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with the pubbc authorities, as well as for rcligious or cducatiooal purposcs and for all form* of cxprcssion of idea*.

PART 11. THE ASSEMBLY

CHAfTZR l COMPOSITION AND ELECT10N OF THE ASSEMBLY

Aniele 39

Creation of on Assembly representing ihe Eritrean peopk

1.    Lcgislamrc power shall bc cscrciscd by an As-scmbly representing the Eritrean pcople.

2.    Men*ber* of the Assembly shafl represent the Eritrean pcoplc a* a wholc, and noc onły the constituency in which they arc elected.

Ar tulę 40

Sumber of members of the Assembly

1.    The Assembly shall bccorapotcdof noc less than fifty and not morę then seventy member*.

2.    Within the limit* prcscribed in the preccding paragraph, *hc number of member* shili be fixcd by law.

.    . Aniele 41

Comthueneki

1.    The terrirory of Eritrea *hal) be diyśdcd into clectoral constitucndcs, cach clectmg one repre*cnutive.

2.    Th«e comtitucncie* *hali be esublished in such a way that they will be appcoximately equal in popula-tion. The boundaric* of the comtitucncie* shall be fixed by law.

Aniele 42

EJigibdity

AU mera ber* ot the clectoratc shaU be digibk for clcaion to the Assembly prodded than

(a)    They have rcached the age of thircy;

(b)    They have becn resident in Eritrea for thrcc year* and havc becn rcuded in the constituency for two ycar* during the last ten year*;

(e) They arc noc disqualifkd for any reaton laid down by law; and

(d) They arc not ofhcial* of the Eritrean or Federa! Goecrnments unie** they have rc*igned at the time of presenting their candidature.

Aetiele 43

The two voting Systems

1. The member* of the Assembly *hill be elected either by dircct or indirect baUot.

.. inc system ol vocmg to bc used in any pvrn constituency *haU be laid down by law.

3.    Voting by Oirect baUot *hal] bc persooal, equal and seeret.

For this purpose. a roli of qua!ificd vo«er* shall bc drawn up, and rcvi*cd from time to time.

The system for csublishing elcctoral roli* *hall bc fuccd by law.

4.    The first stage of vocmg by indircct ballot shall bc conductcd in accordancc with local custom. At the second stage, vocing shall bc pcrsonal, equal and secret.

Aniele 44

Eleetion by drrect ballot and eleetion at second stage m the case of indsreet ballot

1.    lf a candidate for the Assembly obtains an abso-lute ma>ority of the vocc* cast he shall be declared elected.

2.    lf no candidate obtains an absolute roajonty, as j defined m paragraph 1, a second ballot shall be held, and • the candidate who then obtains the greatest number of votcs shall bc dedared eketed.

Anicie 4S

Eleetoral Htgh Commission

1.    An eleetoral High Commission consisting of three person* appointed by the Supremę Court estab-lished under Aniele 85 shaU be respomible for superris-mg all ckctoral proceedings (induding the compiling of eleetoral rolls), and for prcvcnting or punmg a stóp to irrcgularitics.

2.    The High Commission shall appoint, in each constituency, from among the clcctors of that constituency, a reprcscntative to act under ic* authority.

3.    The said representarire shall bc assisted by an advi*ory eleaion committce, consistmg of member* cbo-sen by him from among the clcctors of that constituency.

As soon as an eleetion period ha* becn declared open in accordancc with the law cvery candidate shall be encnled to be rcprcscntcd on the committce.

4.    The implementation of che present aniele shall bc presenbed by law.

ArticJe46

Disputcd elections to the Assembly

1.    At the opening of the session foUowmg an dcc-tion, the Assembly shall confirm its members. All mcm-bers whose elections are unchallcngcd shaU bc confirmcd simultaneously.

2.    In any case whcrc an dcccion i* challenged, the Assembly shall dccidc, by a cwo-thirds majonty of the members present, whether the challenged dccóon is valuL providcd that such cwo-tłurd* maionty shaU be noc less chan one haif of the members of the Assembly w offkt.

