Many Asian countries, especially in South and Southeast Asia, saw democratic regressions in the pastyear. The governments took advantage of the global health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic tofurther tighten the restraints on civil liberties and crackdown on dissenters and political opponents. Asa democracy advocate, ANFREL will start publishing the monthly
First published on FAFEN's website on 11 April 2021. ISLAMABAD, April 11, 2021: NA-75 Sialkot-IV (Daska) by-election held on April 10, 2021 witnessed low incidences of electoral violations as procedures were generally transparent and election staff conducted the process with care and mostly in accordance with prescribed regulations. Political competition was heightened
The first quarter of 2021 saw Myanmar's return to military rule with the Tatmadaw's staging of a coup which seized power from the civilian government on 1 February 2021. The Tatmadaw refused to recognize the legitimacy of the 2020 Myanmar General Elections and insisted on their election fraud allegations. The Asian Network
Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) and ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) have made a joint submission to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Thailand that will take place in October 2021. The submission was done based on ANFREL's findings in its international election observation mission to the 2019 Thai general
The people of Thailand will head to the polls for the municipal elections on 28 March 2021. Voters were able to participate in the the 2020 Thai Provincial Administration Organization (PAO) elections held on 20 December 2020, the first local elections since the civilian government was toppled by a military coup in
The Myanmar military staged a coup on 1 February 2021 grabbing power from the civilian government which undermined a democratic process that happened just months prior. The people of Myanmar strongly opposed the coup and have since been going out in the streets to peacefully protest and demand the restoration of democracy
First published on NAMFREL's Facebook Page on 13 March 2021. PRESS RELEASEMarch 13, 2021, 1pm The National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) released its preliminary findings on the conduct of the 2021 Plebiscite, as observed by its volunteers who are currently stationed in different voting centers throughout Palawan. The preliminary observations
First published on FAFEN's website on 23 February 2021. ANFREL member in Pakistan, the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN), said they observed an improved quality of electoral processes during the by-elections held from 16-21 February 2021 in five provincial and three national assembly constituencies. FAFEN said the management of voting and
ANFREL member in Indonesia, the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perkumpulan untuk Pemilu dan Demokrasi | Perludem), published and launched the first edition of The Asia-Pacific Journal of Elections and Democracy on 17 February 2021. The journal is an off-shoot of their Journal of Elections and Democracy, a national publication, which expanded
Kabul-16, February 2021-for urgent release The Free and Fair Election Forum of Afghanistan (FEFA) expresses its deep concerns over IEC’s failure (wasting time) and delay to bring electoral reform. FEFA believes that wasting time or ignoring electoral reform will have negative impinge upon election process, building public trust on elections, gaining international
On 1 February, the armed forces of Myanmar (Tatmadaw), ostensibly acting on allegations of voter fraud in the general elections of 8 November 2020, detained numerous government officials, including State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, President U Win Myint, and Union Election Commission (UEC) Chair U Hla Thein, as well as
Joint Statement by Domestic Election Observer Organizations January 29, 2021 There is a growing concern within the public that the electoral disputes over the results of the 2020 general elections and different electoral processes would cause post-election instability, the delay of the peaceful power transition, and even the country’s democratic transition to
Several domestic election observer groups, during a webinar that ANFREL hosted, urged the Union Election Commission (UEC) to provide more opportunities for election stakeholders to participate in the electoral process in Myanmar. ANFREL hosted a webinar about post-election findings of election observer groups in Myanmar on 25 January 2021. The ANFREL Webinar
Human rights group Odhikar released their 2020 report on the human rights violations including the state of the electoral system in Bangladesh. Odhikar said in the report that "the Awami League government and the Election Commission have completely destroyed the electoral system depriving the people of their right to vote in all
19 January 2021-Kabul The Free and Fair Election Forum of Afghanistan (FEFA) welcomes announcement of preparation of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) for conducting the parliamentary election in Ghazni, provincial council elections, district council elections, and municipality elections in major cities and support of government from this plan. FEFA believes conducting and
ANFREL member in Myanmar, the People's Action for Credible Elections (PACE) released two pre-election studies on migrant workers' perception of the 2020 Myanmar General Elections. The elections were held on 8 November 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. PACE, with the Foundation for Education Development, conducted a survey with migrant workers from Feb.
