NAMFREL in Myanmar

Namfrel in Myanmar September 2014

Namfrel in Myanmar 23 to 29 September 2014

by Telibert

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(Top) Namfrel Manila chair Prof Mark Lester (Lec) Toribio speaks before Myanmar's People's Alliance for Credible Elections (PACE). (Left) A participant in the workshop on engaging civil society in elections presents their workshop group's outputs. (Right) Members of the Myanmar parliament, in a group exercise, list their expectations for the parliamentary elections in 2015. All original photos by Telibert.


Peer Exchange Burma, Maldives, Nepal & the Philippines

Background. Namfrel national chair David Balangue, sent Manila chair, Prof Mark Lester Toribio, to Myanmar to participate in a peer exchange program. Made at the request of National Democratic Institute (ndi.org), Namfrel would share its experiences to help prepare the newly-formed People's Alliance for Credible Elections (PACE) in Myanmar, to observe the parliamentary elections scheduled in late 2015. Outside of the peer event, NDI planned for Namfrel to speak before members of the Myanmar parliament.

PACE plans to deploy over 1,500 election day observers and a yet undetermined number of long-term observers for the pre-voting and post-voting events. PACE will enter into a financial and technical support agreement with NDI, which will put their program into motion.

On hand were peers from Transparency Maldives, Democracy and Elections Watch (DEW-Nepal), both partners of NDI, and Namfrel. Advocacy and communications manager, Aiman Rasheed, represented Transparency Maldives, which is an affiliate of Transparency International. Founding and immediate past chair, Dr Novel Kishore Rai, represented DEW-Nepal. Prof Toribio represented Namfrel along with former executive director and current board member, Telibert Laoc. As NDI's senior adviser of elections for Indonesia and Afghanistan, Telibert, serve as coordinator of the peer exchange.

23 September - Briefing for international peers by NDI and PACE in Yangon

24 and 25 September - Peer discussion with PACE in Yangon

26 September - CSO workshop on the role of civil society in helping ensure credible elections in Yangon

29 September - Lecture on the role of Namfrel in Philippine elections and in their democratic transition with members of parliament in Nay Pyi Taw

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http://ndi.org


About NDI. The Burma program of NDI encourages civil society engagement with parliamentary reformers to promote a legal framework for democratic elections in 2015. Ahead of the 2015 parliamentary polls, NDI is providing technical assistance to the Burmese parliament to strengthen its role in promoting electoral reform and as a democratic institution of governance. The Institute will also train citizens as election monitors to observe and report on the elections, conduct an assessment of the country’s voter registry, and work with key stakeholders following the elections to consolidate recommendations for future electoral reforms. NDI will also conduct regional study missions for Burma’s civil society organizations to enhance their understanding of electoral processes and international and regional electoral best practices. (More: http://bit.ly/Z6BD7F)

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., NDI programs in over 60 countries on citizen participation, elections, democracy and technology, political inclusion of marginalized groups, political parties, and women's political participation.

Namfrel's relationship with NDI goes as far back as the late 80s. NDI was formed in 1984 and took notice of Namfrel during the watershed elections of 1986 in the Philippines. Eric Bjournlund, formerly director for Asia of NDI, wrote in his 2004 book, Beyond Free ad Fair: Monitoring Elections and Building Democracy, "Chapter 10 describes the historical emergence of nonpartisan domestic election monitoring, beginning with the seminal work of NAMFREL in the Philippines. Building on NAMFREL's experiences, nonpartisan domestic election-monitoring organizations emerged in late 1980s and early 1990s in every region in the world and succeeded in catalyzing democratic change and proving momentum to the global struggle for democracy. He writes more to say, "Domestic election monitoring began in the Philippines in the mid-1980s with the pioneering experience of the National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL), which has inspired many similar efforts around the world."