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138 THE UNmo NATIONS AND THE INDŁM.NDENCE Of EKfTKEA

3. In mc cvcn« oi a member s eleetion nox bcing confirmcd, hc nuy. wjtKin three days following theadop-oon of the dcosion by the Assembly, appcal to the Supremę Coun esublished under A mele 8 J, but shaU not ukc his seat umil the Supremę Coun has givcn its dcci-

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Anule 47

Term of the Assembly

1.    The Assembly shall bc elected for a term of four ytars-

2.    Members shall bc eligible for rc-elcaion.

3.    lf there is a ▼acancy dunng the term of an Assembly, a by-clcction shall ukc place. No by-eleetion an, howevcr. ukc place wńhin six months of the eleetion of a new Assembly.

oum* u. sessioks and mettings

Aniele 48 RepsUr u u ton t

.    1. The Assembly shall hołd two regular scssions

cachyear.

2.    ‘The Assembly shall meet in regułar session on a datc to be sped&cd by law.

This session shall continue for at least one month.

3.    The opening datc of the second regular session shall bc fucd by the Chief Łcccuwe aficr consulting the President of the Assembly.

This second session shall be dcvotcd primarily to nxing the budget and the Assembly shall coosider no ocher outter until the budget has becn votcd. The scuion shaU not ciose undl the budget has been votcd as pre-soibed in Artick 60.

4.    The closing datę of regular sessioru shall bcfixcd by the Chief Executivc after consulting the President of the Assembly.

.    5. With the conscnt of the President of the Assem

bly, the Chief Execudve may suspend a session for a period not cxcctding cwcncy days.

Anicie 49 Specid usuons

1.    The Chief Exccutivt may convcnc the Assembly to a spcdal session.

2.    The Chief Executive shall comrenc the Assembly to a spccial session wheocrer a wrincn rcqucst is submit-ted by not less than onc-chi/d of the members.

3.    When the Assembly is convmcd to a spccial session by the Chief Executivc on his own inirianve, only the qucstions set forth in the notice convcning the Assembly shaU be discuiscd. The Chief Executivc shall fix the closing datę of the scuion.

4. When the Assembly is coovencd to a spccial session at the rcqucst of not less than onc-third of its members, it shall dctcrminc its own agenda. The Chief Lcccutńrc shall fix the closing datę of the session in agreement with the President of the Assembly.

Anicie 50 Qu oram

Two thirds of the members of the Assembly shall composc a quorum.

Anicie SI Rulet of procedurę

The Assembly shall adopc its own ruks ot procedurę.

Aniele 52

• Officers of the Assembly

S •    ^v*

The Assembly shall elect its officers at the opening of the Arst regular session of each year or at the beginrung of a ncw Lcgislature. The officers shall consisr of a . President, a Vkc-Prcsidcnr and, if the Assembly so dc-sires, ocher officers.

CHAPTIR Ul. STATUS OF MEM&RS OF THE ASSEMBLY

•    Aniele 51

SuHOrinpin of members

Beforc rak mg up their duties, members of the Assembly wbo havc noc senred in the prcvious Lcgislature shall take, in accordancc with the faith and the customary praakc of the individual conccmcd, the following oath before the President of the Assembly:

*l undcrukc beforc Almighcy Cod* (or an irnoca-tion cooforming to the faith and the customary prac dcc of the member of the Assembly conccmcd) "to rcspcct the Federation under the sovereignry of the Imperial Crown, loyaDy to senre Eritrea, to defend its Consticution and its laws, to seek no personal advanuge from my officc, and to perform all my duties conscknuously.*

Aniele 54

Parbamentary immunity

1.    Members of the Assembly shaU noc bc liabk to prosccution for opinions cxpretscd or votes cast by tbem in performance of their duties.

2.    Members of the Assembly shaU not be arrested or prosccutcd without the authorizarion of the Assembly; savc that in case of flagrant delict they may bc arrested, but the prosccution, even in this case, shaU be auihorizcd by the Assembly.

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