Timor-Leste is deep into preparations for the upcoming presidential elections, anticipated in March 2022. Given the ongoing global Covid pandemic, the country’s two electoral management bodies (EMBs)—the Technical Secretariat for Electoral Administration (STAE) and the National Commission on Elections (CNE)—are working to revise internal regulations and procedures to support Covid-safe elections.
The Secretary-General of International IDEA, Dr Kevin Casas-Zamora, participated in a CO.OP LAB discussion entitled “Rising Threats to Democracy and Human Rights”, organized by OECD Development Co-operation Directorate on 14 September 2021.
‘Even if you do put special [Covid] measures in place, they still have to preserve the fundamental democratic features of an election that make it free and fair ... and ensure that everyone can accept the result as legitimate.’ Michael Maley at the workshop on Covid-Resilient Elections in Timor-Leste.
"As we are still learning about Covid and its changing nature, we need to ensure that policies and practices are flexible and responsive to support resilient elections and include a variety of scenarios and contingency plans."
Oversight by key government institutions can help to ensure that emergency spending is administered properly and efficiently.
This discussion paper is designed to help identify an optimal balance between the need for an agile emergency response and demands for the efficient and accountable use of public funds. It examines the international literature on Public Accounts Committees (PACs) and their work in times of emergency response, and presents good practices and lessons learned to improve the effectiveness of oversight.
Nunca se nos olvidarán las imágenes. Las largas colas de personas desesperadas en busca de tanques de oxígeno en Lima. Las tumbas improvisadas en Manaos, y las miles y miles de tiendas y comercios que en todas partes han tenido que cerrar sus puertas. La pandemia impactó a América Latina con brutal ferocidad. La región tiene una de las tasas más altas de mortalidad a nivel mundial, y sus países están sufriendo efectos económicos y sociales devastadores. Los efectos han sido igualmente negativos en el ámbito de la democracia.
International IDEA hosted a webinar on 16 June 2021 entitled: “What’s happening to democracy in Latin America?” as part of its new #DebatingDemocracy Webinar Series.
Mongolia’s presidential elections were concluded on 9 June 2021 with the party in government, the Mongolian People’s Party, consolidating power further by taking the presidency with a landslide victory. However, voter turnout declined very slightly compared to 2017 and young voters are still not coming to vote in droves.
Ethiopia is set to hold general elections on 21 June 2021 amid a devastating war in Tigray region and continuing security challenges across the country. But this was not how things were supposed to pan out.
