IHAE and NAICR stress to respect ban of political advertising

The Independent High Authority for Elections (IHAE) and the National Authority for Information and Communication Reform (NAICR) stress, on Monday, the need to respect the ban of political advertising. Political parties have clearly announced that they are not willing to respect this ban. The Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) said, in a statement released Monday, that "this decision is not grounded in any law" and that it is "ready to resort to court to defend its rights to communicate with the public." An official from the Free Patriotic Union (UPL) recently said on the National Radio that his party has no intention to respect this "illogical" decision, saying that his "young party reserves the right to be known." Contacted by TAP news agency, the IHAE, the independent authority tasked with organising, overseeing and monitoring the electoral process, was unable to comment on this announcement. Mr. Larbi Chouikha, IHAE member in charge of the Media and Communication, said "in case of deviation, the Authority will return to the public opinion as witness," to denounce abuses and sensitise voters. He reminded that the IHAE has recruited independent monitors tasked with ensuring compliance with this decision on public roads and to monitor the media. Mr. Mourad Mouelhi, member in charge of Legal Affairs, said the decree-law on the creation of the IHAE provides for resort to public authorities to implement the Authority's decisions and take needed measures in this regard. The IHAE also relies on the NAICR to enforce provisions related to advertising on the media. The NAICR emphasises its support to the IHAE decision to ban political advertising and expresses astonishment at the announcement made by some parties not to respect it, said NAICR chairman Kamel Laabidi. "Political advertising is banned in most of the democratic systems," he underlined, saying that the use of political money to influence voters may undermine the emerging democratic process. All parties do not have the same financial resources and potentialities, also noted Mr. Laabidi, pointing out that "letting political advertising taking over may undermine fairness and rules of the political game and fair competition that are needed to ensure the success of democratic Transition."