International Workshop on Electoral Administration and Justice for the Central Elections Commission of Palestine Mexico City, December, 1st. - 5th. INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON ELECTORAL ADMINISTRATION AND JUSTICE FOR THE CENTRAL ELECTIONS COMMISSION OF PALESTINE Index Page 1. Presentation 2 2. International Centre for Electoral Training and Research 3 3. Mexico- Palestine Relationship Background 5 4. Workshop Objectives 10 5. Speakers’ Profiles 11 6. Delegates’ Profiles 12 7. Programme 19 8. Mexico’s Political and Electoral Systems 20 9. Current Electoral Context in Mexico 45 1 INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON ELECTORAL ADMINISTRATION AND JUSTICE FOR THE CENTRAL ELECTIONS COMMISSION OF PALESTINE 1. PRESENTATION General overlook Electoral democracy requires constant improvement and update in order to satisfy those demands presented by a modern society, citizens’ rights-demanding and strong political parties fighting over access to political power. Through this given outlook, elections´ management has gradually become an object of knowledge, as well as a specialized practice. Nowadays, those of us involved in elections´ management not only encounter a widely extended and diversified practice, but also a very complex one, related to ways of conducting it to satisfy universally recognized international standards, oriented towards free, clean, fair, equal, periodically and reliable elections. The classic standards on electoral democracy have not changed, but the parameters established to meet them have. Current developing conditions on electoral abilities demand a broader electoral quality for the authority to comply with such standards. An effort in accordance with the political exigency to train electoral officers is required. Registered changes in the electoral agenda´s evolution ask for new aptitudes, (knowledge, abilities, skills) and new attitudes (values and behaviors) of those responsible of organizing elections in the world. It is necessary to carry out an inspection and a periodic adjustment in topics such as: electoral registry update and integration; voting and tallying mechanisms; voter information campaigns; special care of vulnerable groups (minorities: disabilities, indigenous, assistant voting, citizens abroad, for mention some); documentation and electoral material acquisition or production and distribution policies; and mechanisms in order to preserve vote´s secrecy, among others. Thus, information, specialization, and updating of electoral bodies´ human resources have become a strategic must. Electoral formation is a fundamental piece to electoral bodies for many reasons: a) It encourages specialization over the functions and key subjects for them; b) Generates and institutional memory that makes procedures more effective and c) Promotes research into deepen aspects of institutional interest, and encourages knowledge on better practices. Back to index 2 INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON ELECTORAL ADMINISTRATION AND JUSTICE FOR THE CENTRAL ELECTIONS COMMISSION OF PALESTINE 2. INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR ELECTORAL TRAINING AND RESEARCH Since 2004, Mexico´s federal electoral authorities, including the National Electoral Institute (INE), the Electoral Tribunal of the Federation´s Judiciary Branch (TEPFJ), along with the Country Office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), have worked together into tailoring a series of electoral activities oriented to other countries´ EMB authorities, carrying out workshops, journeys, internships in which specific topics on electoral management and conflict resolution compared experiences are shared. In this sense, it is important to refer the main precedent of CICIE. The International Programme for Electoral Training and Research (PICIE) a horizontal cooperation mechanism, developed by former Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) with the United Nations Development Programme in Mexico and the Federal Electoral Court. This Programme was addressed to senior managers and executives officers, under a scheme of medium and large term perspective. It emphasizes strategic planning for political leadership on technical aspects into the electoral management. It also motivates the participation of other partners like the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Mexico (SRE), the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), the Association of European Elections Officials (ACEEEO) and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), among others. These workshops got integrated to a new horizontal international cooperation structure in May of 2008, into an International Programme for Electoral Training and Research (PICIE), which would develop pilot projects, and thanks to its proving results, on September of 2010 the Electoral