The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) and co-host Election Commission, Nepal have decided to move the sixth Asian Electoral Stakeholder Forum (AESF-VI) to 6-7 December 2023 in light of two big cultural and traditional events in Nepal. AESF-VI was first announced to be held on from 6-7 November 2023. Still in
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) met with the officials of the Election Commission, Nepal on 2 September 2023 to discuss preparations for the sixth Asian Electoral Stakeholder Forum (AESF-VI). Last year, ANFREL and ECN signed a memorandum of understanding to co-host AESF-VI in Kathmandu, Nepal in 2023. AESF-VI is also
ANFREL released its interim statement and report on the 2023 Thai General Election and 2023 Timor-Leste Parliamentary Elections while ANFREL member organizations selected a new set of officers and members to the ANFREL Executive Council during the second quarter of 2023. ANFREL conducted international election observation missions to the recently concluded elections
Human rights advocacy groups are hosting a panel discussion about the 2023 Cambodian General Election on Wednesday, 5 July 2023. The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL), Human Rights Watch (HRW), International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and FORUM-ASIA will discuss the human rights and democracy challenges ahead of the general election in
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) welcomed a new batch of interns from Taiwan and Myanmar. Three students of the Department of Global Politics and Economics in Tamkang University will be with ANFREL for a month as interns under the Global Service Internship Program while an international relations and development student
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) members selected a new set of Executive Council officers and members during the General Assembly held in Bangkok, Thailand on 18 May 2023. The following are the new officers and members of the ANFREL Executive Council who will serve a three-year term: • Chairperson: Rohana
The people of Timor-Leste head to the polls for the 2023 Parliamentary Elections today, 21 May 2023. The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) deployed five teams of international election observers to monitor the elections including polling and vote tabulation processes. ANFREL wishes the people of Timor-Leste safe and peaceful elections. This
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) deployed five international election observers in Timor-Leste to monitor the 2023 Parliamentary Elections. The election observers have been interviewing various stakeholders and observing election-related activities including preparations and campaign rallies. On Election Day, 21 May 2023, ANFREL will observe polling and vote tabulation processes. This
On May 14, 2023, over 39 million Thai people headed to the polls in the country’s largest democratic exercise ever. We salute the strong turnout of around 75% in spite of extreme heat and sometimes heavy rain, and congratulate the Election Commission of Thailand for a peaceful and orderly Election Day that
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) deployed 41 election observes across Thailand for the 2023 general election. ANFREL election observers, who are duly accredited by the Election Commission of Thailand, are monitoring the campaign period, advance voting, and preparations for the polls in 52 out of the 77 provinces in the
ANFREL trained leaders of domestic election observer groups in Thailand and Timor-Leste ahead of the upcoming elections, released the final report on the observation of the 2022 Nepalese elections, and concluded the second media fellowship on election reporting program during the first quarter of 2023. Some 35 leaders of election observer groups
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) trained 35 leaders of election observer groups in Timor-Leste in preparation for the upcoming parliamentary elections. The ANFREL ToT for Domestic Observers in Timor-Leste, held from 31 March to 1 April 2023 in Dili, sought to mentor the participants on training their members about election
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) organized a training of trainers workshop for national election monitoring groups in Thailand on 25-26 March 2023. Ahead of the upcoming general election, ANFREL gathered in Bangkok, Thailand about 40 leaders of election observer groups in Thailand to mentor them on training their members about
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) Executive Council officers and members gathered in Bangkok, Thailand on 20 March 2023 for the regular council meeting. The ANFREL Secretariat, led by Executive Director Chandanie Watawala, presented ANFREL's programs in 2022 and the outlook for 2023. The Executive Council reaffirmed ANFREL's commitment to push
March 15, 2023 - We, as representatives of parliamentary monitoring organizations participating in the Parliament Openness and Monitoring Forum held in Taiwan in March 2023, we deeply recognize the importance of parliamentary monitoring, especially as many countries are facing the threat of democratic regression. We believe that parliamentary monitoring organizations play a
