CHAPTER THREE: DEMOCRACY AND POLITICAL GOVERNANCE _____________________________________________________________________ 183. Election campaigns provide an opportunity for candidates to go out to meet voters and solicit their votes in complete freedom. Many drifts have been identified by stakeholders at the various elections, increasing the relativity of the effectiveness of the electoral system. Many issues have been identified by stakeholders at the various elections that detract from the relative effectiveness of the electoral system: hidden financing of campaigns; profiteering; the massive circulation of money, T-shirts, items of clothing and gadgets; the constant influence of lobbies; the sometimes unnecessary intrusions of certain administrative authorities, and traditional and religious leaders, into the campaign in order to influence choices by taking advantage of the illiteracy, poverty and submissiveness of rural populations; haggling about votes and alliances; the politicisation and lack of neutrality of public administration; organisational failures; various acts of fraud; and so on. As a result, there are many denunciations, especially by the opposition, which, of course, may sometimes be a bad loser! What is clear, however, is that a culture of accepting the outcome of the polls is fairly widespread in Burkina Faso, although the CRM found that in some municipalities won by the opposition, such as that of Dori, municipal councillors aligned to the presidential group engaged in freezing the operations of the institution. Such cases, although constituting a very small minority, call for a strong response from the authorities. 184. The adjudication of electoral disputes is vested in the Constitutional Council with regard to referendum consultations and presidential and parliamentary elections, and in the administrative courts with regard to local elections. These jurisdictions have had to hand down many decisions, sometimes even cancelling the results at polling stations where clear irregularities were found. Often, however, the presiding judge has considered that the irregularities complained of would not have been likely to compromise the fairness of the poll in the constituency concerned, thus indicating a reluctance to nullify the results and return the voters to the polls. It is these decisions that are denounced by certain role-players. It has often been requested that the Constitutional Council, as the ultimate judge of the sincerity of the national elections, deploy representatives in the constituencies in order to obtain a better appreciation of the conduct of the vote, and that these representatives have the capacity for self-referral in electoral matters. 185. The importance of the role played by the democratic vigilance and civic involvement of a very dynamic and particularly interested civil society (comprising several thousand associations, NGOs and registered trade unions, some of them enjoying great credibility) should be stressed. The mission noted with interest that the participation of civil society in governance is an issue of democracy and development in Burkina Faso. Such participation sometimes makes up for the weakness of political parties with regard to their constitutional role of being responsible for the wellbeing of the country’s political life. It is also vital in the fight against poverty and illiteracy at grassroots level and a major player in mediation and in the facilitation of dialogue between the majority party and the opposition, especially given the persistence 103