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WHERE TO HOLD THE CONFERENCE
The choice of venue was tied up with the choice
of which EMB will host the 2005 General Assembly Conference. The
Secretariat and Chairman Abalos of the AAEA made some
assessment. Not long later, Chairman Benjamin S. Abalos offered
the privilege of hosting the 2005 General Assembly and Election
of the AAEA, suggesting at the same time that the city of Taipei
be the conference venue.
Taipei 101 International Financial Center
(Photo taken by Mr. K. S. Tu)
Central Election Commission of Taiwan studied
the offer. In December 2004, the CEC of Taiwan made known to
Chairman Benjamin S. Abalos and the Secretariat, the acceptance
of the offer and suggested March 24-25, 2005 as the dates of the
conference. The Secretariat agreed.
Among funding institutions sought by the
Secretariat for assistance, the United Nations Development
Program (UNDP) thru its Regional Office in Bangkok, agree to
assist the Association as sponsor. On the side of the Central
Election Commission, it requested the Taiwan Foundation for
Democracy to sponsor the Conference. The latter also graciously
accepted the offer.
Participants of the 2005 AAEA General Assembly
ATTENDANCE
A total of eight (8) member EMBs agreed to send participants
Aside form CEC of Taiwan and the COMELEC of the Philippines,
the others were the Election Commission of India, the
Indonesian Electoral Commission, the General Election
Commission of Mongolia, the Papua New Guinea (PNG) Electoral
Commission, Department of Elections of Sri Lanka and the
Central Elections and Referendum Commission of Tajikistan.
Six member-EMBs could not make it to the Conference for
various reasons.
Mr. Chen Shiu-Bain,
President of Taiwan, the host country of
the 2005 AAEA General Assembly
Of the invited EMBs that are non-members, four (4) sent
participants, namely: The National Election Commission of the Republic of
Korea, The Election Commission of Thailand, The National Parliament
Democratic Republic of Timor Leste and the Malaysia Friendship and Trade
Center in Taipei. A list of names of individual participants and the
representative EMBs they represent is included in the Conference Report.
Of the eight (8) member EMBs that sent participants, four sent
their respective Chairman, three (3) of whom presented their
Country Reports on the two topics for discussion. There were:
Dr. Jigjidsuren Yadamsuren of the General Election Commission of
Mongolia, Chairman of Sri Lanka Dayananda Dissayanake and
Chairman Masa Chang of Central Election Commission of Taiwan.
Mr. Young Sik Cho
(Chief, Election Management Office),
Ms. Ji-Won Jeung and Mr. You-Dae Lee
National Election Commission, Republic of Korea
The National Election Commission of the Republic of Korea
sent three participants, one of whom, Mr. Young Sik Cho,
Chief of its Election Management office, presented an
impressive power point report on the activities and goals of
the National Election Commission. The participants were
gratefully for their participation, impressed as they were
with the approaches that they used to achieve free, honest
and orderly elections.
Dr. Jigjidsuren Yadamsuren,
Chairman, the General Election Commission of Mongolia
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GUEST PARTICIPANT
The Secretary General of the National Movement
of Free Elections (NAMFREL) of the Philippines, Mr. Guillermo
Luz, was invited to speak on the topic “Cleasing The Voter’s
Lists: The Expectation of The Public.” With his long history as
a volunteer worker for free elections, and the aggressive role
of NAMFREL as election watchdog, the insights he brought to the
Conference on public expectation was an invaluable contribution.
Mr. Guillermo Luz,
Secretary General,
the National Movement of Free Elections (NAMFREL) of the
Philippines
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OPENING CEREMONY
The General Assembly commenced with a formal
Opening Ceremony attended by the Assembly delegates, a number of
invited guests, and Taipei press.
Entry of Colors
The Honorable Dayananda Dissanayake, the
commissioner of Department of Elections of Sri Lanka and member
of the AAEA board introduced each delegation.
Mr. Dayananda
Dissanayake
the commissioner of Department of Elections of Sri Lanka
Present were the Delegations from the Election
Management Bodies of :
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India;
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Indonesia;
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Mongolia;
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Papua New Guinea ;
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Philippine;
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Sri Lanka;
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Taiwan; and
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Tajikistan
Present as Observers were the Delegations from
the Election Management of:
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Republic of Korea
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Malaysia
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Thailand
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Timor Teste
Mrs. Teresita Dy-Liacco Flores,
AAEA Executive Secretary, delivers a message on behalf of the
UNDP.
Mr. Benjamin S. Abalos
AAEA
Chairman and Chairman of the Philippine Commission of Elections
After the introduction of the delegations, AAEA
Chairman Benjamin S. Abalos, who is also Chairman of the
Philippine Commission of Elections, delivered a welcome
message.
Mr. Masa J.S. Chang
Chairman, Central Election Commission of Taiwan
The welcome message of Chairman Abalos was
followed by the welcome message delivered by the Chairman of
Taiwan's Central Election Commission, the Honorable Masa J. S.
Chang.