NDI has created a number of significant events in many parts of the world that has featured the volunteers and the story of Namfrel. They have invited key volunteers to share the experience in at least 30 countries, where either NDI is introducing the observation model or is supporting election monitoring organizations and informing them of the way it is done Namfrel-style. This peer exchange in Myanmar is one such example.

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http://bit.ly/Z6BD7F


As NDI event coordinator, the writer thanks the leadership of Namfrel for making available their dedicated volunteers who shared meaningful and inspiring experiences with others. As a member of the national council, the writer thanks Namfrel for the honor of again donning the Namfrel vest and sharing significant experiences of a continuing journey of close to 30 years. With colleague Lec Toribio, the writer honors the nine Namfrel volunteers who have offered the ultimate sacrifice -- heroes. The writer thanks NDI for yet again another wonderful opportunity to engage with like-hearted individuals from other countries, and to convey the Namfrel spirit to those who might not be as aware about the value of citizens' contribution to nation-building.

The peer exchange.

The agenda for the peer exchange on September 24 and 25 covered: 1) PACE's operational plan and activities prior to the elections in 2015; 2) international peers' comments and inputs on the plan; 3) discussion on operations of domestic election observer groups; 4) an exercise for PACE to identify their strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities (SW-OT); and 5) general discussion and comments on the SW-OT.

The outputs from the peer exchange are grouped into three categories: managing well, operating effectively and efficiently, and enabling others.

A. Managing well

A1. Recruiting observers

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(Left to right) Peer exchange participants U (Mr) Win Nyi Nyi Zaw (PACE board member), Sai Ye Kyaw Swar Myint (executive director), Mark Lester Toribio (Namfrel), Dr Novel Kishore Rai (DEW-Nepal), Han Soe Htun (PACE), Aiman Rasheed (Transparency Maldives), Daw (Ms) Khine Khine Maw (PACE finance manager), Hnin Htet Htet Aung (PACE program assistant) and Aye Aye San (PACE).


A1.1. PACE plans to recruit individual observers at the state and region levels. They will identify observers through their CSO network around the country.

A1.2. To prevent poaching of trained observers, in case there will be other observer groups, PACE will have to agree with the others on a uniform per diem for observers. In Nepal and in Afghanistan, observer groups receiving funds from different international organizations, agreed to make the observer per diem uniform.

A2. Engaging volunteers

A2.1. PACE wants to promote volunteerism and would like to refer to their observers as volunteers. In recruiting episodic volunteers, Namfrel would articulate its purpose, and instill love of country and a sense of nationhood. They recruit primarily in schools and universities, and engage organizations rather than individuals. They want volunteers to associate with (pull them to) Namfrel’s cause and what the organization stands for. Mr Toribio refers to this as "pull factor".

A2.3. PACE would like to attract professionals into its fold, particularly those with information technology (IT) skills. In the mid-80s, Namfrel approached businesses who where in support of them, for employees to be seconded to the organization. The borrowed employees were to perform a myriad of tasks from recruiting volunteers, designing training programs and materials, designing the parallel vote counting system, resource generation, etc. Their operational and managerial skills greatly helped Namfrel run its operations.

A2.4. DEW-Nepal outsourced the encoding of over 10,000 election day observer checklists to a data encoding company. This significantly sped up the databasing, allowed the organization more time to analyze the data, and eventually submitted the report to the electoral commission on time.

A3. Creating the PACE brand

A3.1. "We need to find our constituency". This was expressed by the executive director when strategic communication came up in the discussion. Defining who should be PACE's target audience or clients, and how the organization should communicate with them is something for NDI to discuss with PACE before finalizing the operational plan.

A3.2. PACE needs to earn the people's trust on the one hand, and not to be seen as an extension of the Union Election Commission (UEC), on the other.

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A3.3. Having a strong voter information program (a component or PACE's mission) with clear value-added should help PACE build its image. A good program could serve as a way of introducing PACE to the public.

A4. Deploying efficiently

A4.1. Early determination of the long- and short-term observation analyses framework, data collection methodology and instruments, database set-up and management, and training methodologies, will permit PACE to see the big picture of its operations.

