the regional offices of the Secretariat;
  • conduct the monitoring of the compliance with the Regulations by the Coalition’s members;
  • notify the Council, if derogations from the Regulations are admitted by the Coalition’s members;
  • submit reports to the Council periodically or at request;
  • fulfil other Council’s tasks deriving from the Coalition’s mission.

Section 6. Final Provisions

6.1. The Coalition’s Council shall initiate actions to implement the provisions of these Regulations;

6.2. The issues and the disputes occurred within the Coalition’s activities conducted in accordance with these Regulations shall be settled in an amicable manner;

6.3. The monitoring of the compliance with these Regulations shall be conducted by the Coalition’s Secretariat.

Adopted (in its updated version)

by the Council of the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections on

21st of March 2018, Chişinău municipality