jpnn.com, JAKARTA - The General Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) has been elected as President of the Global Network on Electoral Justice (GNEJ). The appointment was made during the fourth international forum conducted online on Thursday (21/10) and Friday (22/10).
Bawaslu member Fritz Edward Siregar said that Bawaslu would serve from January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2023, replacing the Superior Electoral Court of the Dominican Republic.
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In this appoinment, there was no objection to Bawaslu from all administrators and representatives who were members of the GNEJ.
"All of the GNEJ governing councils have agreed to the appointment of Bawaslu as the GNEJ President. There was also an agenda for discussions at the GNEJ meeting, including discussions about the challenges faced by various countries in holding elections in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic," Fritz said.
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In addition, he said, the GNEJ forum discussed a number of issues of several countries related to the implementation of elections such as gender inequality, disinformation, and difficulties in democracy enforcement.
"The GNEJ expressed its hope that Indonesia would be able to provide good changes in the future for this international forum," he said.
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Besides Indonesia, several GNEJ vice presidents were also present, namely South Africa as the representative of Africa, Colombia as the representative of America, and Spain for as the representative of Europe.
On March 4, 2021, the GNEJ held a meeting to discuss several things such as a virtual calendar, exchange of experiences and issues related to elections, as well as the agreement to jointly contribute to providing an information exchange platform.
The GNEJ is an organization of 187 members representing constitutional courts, supreme courts, election courts, election supervisors, academics, and election activists from various countries, whose work focuses on electoral justice.
"Being the President of the GNEJ is a challenge for Bawaslu to be able to continue and bring electoral justice to the world, especially for the Asian region. But this is also an international acknowledgment for Bawaslu's supervision and maintenance of electoral justice in previous elections," Fritz said.
The fourth GNEJ meeting was originally set to be held in the Dominican Republic. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it turned into a virtual event.
A number of advisory boards of world organizations were also present, including the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), the Organization of American States (OAS), the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP)'s Mexico office. Academic figures were also present such as Jean-Philippe Derosier, Professor of Public Law in the Legal Research Center at the University of Lille, France. (flo/mcr20/jpnn)