Council approved de creation of the Centre. The General Council of the Federal Electoral Institute approved the creation of the International Center for Electoral Training and Research (CICIE, by its acronym in Spanish) in September, 2010. Its purpose is to offer an international forum for training, updating and professionalization to electoral functionaries worldwide, in order to provide with new aptitudes (knowledge and skills) and new attitudes (values and behaviors) thru different training programs addressed to those responsible for organizing and managing the electoral processes, but under an empirical approach of sharing experiences, best practices and knowledge in the frame of an horizontal cooperation, therefore active participation in society of several actors of the international electoral system, is important to enhance the electoral activities. This initiative aims to justify the complexity in elections organization in which, during the last decade, new dynamics and challenges have emerged, such as: oversight public and private funding of political parties and campaigns, regulation of political advertising and election campaign periods, the use of new technologies for issuing and counting votes, immediate provision of preliminary results, vote from abroad and political representation of expatriates, limitation on campaign expenditures and other mechanisms to ensure equitable conditions in competition. Currently, 56 workshops haven been developed, as seen in the following chart: 3 INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON ELECTORAL ADMINISTRATION AND JUSTICE FOR THE CENTRAL ELECTIONS COMMISSION OF PALESTINE Africa America Asia Europe Total 2004 Haiti Iraq 2 El Salvador (2) 2005 3 Guatemala Bosnia & 2008 1 Herzegovina East Timor Zambia 2009 Guatemala Lebanon 6 South Africa The Philippines Burundi 2010 Botswana Argentina (2) Macedonia 6 Benin Ethiopia, Venezuela Nepal Ukraine 2011 Botswana, Guatemala East Timor 10 Georgia Kenya Afghanistan Egypt; Costa Rica Egypt, Libya Peru Rumania 2012 y Tunisia; 10 El Salvador Croatia Nigeria Guatemala Ethiopia Ecuador (4), Bolivia; Peru 2013 Nigeria Indonesia 9 and Colombia; Haiti Moldova; Cameroon Ecuador (3) Russian 2014 Nepal 9 (2) Haiti Federation Total 15 24 9 8 56 4 INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON ELECTORAL ADMINISTRATION AND JUSTICE FOR THE CENTRAL ELECTIONS COMMISSION OF PALESTINE 3. MEXICO-PALESTINE RELATIONSHIP BACKGROUND At the Arab Spring Revolution breakdown in 2011, cooperation between Mexico and the Middle East and North Africa reinforced in many fields. On the electoral field, the strong collaboration and the agreement with the UNDP Mexico to promote training and professionalization programs addressed to electoral officials got the attention from the UNDP’s Democratic Governance Group of New York. In this framework, UNDP-Egypt invited to then President Councilor of IFE, Leonardo Valdés Zurita to attend the „Arab States Regional Practice Meeting on Electoral Cycle Support” where held a meeting with Judge Farouk Ahmed Soltan Mekky, president of the Supreme Constitutional Council of Egypt with whom the Councilor share the model of cooperation and exchange of experencies that nowadays INE offers through the International Center for Electoral Training and Research (CICIE) with an invitation to look further collabaoration mechanisms. Since then, CICIE has organized one workshop with Egypt; one specialization course, and a seminar in Mexico and the participation of Mexican officials in Tunisia and Egypt, organized by UNDP-for the Arab region. The invitation becomes a real plan in January 2012 with the visit to Mexico of an Egiptyan delegation to participate at the International Workshop on Electoral Management, precisely on the first Revolution Anniversary. The same year INE organized the International Exchange of Electoral Experencies Seminar for delagates of Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, three countries in a special cojuntural moment of their internal and electoral lives. In 2013, liaison flows natural, to the Specialized Course of electoral systems and electoral results transmission held in Mexico City counts with representatives of the High Committe for Elections and the Ministry of Management development of Egypt, so as, from the Electoral Commission of Tunisia. In 2014, two events got closer electoral stakeholders. INE organized the „Dialog on Electoral Management and Disputes Resolution, a exchange of experencies between Latin America and the countries of the Arab Spring Movement” ; in March, INE received an invitation to participate at the meeting „Reinforcing Credibility and Acceptance of Electoral Processes: the Role of Electoral Stakeholders and Electoral Administrations” held in Amman, Jordan where Mr. Manuel Carrillo Poblano, Head of the International Affairs Unit of INE spoke on the subject “The