Advancing Electoral Democracy in Asia
The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH) reiterates that the giving of cash handouts or anything valuable during elections is bribery. To eradicate this malady requires not only the consistent enforcement of the Election Offences Act 1954 (EOA), but also the enactment of the Political Financing Act (PFA) and the setting
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
Violations of Campaigning Restrictions and Lax Compliance with Ballot Issuance Persist ISLAMABAD, January 19, 2023: Voters in Karachi and Hyderabad Divisions turned out variedly to elect more than 3,508 councilors in long-delayed local government elections on January 15, 2023, that remained peaceful and relatively orderly, but were tainted by allegations of rigging
The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) learnt that it is alleged that two members of the Election Commission, Mr. K.P.P. Pathirana and Mr. S.B. Divaratna were threatened with death if they did not resign from the Commission, last evening via WhatsApp. CMEV vehemently condemns such undemocratic and violent actions and calls
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) is concerned with the recent arrest of Candlelight Party's Thach Setha in Cambodia.
The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) express its deep concern about the letter issued by Neil Bandara Hapuhinna, the Secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Council and Local Governments instructing District Secretaries to refrain from accepting deposits from candidates expecting to contest in upcoming Local Government Elections
The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV), together with the Gender and Election Working Group (GEWG), conducted a press conference on 09 January 2023 to request all political parties to ensure better representation and safer participation for women in Local Government Elections. D.M. Dissanayake, Chief of Operation, CMEV stated that Sri Lanka
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
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) welcomes the addition of two new team members who will be contributing to ANFREL's mission of advancing electoral democracy in Asia. Ain Nesiehah is ANFREL's new program officer for capacity building who will be working on ANFREL's training programs and workshops for our members and
Transparency Maldives calls on the State to stop the abuse of State resources and uphold the integrity of election and ensure a free and fair electoral process. The abuse of State resources can be a corruptive force in the electoral process, as it introduces or exacerbates power inequalities and gives unfair advantage
Tradition threatens electoral democracy and universal suffrage: not a single woman cast a vote in the 2018 General Elections in Mohri Pur First published on The Friday Times, "The Village in Punjab Where Women are Forbidden from Voting" (Urdu version) was produced under the ANFREL Asian Media Fellowship on Election Reporting. In
The Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) welcomes the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) planned activities for 2023 as discussed during its press briefing today, January 3, 2023. The press briefing touched on matters and updates regarding the ongoing voter registration and the Register Anywhere Project (RAP) as well as the possible addition
ANFREL member in Singapore, MARUAH, celebrated their 15th year anniversary while the chairperson of Nepal member National Election Observation Committee (NEOC) received the Human Rights Award. MARUAH, whose work seeks to uphold human rights through research, advocacy, and public education, celebrated their 15th year anniversary this year. Through partnerships with various regional
ANFREL member in the Philippines, the National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) observed a plebiscite on 17 December 2022 seeking the conversion of the municipality of Baliwag, Bulacan into a component city. NAMFREL said the process went smoothly and peacefully with no untoward incident observed. The closing and counting processes were
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) attended the implementation meeting of the Global Network of Domestic Election Monitors (GNDEM) Declaration of Principles (DoP) for International Election Observation from 6 to 8 December 2022, in Brussels, Belgium. ANFREL executive director Chandanie Watawala also spoke on cooperation among international and non-partisan citizen observer
Century Park Hotel, Manila, December 10, 2022 - The Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) gathered various election stakeholders at Century Park Hotel, Manila during its MOVE! A Colloquium on Electoral Reforms from December 8-10, 2022 to revisit longstanding and emerging electoral issues, and discuss possible solutions for such. True to its
ANFREL senior program officer for capacity building and international election observation Amaël Vier participated in a panel discussion on citizen mobilization and election observation at the "MOVE! A Colloquium on Electoral Reforms" on 9 December 2022. The three-day event held from 8 to 10 December 2022 was hosted by ANFREL member in
The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH) once again congratulate Malaysians for taking part in the recent 15th General Election (GE15), despite rain and floodings in some areas. This GE saw no party getting a simple majority to form the government on its own. Nevertheless, democracy was respected and a peaceful
ANFREL member in the Philippines, the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) is hosting "MOVE! A Colloquium on Electoral Reforms" from 8 to 10 December 2022 at Century Park Hotel in Manila. With the theme "Maximizing Opportunities and Valuing Elections (MOVE) through Electoral Reforms", the colloquium aims to highlight the need for
The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH) welcomes the announcement by PM Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim of his Cabinet line-up last night. It is reflective of the composition of his "unity government" and yet keeping to his election promise to reduce the size of the Cabinet. However, we are dismayed that
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) participated in a discussion on how disinformation affects elections at the Indonesia Fact Checking Summit on 30 November 2022. ANFREL program officer for outreach and communication and media program coordinator John Reiner Antiquerra shared insights on disinformation during elections based on ANFREL's observation of polls
The Citizen Congress Watch (CCW), with the National Democratic Institute (NDI), Directorio Legislativo (DL), and the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) are hosting the webinar "Unpacking External Influences and Conflicts of Interest in Parliament" on 1 December 2022 at 7:30am-9:00am (EST)/ 8:30pm-10:00pm (Taiwan Time). Panelists include Kristen Sample of NDI, Victoria Hasson
The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH) congratulates Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim on his appointment as the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia and we welcome the formation of a mixed coalition government led by Pakatan Harapan (PH) with the support of BN and the Borneo blocs. This brought to an end
Centre for Monitoring Election Violence and Janavaboda Kendraya conducted a one-day discussion with youths, women and members of PWD organisations on the impact of the unavailability of Campaign Finance regulations for women, youth and PWDs participation in politics in Sri Lanka on November 19, 2022, at Janavaboda Kendraya. Empowering youth, women and
ANFREL executive director Chandanie Watawala shared the ANFREL interim statement on the election observation findings with Nepal Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya. ANFREL member National Election Observation Committee (NEOC) also shared the findings of their election observation mission to the 2022 Nepali Federal and Provincial Elections. ANFREL's interim statement can be
Ten Asian journalists have been selected to take part in an intensive program on reporting elections, human rights and democracy under a media fellowship program hosted by the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL). The ANFREL Asian Media Fellowship on Election Reporting, through the generous support of the Mission of Canada to
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) congratulates the people of Nepal for their participation in the 2022 Federal and Provincial Elections, the Election Commission of Nepal (ECN) for holding the largely peaceful and orderly polls, as well as domestic election observer groups including EOC-N, Sankalpa, INSEC, BAS, DRCN, ANFREL members NEOC
21 November 2022 The Transparent Elections Foundation of Afghanistan (TEFA), in collaboration with 25 civil society organizations (CSOs) launched a thorough assessment of the situation in Afghanistan. This position paper is the result of continued dialogues and discussions among CSOs both inside and outside the country and identifies key factors behind the
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) deployed election observation teams in Nepal to observe the 2022 House of Representatives and Provincial Assemblies Elections. Some 275 House of Representative seats and 550 members of provincial assemblies were contested. Here are some photos from our election observation teams on the ground:
The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH) takes exception to the call of Speaker of Dewan Rakyat Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun for party leaders to submit statutory declarations (SD) of their MPs who are willing to give support to a PM candidate to form the new government. The Speaker should
