IFES Practitioner Brief on Alternative Dispute Resolution in Elections • Ethiopia: The Political Party Joint Forum was established and is coordinated by the EMB, with a mandate to resolve inter-party disputes by dialogue and consent. 51 • Democratic Republic of Congo: Party liaison committees utilize mediation during elections. 52 Inter-party mechanism not led by the EMB Various African nations have established inter-party committees or task forces that mediate conflicts among parties, and between parties and the EMB. In some cases, the EMB participates in these mechanisms, but it does not lead them. These mechanisms can be set up at the local level, regional level, and/or at the central level. • Nigeria: The Inter-Party Advisory Council and National Peace Committee mediate conflicts between parties during elections. 53 • Somaliland: The Election Task Force and an Eminent Group consisting of three former vice presidents mediate conflict between political parties. 54 • The Gambia: The mandate of Inter-Party Committees and Inter-Party Advisory Committee covers the resolution of disputes between political parties and with the EMB. 55 • Ghana: The Inter-Party Advisory Committee and National Peace Council can mediate pre-election disputes between political parties. 56 Other Dispute resolution or prevention efforts In a few countries, other state bodies take on a role in preventing or resolving specific type of election disputes, which can be at the national or local level. In some countries, conflict management bodies are established to train community leaders in conflict management skills. EMBs coordinate with these panels to receive their feedback in identifying potential risks or conflict, which allows the EMBs to respond to them appropriately. Finally, some countries rely on their traditional legal systems. See the Ethiopia case study in the annex. Kovick, D. & Young, J.H. (2011) Alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanisms. In C. Vickery (Ed.), Guidelines for Understanding, Adjudicating, and Resolving Disputes in Elections (GUARDE) (pp. 227–258). IFES. https://www.ifes.org/publications/guidelinesunderstanding-adjudicating-and-resolving-disputes-elections-guarde 53 International Republican Institute & National Democratic Institute. (2019). IRI/NDI Nigeria International Election Observation Mission Final Report, pp. 68–69. https://www.iri.org/sites/default/files/2019-6-18_final_nigeria_eom_report.pdf; see also European Union election observation mission final report: Nigeria 2019 – General Elections. (2019). https://www.eods.eu/library/nigeria_2019_eu_eom_final_report-web.pdf 54 Walls, M., Heine, C., Klingel, A., Goggin, C., Farag, A., & Mwape, S. (2018). The limits of consensus? Report on the Somaliland presidential election, 13th November 2017. UCL Bartlett Development Planning Unit: London, UK. https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10047014 55 Report of the Commonwealth Expert Team: The Gambia Presidential Elections 24 November 2011. (2011). The Commonwealth Secretariat. https://production-new-commonwealth-files.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/migrated/newsitems/documents/TheGambiaPresidentialElection2011Final.pdf; The European Union (EU) Election Observation Mission (EOM) Final Report on the 2017 National Assembly elections in The Gambia notes that the Inter-Party Committee was inactive (pp. 19 and 35). The EU EOM Final Report on the 2021 elections in The Gambia notes that the Inter-Party Committee has been more active and played a role in organizing the signing of the Code of Conduct for Political Parties and in mediating an inter-party dispute (p. 10). 56 Nkansah, L. (2016). Electoral Justice Under Ghana’s Fourth Republic. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318006586_Electoral_Justice_Under_Ghana%27s_Fourth_Republic. See also European Union Election Observation Mission Final Report: Ghana 2020 – Presidential and Parliamentary Election. (n.d.) https://www.eeas.europa.eu/sites/default/files/eu_eom_ghana_2020_final_report.pdf 51 52 22