The 1969 electoral law penalized small parties and forced civil servants to resign

Evidence

There were a number of troubling changes, but two propositions were particularly disturbing. First, the so-called quotient—a new formula for distributing seats—would penalize small parties. Second, the change in the rule governing civil servants who desired to run for office was drastic. Under the new rule civil servants running for parliament were forced to resign from their position rather than take the usual leave of absence as was the case in the past. Under this rule the regime intended to frighten talented civil servants unhappy with the destruction of the merit-based system into thinking twice before challenging prevailing political order. Hussen proposed several amendments to the bill, knowing that his suggestions had no chance of passing, but parliament adopted the new law. — Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, 1005

Categorization

Category: Factual Claims

Related

• The 1969 electoral law forced civil servant candidates to resign from their posts. (similarity 0.95)

Broader Connections

• The 1969 electoral law forced civil servants to resign before running #corroborates (0.90)