The year 2020 has been quite a challenging year for many as the COVID-19 pandemic affected many aspects of everyday life. For this edition of ANFREL's newsletter e-Bulletin, we highlight our activities and programs not just for the last quarter of 2020 but our journey throughout the year. The Asian Network for
Four observers teams of the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) were deployed in the provinces of Surin, Samut Prakan, Nakhon Pathom, and Nonthaburi to monitor the Thai provincial elections held on 20 December 2020. These were the first local elections conducted since the civilian government was toppled by a military coup
The elections in Thailand this Sunday, 20 December 2020, is an important democratic milestone since it'll be the first local elections to be held since the military-led coup took over the civilian government in 2014, panelists of ANFREL's webinar agreed. ANFREL organized a webinar on Tuesday, 15 December 2020, to discuss the
While the Election Day in Myanmar has been observed to be generally peaceful, a panel of local election observer groups agreed that certain measures need to be taken to improve the electoral process in the country. ANFREL invited New Myanmar Foundation (NMF) executive director Mya Nandar Thin, Phan Tee Eain – Creative
ANFREL wishes to congratulate the people of Myanmar, the Union Election Commission, and the hundreds of thousands of polling staff who made this electoral process a success despite difficult conditions. We further congratulate all election stakeholders, and in particular civil society organisations and the international community, for contributing to a vibrant election
ANFREL member in Myanmar, People's Alliance for Credible Elections (PACE), released the initial findings of their observation of the opening of polls in the 2020 Myanmar General Elections on 8 November 2020. PACE said they received isolated reports of observers not allowed to enter polling stations initially but was later resolved except
Press Release Yangon, Myanmar 8 November 2020 As Myanmar, a country still in democratic transition, is set to hold its general elections on 8 November 2020, around 37 million registered voters are encouraged to stay the course and exercise their right to vote. The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) calls on
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) is alarmed by the quickly deteriorating election environment in the run-up to the Hong Kong Legislative Council elections scheduled for 6 September 2020. The new National Security Law that came into effect on 30 June has exacerbated a climate of fear in Hong Kong’s electoral
The Sri Lanka Parliamentary Election was scheduled to be held on 25 April 2020 but was postponed due to the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. Here is a timeline of the events that transpired in the last few months regarding the election and COVID-19 crisis situation in the country:
South Korean health authorities said there were no recorded local transmission from the conduct of the parliamentary election. Here are the safety measures South Korea implemented to make the 15 April 2020 election possible despite the threat of COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the election cycle in many countries as much
27 March 2020 As the world continues to face the severe outbreak of COVID-19, states across Asia are taking measures to tackle the epidemic and protect the health of their population, which is obviously the foremost concern. At the same time, while everyday life is disrupted, elections and democratic processes are also
Press Release Colombo, Sri Lanka October 23, 2019 The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) is pleased to announce the launch of its International Election Observation Mission to Sri Lanka’s 2019 Presidential Election. This engagement in Sri Lanka follows 10 previous election observation missions the organization has conducted in the country since
TEFA’s Press Statement on Delays in disseminating the preliminary result of the 2019 Presidential Election 20 October 2019 KABUL| Transparent Election Foundation of Afghanistan as the most prominent election oversight body in Afghanistan who deployed exactly 5,200 trained, non-partisan, and professional field observers across the country to observe the 2019 presidential election
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) condemns the murder of an election observer in Afghanistan and urges the authorities to bring perpetrators to justice. Shaheed Ali Naqi, a youth member of the Afghan Civil Society Forum Organization (ACSFo), was reported to have been abducted by the Taliban a few days after
