Mergers, Coalitions & Coalition Political Parties_2023

Mergers, Coalitions & Coalition Political Parties

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Mergers, Coalitions & Coalition…

What is a merger?

A merger is the combination of two or more political parties into a single party (new or existing)

How do parties merge?

The political party follows its constitution and procedures and makes the decision to merge.
The merger agreement is then signed and deposited with the Registrar within twenty-one days of the signing.
The Registrar withdraws and cancels the certificates of registration of the political parties that have merged and gazettes the dissolution of the merged parties within seven days.
Certificate of full registration is then issued if a new political party is formed.

What are the Effects of Mergers on:

Membership

A member of the political party that has merged with another will become a member of the new political party.
A member who is a President, Deputy President, Governor or Deputy Governor, Member of Parliament or member of a County Assembly, and does not want to be a member of the new political party after the merger will continue to serve in such elected office for the remainder of the term, and may join another political party or choose to be an independent member within thirty days of the registration of the new party.

Party particulars

The particulars including the names, symbol, logo, slogan and colours of the parties are removed from the register of political parties and such names, symbols, logos, slogans and colours are not available for registration by any person as a political party in the subsequent election following the merger.
The records, assets and liabilities, rights and obligations of all the dissolved political parties will be the records, assets and liabilities, rights and obligations of the new political party including their entitlement to the Political Parties Fund.

What is a Coalition?

A coalition means an alliance of two or more political parties formed for the purpose of pursuing a common goal. There are pre-election and post-election coalitions.

What is the Process of entering into a coalition?

The political party follows its constitution and procedures and makes the decision to enter into a coalition. The coalition agreement is then signed and deposited with the Registrar. The coalition agreement must contain details on:

the parties which are members of the coalition;
the policies and objectives of the coalition;
the structure of the coalition;
the coalition election and nomination rules;
the dispute resolution mechanisms and procedures;
the formula and the mechanisms for sharing of funds from the Political Party Fund to the respective member of the coalition;
the grounds for dissolution and the procedures to be followed amongst others.

What are the effects of a Coalition to individual parties?

Each party in the coalition is still recognized as a legal entity and has an independent legal existence
Need not register a coalition name, slogan or symbol, but may use such other name, slogan or symbol in popularizing the coalition
No candidate is nominated on a coalition ticket

What is a coalition political party?

Two or more political parties may form a coalition political party before or after an election. A coalition political party is a coalition registered as a political party that is exempted from Sections 5 and 6 of the Political parties Act, 2011 (PPA).

This includes the requirements the publication of the notice of intention for provisional registration in the Gazette and two newspapers with nationwide circulation for purposes of inviting objections

This is in line with the Amendment of section 7 of No. 11 of 2011 (Section (76) of the PPA).

Process of registering coalition political party

In addition to the requirements for full registration in Section 7 of No. 11 of PPA, 2011:
- A coalition political party should provide the address of the official website of the political party;
- A coalition political party is not required to comply with the provisions of sections 5 and 6 of the PPA, 2011.
- Governance of the coalition political party should be in accordance with the provisions of the Act relating to the governance of a Coalition and the Regulations made in that regard.
- A member of a coalition cannot be a member of another coalition.
Upon submission of a coalition agreement and subject to fulfilling other requirements under the PPA, The Registrar shall issue the coalition political party with a certificate of full registration
Pursuant to Section 10(2) of the PPA, a coalition agreement for registration of coalition political party has to be submitted to the ORPP at least 120 days before a general election.

The basic requirements of a coalition agreement are provided under the Third Schedule to Political Parties Act,2011; they include parties in the coalition political party, overall and general organizational structure, nomination rules including electoral positions and electoral areas where a coalition political party intend to filed candidates, sharing of funds, and dispute resolution, (Refer to the Third Schedule).

Rights and priviliges of a coalition political party

A coalition political party, being a political party, is qualified to participate in all the six elections and all electoral areas.
Registered members of political parties in a coalition political party subject to nomination rules in coalition agreement are only ones eligible to participate in the nomination of candidates of a coalition political party.
The coalition agreement as read with nomination rules determines development of party lists for allocation of special seats.
The coalition agreement as read with nomination rules determines the elective seats and electoral areas in which the coalition political party shall field candidates
The governance of a coalition political party should be in accordance with the provisions of the Act relating to the governance of a coalition and the Regulations made in that regard.
A member of a coalition cannot be a member of another coalition.