NEC Wins Jurisdictional Dispute Against BAI
Pledges Strict Action on Issues Raised by BAI
On the 27th, the National Election Commission (NEC) stated regarding the Constitutional Court's decision that the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) is not subject to its duty inspection, "We will not rely on our status as a constitutionally independent institution, but will further enhance fairness and transparency in personnel and audit areas to become a trusted institution by the public."
On the same day, the NEC made this statement in relation to the Constitutional Court's ruling on the jurisdictional dispute it filed against the BAI's duty inspection. The NEC explained, "The Constitutional Court ruled in favor of the BAI in the jurisdictional dispute between the NEC and the BAI, deciding that the BAI's duty inspection of the NEC infringed upon the NEC's independent authority to perform its duties granted by the Constitution and the Election Commission Act." It added, "This appears to reaffirm the constitutional intent that defines the NEC as an independent institution."
However, the NEC once again apologized for the issues that arose during the BAI's audit process and promised institutional improvements.
The NEC said, "We apologize once again to the public regarding the issues of high-ranking officials' children’s recruitment and lax discipline, and we plan to take strict measures according to relevant regulations on the points pointed out by the BAI." It added, "Specifically, we revised the personnel operation standards to abolish the minority career recruitment system, composed 100% of external members as examiners, and introduced a recusal procedure when examiners have kinship relations with applicants, thereby enhancing fairness in recruitment."
Regarding internal monitoring and enhancement of independence as a constitutional institution, the NEC stated, "We separated the audit organization from the Secretariat, appointed an open-type auditor, and established an audit committee composed mostly of external members, thereby further strengthening the independence of the audit organization." It concluded, "We will not rely on our status as a constitutionally independent institution, but will further enhance fairness and transparency in personnel and audit areas to become a trusted institution by the public."
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