A copy of the report was symbolically handed over to Deputy Secretary-General for the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Vongthep Arthakaivalvatee, the ASEAN secretariat stated on its official website here on Tuesday.
The report records the proceedings of the Election Observation Workshop held in Manila, the Philippines, on June 24-25, 2015.
During the workshop, officials of election management bodies and the foreign affairs ministries of the ASEAN member states gained an understanding about election observation missions of various regional organizations, such as the Organization of American States, the European Union, and African Union.
Other stakeholders, including a civil society organization, also shared their experiences on election observation.
In his keynote speech, Nur Hassan Wirajuda, the former Indonesian foreign affairs minister and a member of the Global Commission on Elections, Democracy and Security, International IDEA and Kofi Annan Foundation, underscored the core values of the ASEAN Political-Security Community: promotion of democracy, rule of law, respect for human rights, good governance, and peaceful conflict resolution.
"I hope the report and recommendations of the workshop present a strategy that will deepen democracy and improve the integrity of national elections in the ASEAN," he emphasized
Philippine Ambassador to ASEAN Elizabeth P. Buensuceso hailed the workshop, the first of its kind to be ever held in the ASEAN, as an excellent example of how to realize a truly people-centric ASEAN, which will be the focus of the ASEAN Vision 2025 and serve as the new roadmap that will chart the direction of the ASEAN in the next decade.
She said the workshop underscored the symbiotic relationship between the governments and civil society to enable them to deliver credible, satisfactory, and legitimate election results for the benefit of the people.
"Member states should consciously include and harness the valuable contribution that civil society can make in the common vision of ASEAN integration and community building," she affirmed.
"It is a fundamental principle of IDEAs approach that establishing democratic institutions within any community comes from within that community and cannot be imposed from outside, while the sharing of experiences among peers can enrich and benefit the process," stated Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, International IDEA, Leena Rikkila Tamang.
Former minister Wirajuda, Ambassador Buensuceso, DSG Arthakaivalvatee, and Philippine Election Commissioner Luie Tito F. Guia officiated the event, which was witnessed by members of the ASEAN Committee of Representatives, other ambassadors and diplomats based in Jakarta, officials of the International IDEA, media, and other civil society representatives.
International IDEA, an intergovernmental organization that has engaged the ASEAN Secretariat through the Inter Regional Dialogue on Democracy, lent its expertise to the workshop. The Mission of the Republic of Korea to ASEAN provided support to hold the workshop.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2015
