Inaugural Assembly of A-WEB Held in Korea

= Chairperson of NEC was elected as A-WEB''''s first chair =

The National Election Commission of the Republic of Korea (NEC) has announced that the Inaugural Assembly of the Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB) was held in Songdo, Incheon on October 14, with the participation of the largest number of countries in the electoral field. During the event, A-WEB was officially launched and it is confirmed Korea as the seat of its secretariat.

The participants are 405 from 120 countries in total, including 93 EMBs from 90 countries as A-WEB members. in 26 countries from Asia, 36 from Africa, 28 from Europe, 26 from the Americas and 4 from Oceania.

In addition, 14 international organizations, including regional election associations, such as UNIORE, ACEEEO and other electoral organizations like UNDP, IFES and Commonwealth Election Network and 39 NGOs, joined to make the assembly the largest electoral international event in the history.

The assembly began with the opening speech by the chairperson of National Election Commission of Korea(NEC) Lee In-Bok followed by congratulatory video messages by President of the Republic of Korea Park Geun-hye and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. The agenda of the event were the report on the A-WEB establishment progress, the charter adoption and the executive board meeting.

The A-WEB members unanimously elected the chairperson of NEC Lee In-Bok, the head of the host country of the assembly, as A-WEB’s first chair. As the head of A-WEB, the chairperson will assume the responsibility to promote the unity and objectives of the association and preside over the general assembly and the executive board meeting.

In his acceptance speech, Mr. Lee said, “As a chairperson, I feel the heavy weight of the responsibility to successfully perform A-WEB’s role to contribute to the development of democracy in the world. As the first chairperson of A-WEB, I will make every effort to closely work with the members, the executive board and the secretariat in order for A-WEB to advance the electoral culture in the international community and play a significant role for the development of democracy in the world.”

The deputy secretary general of NEC Kim Yong-Hi, nominated by the executive board, was appointed to be the secretary general of A-WEB. His term of office is four years and will implement policy decisions made by the general assembly and the executive board, as well as raise funds and supervise the finances of the association.

During the inaugural assembly, South Korean President Park Geun-hye and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon sent congratulations to A-WEB in the video messages. President Park noted, “I expect A-WEB to grow into the top international organization in the field of elections and contribute to the expansion of democracy worldwide.”

“The Korean government will do its best to help the association become a forum of exchange, cooperation and learning, and promote the development of democracy around the world,” and she added, “I hope that you, the top electoral professionals, put together wisdom and experience for the development of electoral systems.”

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon also said that “the inaugural event is the valuable opportunity to improve the democracy in the world. A-WEB will strengthen ties between election management bodies and play an essential role in the world peace and stability.”

In the mean time, President of Junta Central Electoral of the Dominican Republic Roberto Rosario Marque was elected on the Vice-Chairperson seat of A-WEB through a vote with touch-screen electronic voting system.

On the executive board, the chair country Republic of Korea and the vice chair Dominican Republic were appointed as ex officio members. Also India, Romania and Republic of South Africa were elected as board members, representing Asia, Europe and Africa, respectively.

In addition, based on the recommendation by the A-WEB executive board, the oversight and audit committee was formed with the Kenya, Bosnia and Herzegovina and El Salvador.