A4.2. The early release of the complete election calendar by the UEC, which is among PACE's advocacy, will enhance the organization's ability to plan more efficiently.

A4.4. Mobile election day observers introduced by DEW-Nepal is something new to PACE. Members of DEW-Nepal’s district secretariats were the mobile election day observers. They witnessed voting to gain first hand information, monitored observers, and ready to provide support to them when needed. PACE may decide to have mobile observers but this will have to be done in accordance to its observer deployment strategy.

A5. Operating transparently

A5.1. Having transparency and accountability mechanisms, such as board oversight, regular operational and financial reports to internal and external clients, will improve PACE’s credibility. The international peers advised for these systems to be in place at the onset and strictly observed henceforth.

A5.2. Regular observation and operational reports will enhance PACE’s reputation before election stakeholders including international donors.

A6. Preparing for sustainability

The key to sustainability is to have a diversified and reliable resource base. This should allow PACE to operate for at least the medium term or five years. PACE sees sustainability as decreasing dependence on foreign funds over time, and conversely able to fill the gap through resourcing locally. Namfrel, which does not receive foreign funds for its election observation work, takes the same approach in recruiting volunteers with local businesses. They breakdown their operational requirements and solicit from specific businesses. For example, they sourced their office paper requirements from paper companies, handphones and

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subscriptions from mobile phone companies, and food for the volunteers nationwide from the different franchises of fast food chains at the provincial level. The supporting companies' names printed in the Namfrel stationery and in the official reports, as a form of recognition.

B. Operating effectively and efficiently

B1. Understanding the political and electoral environment

A pre-election assessment, initiated by the domestic election observer group Transparency Maldives (transparency.mv) for 2013 presidential elections, could broaden PACE's understanding of the environment where it is operating. It could help inform and position them conduct pre-election, activities, voting day observation, and advocate for legal and procedural improvements.

Transparency Maldives is a member of a high-level election stakeholder consultation mechanism, which includes representatives from the electoral commission. Their "proximity" to the current goings-on and access to key information allows them to position their observation in the constructive manner.

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B2. Advocating

B2.1. That the UEC pass the observer regulation and code of conduct by mid-2015 and before the voters lists are displayed. They should not impose any unnecessary restrictions for observers.

The Electoral Commission of Nepal in 2013 tried to impose a +2 pass (sophomore college-level) minimum education for observers. It also restricted observers from observing in any polling stations within the district where the observer is registered as a voter. In many cases observers would have to travel to neighboring districts the day before election day. Through lobby and direct discussions among the various observer groups with the commission, the requirements were eventually relaxed. The observer groups pointed to difficulty in recruiting observers with the high educational qualification, which is also very restrictive for women. They also argued that observers are going to be disenfranchised if they have to go out of their districts to observe. The final regulation allowed for at least high school level education, and restricting observers from observing only in the polling center that s/he is registered to vote.

B2.2. That the UEC provide transparency in the advance voting processes, particularly the out-of-constituency voting.

B2.3. That the UEC ensure even access of and effective penetration of voter and election-related information and procedures in ethnic communities.

B2.4. That the UEC mandates that party and candidate election finance reports be publicized.

B2.5. That the UEC publish early a complete election calendar.

B2.6. That the UEC reduce and rationalize the cost of filing electoral complaints. It is currently MKK 1 million, or about USD 1,ooo.

B2.7. That the UEC is transparent in the deployment of security forces during the election period.

C. Enabling others

This category reflects one of PACE's values, and this speaks well of them. As a pioneering organization of such kind in Myanmar they intend bring other CSOs into the ambit of election observation and share learning among them. They also intend to engage them in advocacies on electoral reforms in the future.

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C1. There is apprehension that requirements that will be written into the associations registration by-law might be too strict for small regional organizations.

C2. PACE sees that political parties should benefit from advocacies for improvements in the electoral process and leveling the electoral playing field. This pursuit could help close the trust gap between parties and CSOs.

