TNAG-2554-FCO40-3729-International-Covenant-on-Civil-and-Political-Rights-(ICCPR)-1992 — Page 5

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respect to cases of blatant disenfranchisement of individuals or groups.

4.

However, one expert commentator has said:

"Article 25 does not establish clear standards for democratic and representative guvernment. Instead of proclaiming fundamental principles, it guarantees only particular forms and formal institutions which are common to a variety of political systems but which do not play the same role in the different systems. Universal and equal suffrage, for example, can be said to exist in almost all political systems, but it provides authentic popular government in very. few. The term 'genuine' election is not defined."

The same commentator, referring to the discussions which preceded the adoption of article 25, said:

"Several governments objected that 'equal suffrage' seemed to mandale proportional representation. This preoccupation seems unfounded. An electoral system 'based on equality' may require proportional representation; the same is not true of election by 'equal suffrage'. 'Suffrage' indicates the individual right of the voter and says nothing about the electoral system. Nor does it require equal effect, only that each vote be given the same weight." (K.J. Partsch, "Freedom of Conscience and Expression, and Political Freedoms", in The International Bill of Rights, Louis Henkin (Ed), 1981 at pp.240-241.)

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