India Elected Vice Chairman of Association of Asian Election Authorities

India has been unanimously elected as the Vice Chairman of the Association of Asian Election Authorities (AAEA) at its General Assembly held in Seoul today. The name of Dr. S. Y. Quraishi, Chief Election Commissioner of India was proposed as Vice Chair by the Chief Election Commissioner of Bhutan and received enthusiastic support from other member countries. India takes over this responsibility from the Republic of Korea, which becomes the Chairman for the next three-year term. India is a founder member of this 17-member Association. Dr. Quraishi is accompanied by Shri Akshay Rout, Director General at the Election Commission of India.

Before the meeting began, the Chief Election Commissioner of India led the other members in thanking the outgoing chair Taiwan. Several regional associations of National Election Authorities and observers from Election Management Bodies of other continents also attended the AAEA General Assembly.

The Asian Election Authorities at the meeting agreed on the necessity of establishing an Association of World Election Bodies, and decided to set up a working group to implement this proposal. The interim name of this association has been decided as Association of World Election Bodies [A-WEB], following a suggestion of Dr. Quraishi, Chief Election Commissioner of India. The working group will deliberate on the shape, vision, structural organisation and work plan of the proposed A-WEB. It will also contact other regional associations of Election Management Bodies and individual Election Authorities to facilitate early constitution of A-WEB.

The Association of Asian Election Authorities (AAEA) was conceived to promote and institutionalise open and transparent elections, independent and impartial election authorities, professionalization of Asian election authorities, citizen participation in the electoral and civic process, information sharing, and the development of resources for election-related information and research. ---PIB