CSO Workshop: Enabling Civil Society to Help Make Elections More Credible

The objectives of the event with the larger CSO group is to familiarize them with how domestic groups in the region operate, and enhance their understanding of the contribution of nonpartisan election observation in current context in Myanmar.

Page �9 Twenty-nine participated representing 15 Myanmar CSOs, three peer organizations, and NDI.


Prof. Toribio advised the CSOs to plan well. They must consider contingency (in case some will not be accredited but would still want to be involved), workable alternatives to accessing resources (like tapping family and friends to volunteer as observers), training (teaching each other), sharing information (including networking), maintaining unity, being proactive (like researching to be anticipative). He offered the word memory aid “CATSUP” for Contingency, Access (to resources), Training, Sharing (of information), Unity and Proaction.

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NDI senior country director for Myanmar, Dr Richard A Nuccio, introduces the topic before Myanmar MPs. (Below) MPs try SW-OT analysis for their electoral environment.


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Photo courtesy of NDI.


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(Top) Namfrel session with Members of Parliament at the NDI Parliamentary Resource Center in Nay Pyi Taw. (Middle) Prof Mark Lester Toribio tells the story of volunteers in action. He showed a photo of a small house where volunteers found out, in their audit of the voters list, that there were 91 voters registered in the same address.

Middle photo courtesy of NDI.


Conclusions and recommendations

The domestic support generation/volunteerism model of Namfrel remains its most distinct contribution to the world of nonpartisan election observation. Stories of how it draws volunteers and resources from the community has never failed to amaze, and to inspire some. While difficult to emulate elsewhere as contexts are different and other drivers of civil society activity in elections exists today such as international funds, many who hear the story aspire to be like Namfrel. PACE is one of them. They had specified to NDI for Namfrel to be among the peers to be represented in the exchange.

The likes of Lec Toribio, who volunteered for the first time in 2001 and has taken on the leadership role for Manila a decade later, speaks volumes of the ability of the Namfrel cause and its leaders to find, keep, and motivate good and hardworking individuals. Despite the limits in time and resources in 2013, Lec did a stellar job of providing volunteers -- mostly youth, a meaningful and unforgettable experience. Lec is too humble to thank Namfrel for the opportunities provided him. But, it is to individuals, selfless volunteers and exemplars, like him that Namfrel is most grateful.

The current and developing political and electoral events in the Philippines continue to present a challenge to the value-offering of Namfrel and to the organization's ability to evolve. Like how starting in 2007 the automation of the counting of votes rendered the operation quick count irrelevant, and the difficulty it faced to innovate a substitute that was similarly relevant and engaging enough for volunteers. The continuing discussions on election automation are exclusive to the IT circle, constricting the space for more citizen participation. The challenge to Namfrel is how to operate under these conditions or similar situations and still come up with an engagement model where volunteers find their participation worthy.

The relevance of Namfrel as a provider of meaningful venues for citizens to contribute in achieving credible elections -- its mission, remains timelessly relevant. There are areas in the political and electoral processes and new developments there where citizens could be meaningfully engaged. There are potentials in: decreasing the cost of getting elected (or elections become more and more exclusive to the moneyed); advocating for transparency in reporting and timeliness in adjudicating election cases; and tracking efficiency and operational performance metrics of the Comelec. In order to innovate, Namfrel needs to evolve and build its own capacity to design and offer venues for citizens to be involved.

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In closing, I offer my humble, but frank, take on the current state of Namfrel through this SW-OT analysis.

Appendix

1. Letters (http://bit.ly/1tKE51k, http://bit.ly/1te2nie, http://bit.ly/1t4MsD3)

2. Presentation to MPs (http://bit.ly/1CUUEGR)

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http://bit.ly/1tKE51k

http://bit.ly/1te2nie

http://bit.ly/1t4MsD3

http://bit.ly/1CUUEGR

NAMFREL in Myanmar

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