March 8 is International Women's Day. It is commemorated to celebrate the gains in advancing women's rights as well as shed light on the issues and challenges they encounter including participation and engaging in politics and governance. The Inter-Parliamentary Union, in their "Women in Parliament in 2022" report, found that while women's
Nine journalist trained, mentored; 10 stories produced Nine Asian journalists completed the five-month intensive training on election reporting publishing 10 election-related reports developed and produced under the ANFREL Asian Media Fellowship on Election Reporting. The media fellowship program ran for five months from October 2022 to February 2023. It provided media fellows
Lek Karry has been using a smartphone for nearly two years but the grade 12 student admits she still struggles to distinguish between real and fake information online. An indigenous Brao from Ke Kuong village in northeastern Ratanakiri province, Karry initially got a smartphone to study online during the height of the
Our fact-checking Auntie B is back! In the second part of The Budol Fight series, Auntie B talks to Philstar.com chief editor Camille Diola about their observations and insights over the spread of disinformation during the 2022 national and local elections in the Philippines. The second of a two-part series, "The Budol
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) submitted to the UN Human Rights Committee election-related issues concerning human rights in Sri Lanka ahead of the country's ICCPR review on 8-9 March 2023. ANFREL said the postponement of the local government elections due to the COVID-19 pandemic raised concerns about its legitimacy given
Auntie B, your aunt who first checks and verifies information online before sharing them, talks to her friends about the tactics of disinformation operators who tried to influence and sway voters during the 2022 elections in the Philippines. The first of a two-part series, "PROBE: The Budol Fight" is produced under the
Some of the websites and pages post only materials that either promote the government or attack the opposition. On specific occasions, their focus turns on journalists, writers and human rights defenders. By Qadaruddin Shishir As Bangladesh approaches a national election within a year, the authorities have shut down 191 news websites claiming
By Rifthi Ali For the main Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya candidate and media spokesperson, Uma Chandra Prakash, election-time fake news, especially disinformation on social media, is a tightrope walk with victory on one side and defeat on the other. “I was defeated in the last parliamentary elections due to fake propaganda directed
By Cristiana Ximenes Belo In March and April 2022, Timor-Leste held its presidential elections using the two-round system. During this election period, the Secretariado Técnico de Administraçᾶo Eletoral (STAE) or the Technical Secretariat for Election Administration (TSEA in English) established three parallel voting centers (PVCs) in Dili, the country’s capital, with the
The Asia Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) and members People's Action for Free & Fair Elections (PAFFREL) and Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) filed a joint submission to the United Nations Human Rights Council for the fourth periodic report of Sri Lanka at the 42nd session of the Universal Periodic Review
Election monitors and activists express concern that digital harassment of female politicians will increase when the local council elections campaign gets into full swing in the coming weeks. According to the preliminary results of a survey conducted by the Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE), more than 70 percent of female
The current electoral system and the incentive structures it creates effectively disenfranchise Pakistan's non-Muslim voters As Pakistan gears up for general elections this year, the country’s religious minorities appear dejected over their parliamentary representation. Beset by a spate of issues ranging from underemployment, a dwindling population and undercounting to victimization at the
Story by Attachai Had-anCover illustration by Kittiya On-in In preparation for the upcoming election on May 7, 2023, “The Opener” has studied the spread of misinformation and how it might impair the quest for a free and fair election in Thailand. Lessons from the 2019 election campaign until now indicate that while
If the authorities are serious about making women an active part of the system, they must be given real representation on the assembly floors, and protected from social media harassment so that more women will enter politics and contribute towards putting the country on the path to prosperity. First published on The
ANFREL released the interim report of its observation of the 2022 Nepal elections, took in 10 journalists from Asia as media fellows, and welcomed new team members during the last quarter of 2022. Four teams of international election observers were deployed in Nepal for 10 days to monitor electoral processes. Nepal held