Future of elections in Asia and the Pacific region: Black swans and white elephants
Channel: International IDEA
Date: 2020-11-18

LOCAL TIME (CANBERRA)  15:00-16:30 AEDT
Asia and the Pacific, as the whole world, is at crossroads - the question is: are we moving toward a new normality of surveillance, where some of our freedoms are permanently curtailed in the name of safety and control - or can we build on some of the opportunities the pandemic has brought into renewed light: free flows of information, open engagement between government and society, due process, but also leadership of care and empathy? In particular, what role for elections in accelerating such opportunities and ensuring representation and legitimacy in Asia and the Pacific? How to plan electoral processes and prepare for the future crisis, and how to address the known ills challenging integrity of elections in the region?

This webinar will discuss the future of elections in Asia and the Pacific region. The webinar will discuss the following questions:

- Looking forward – what is likely to change in the way elections are taking place in Asia and the Pacific in the next ten or twenty years?
- How can future elections build on technological and other innovations stemming from circumstances brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic?
- Are these innovations or changed practices of help in addressing the persistent issues of under representation of women and minorities, inclusion of migrants, role of money and challenges posed by hate speech and disinformation as part of election campaigns?
- How to ensure that elections will continue to advance democratization process - instead of serving as façade for power consolidation by un-democratic regimes?
- What is the role of political leaders, civil society, electoral management bodies and the established democracies of the region?

SPEAKERS:
- Scott Ryan, President of the Senate, Australia
- Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, Attorney-General and Minister Responsible for Elections, Fiji
- Rowena Guanzon, Commissioner, Commission on Elections (COMELEC), Philippines
- Mu Sochua, Cambodian human rights activist and exiled opposition politician
- Titi Anggraini, Member of Advisory Board, Association for Elections and Democracy or Perkumpulan untuk Pemilu dan Demokrasi (PERLUDEM)
- Leena Rikkilä Tamang, Director for Asia and the Pacific, International IDEA
- Kevin Casas-Zamora, Secretary-General, International IDEA
- Ann Linde, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sweden

MODERATOR: Rahimah Abdulrahim, Director, Public Policy for Southeast Asia (Established Countries), Facebook