After the delivery of Welcome Messages by
Chairman Benjamin S. Abalos and Chairman Masa J.S. Chang, the
President of Taiwan, His Excellency Chen Shui-Bain arrived and
delievered the keynote address.
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COUNTRY REPORT
It was this 2004 election panorama whose form
and substance shifted in intensity for country to country that
became a fitting backdrop to the AAEA Secretariat’s planning and
designing of the 2005 General Assembly Conference. The selection
of the Conference theme became a delicate matter. After some
reflections, the Secretariat decided on the theme: Transparency
in Election Management. For Country Reports, the Secretariat
chose two areas: (1) Ballot Printing: Transparency and Security
and (2) Cleasing the Voters Lists. The theme and country reports
topics were intended to enable election authorities to revisit
their election procedures and operations so that in areas where
there is rooms for improvement deliberate efforts may be geared
towards their achievement.
Session
1 :Ballot Printing: Transparency and Security
Although the National Committee of Cambodia
failed to send a representative, it sent its Country Report to
the Conference. It is included in this report.
This session heard to reports of the following:
India;
Mongolia;
Sri Lanka;
Taiwan; and
Republic of Korea
Chief Election Management Officer, Young Sik Cho of the National
Election Commission pf the Republic of Korea mounted an audio
visual presentation on the South Korea political and electoral
system.
<Click
to download the report >
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Session
2 :Cleasing the Voters Lists
The General Assembly tackled the issue of Cleasing the Voters’
List for its second working session. Those who presented the
Reports were the delegates from:
Indonesia;
The Philippines;
Sri Lanka;
Tajikistan;
Papua New Guinea;
India
Taiwan; and
Mongolia
It was in this session that Guest Participant, Guillermo M.
Luz, delivered his speech on Cleasing the Voters’ Lists: The
expectation of the Public.
After the country reports , the members requests the Hon.
Quiteria da Costa, an observer and a Member of Parliament of
Timor Leste, to deliver a brief address to the Assembly.
<Click
to download the report
>
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ELECTION OF NEW AAEA CHAIRMAN
AND EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBERS
The Election of New Officers was initially
presided over by the out-going Chairman of the AAEA, Chairman
Benjamin S. Abalos Sr. However, Chairman Abalos manifested his
desire to take the floor to nominate his successor.
Mr. Benjamin S. Abalos,
the out-going Chairman of the AAEA,
Accordingly, he turned over the chair to
Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake to preside. Commissioner
Dissanayake accepted the task to be the presiding officer during
the election. He expressed the sentiment that the new officers
of the AAEA should be those who could effectively advance the
goals of the Association.
Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake presides the Election.
Chairman Abalos inquired about the existence of a quorum,
Executive Secretary Teresita Dy-Liacco Flores replied that a
quorum exists considering that eight (8) members are present out
of the fourteen (14) members.
Mrs. Teresita Dy-Liacco Flores and Mr. James Arthur Jimenez
(Philippine)
Whereupon, Chairman Abalos announced that a
consensus had been developed among the members in attendance
that to advance the cohesiveness of the group, thereafter to
nominate, Chairman Masa J.S. Chang (Taiwan) as chairman of the
Board; Director Rajesh Aggarwal for Vice-Chairman (India); and
Deputy Chairman Mizrob Kobirov (Tajikistan), Commissioner Rusadi
Kantaprawaira (Indonesia), and Commissioner Dayananda
Dissanayake (Sri Lanka) as members of the Board of Directors.
Mr. Rusadi Kantaprawira (Indonesia),
Mr. Dayananda Dissanayake (Sri Lanka), Mr. Masa Chang
(Taiwan),
Mr. Rajesh Aggarwal (India), and Mr. Mizrob
Kobirov (Tajikistan)
Chairman Jigjidsuren Yadamsuren seconded the nominations.
Chairman Jigjidsuren Yadamsuren (Mongolia)
Commissioner Veri moved to close the
nomination. Again, Chairman Yadamsuren seconded the motion.
Commissioner Morea Veri ( Papua New Guinea )
Commissioner Dissanayake announced that it has
been moved and seconded that the nomination be closed. He asked
if there is any objection from the floor. Hearing none,
Commissioner Dissanayake announced that the following are deemed
elected: Chairman Masa J.S. Chang of Taiwan as chairman of the
Board, Director Rajesh Aggarwal of India as Vice-Chairman and
Deputy Chairman Mizrob Kobirov of Tajikistan, Commissioner
Rusadi Kantaprawira of Indonesia and Commissioner Dayananda
Dissanayake of Sri Lanka as members. Around of applause flowed
the announcement.
Congratulations to the Elected!!
The elected officers took their oath of office en masse before
Chairman Abalos. At this point, the outgoing Chairman of the
AAEA rose to deliver his valediction. Thereafter, the incoming
Chairman, Chairman Masa J.S. Chang delivered his speech of
acceptance.
Chairman Masa Chang and Chairman Benjamin S. Abalos
Turn-over speech of the
out-going president
<Click
to download the full text>
Speech of acceptance of
the new Chairman
<Click
to download the full text>
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