 Good afternoon, good evening, good morning from wherever you are joining and warm welcome to international ideas 25th anniversary conference, which will be a series of 12 webinars over the next 25 hours starting here in Canberra, Australia. The overarching team of our conference is democracy now and next charting the agenda for the decade to come. My name is Lena. I'm international ideas regional director for Asia and the Pacific. In a moment, we will hear the welcoming remarks by Dr. Kevin Kazasamura, secretary general of international idea, followed by opening remarks by and Lynn minister for foreign affairs of Sweden and the current chair of international idea. But first, we are privileged to hear welcome to country delivered by Dr. Aunty Matilda House, who represents the number one people traditional custodians of the land here in Canberra region where we need today. Aunty Matilda ordered us with the visit to our office earlier this week and we start our anniversary with her welcome to country. As I was introduced as Dr. Matilda House, I'd like to say a welcome to everybody to the land of my ancestors, the Nambry-Nunnel people. We as Aboriginal people have always maintained our democracy, our sovereignty and above all, a decent way of living in harmony. And through that, we will always maintain our livelihood as what we have done for thousands of years. And when we have respect, we have belong. We belong, we belong. And belong means it's country that we love, we care for, and we have been doing that for thousands of years. We teach our children, we teach all the people that come here to our land to always think how wonderful it is that we as Australians, as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will always have that respect for others to belong. Thank you very much for being with me today and you have a lovely day. Thank you very much. On our guests, member state representatives, partners, colleagues and friends. I want to welcome you to International Ideas 25th Anniversary Conference. We are here today to celebrate our achievements but most of all to launch a conversation about the future of democracy and the role of International Idea. I would like to thank all the speakers that have accepted to be part of this global conversation. Our member states and especially our current chair and host country, Sweden, that has made democracy a priority of their foreign policy. 25 years ago, 14 countries signed the founding declaration of International Idea. In 1995, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the first post-apartheid election in South Africa and the spread of democracy all over Latin America made the expansion of democracy seem irresistible and irreversible. However, the founders of our institute understood that the progress of democracy was not inevitable. They understood that they had a collective responsibility to nurture it, to protect it and advance it. They understood the need for multilateral action and support. They understood the need for comparative knowledge about the fundamentals of democracy, about elections, constitutions and political participation. Those insights have defined our mission ever since. Today, International Idea encompasses 33 member states from all regions. In the past 25 years, we have played a decisive role in activating regional and global networks of practitioners and activists. We have contributed through publications, databases, events and advice to global debates, regional collaborations and national actions. We have supported dozens of electoral, constitutional and political reform processes all over the world, where our evidence-based advice has made a difference to our partners on the ground. It is a record that our member states, our donors and partners and our wonderfully talented staff can be proud of. And we are proud, but not satisfied. The challenges to democracy are greater today than they were in 1995. Democracy was facing severe headwinds even before the COVID-19 pandemic. From our global state of democracy report, we know that while the number of democracies kept increasing, the quality of democracy was decreasing. In many democracies, checks and balances were becoming weaker. Civic spaces were shrinking and freedom of expression was under sustained assault. These challenges have been accentuated by the pandemic. Over the past few months, we have seen many cases where emergency powers have been invoked to do things that have nothing to do with the pandemic and everything to do with the intention of shutting down critical voices, limiting civic spaces and harassing minorities. And there are also the problematic political consequences that stem from the global economic crisis, which are only now beginning to be felt. If there is a moment to monitor the health of democratic systems, it is now. And this is precisely what international idea has been doing through our global state of democracy report. And more recently, through a global monitor on the impact of COVID-19 on democracy and human rights supported by the European Union. We need trustworthy information more than ever. Yet, these times also demand that we use our voice in defense of democracy. Last June, together with our partners from around the world, we launched a call to defend democracy, where we argued that the pandemic threatens the future of liberal democracy. This open letter enlisted the support of over 70 pro-democracy organizations and more than 500 global leaders. This is the task in our hands. We must build the global coalitions needed to protect democracy, but we must also strive to revitalize it. Now is the time to help democracies return to the drawing board and renegotiate their social contract. Now is the time to act against the spread of disinformation and existential threat for democracy. Now is the time to protect the ability of democracies to hold free, fair and safe elections. Now is the time to discuss how to best equip democracy to tackle intergenerational challenges, such as the fourth industrial revolution, the sustainable development goals, and especially the climate crisis. Above all, now is the time we must be unapologetic in defense of democratic values. The good news is that the case for democracy remains strong. To a much greater degree than any other system, democracy protects our agency and inherent dignity, allows for the correction of policies, and makes a difference for key tenets of sustainable development, particularly for gender equality. Sustainable development requires sustainable democracy. Making sure that democracy can reform and revitalize itself is the cause that international idea pledges to take forward for the next 25 years. We will do this by teasing out the lessons from democratic experience from all over the world, by leveraging that knowledge and putting it in the hands of leaders and activists, by continuously monitoring the health of political systems, by accompanying democracy-building processes and lending our impartial advice, by building regional and global coalitions of practitioners, activists and academics, by speaking out in defense of democratic values, by insisting that democracy is a global public good that requires multilateral action, by working closely with our member states and our supporting partners. This is our pledge to you. It is a pledge infused with the hope that the sacrifices made by millions of people in the quest for democracy, from Soweto to Santiago, from Prague to Jakarta, from Jengon to Hartoom, from Hong Kong to Minsk, will not have been in vain. Our collective responsibility is to ensure that the memory of those struggles to advance the democratic cause is honored and preserved for generations to come. This is the challenge of our time and we at International Idea intend to meet it in full. Thank you. 25 years ago representatives of 14 countries met here in Stockholm for the first council meeting of the newly founded International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, or International Idea. Following the developments around 1990, countries needed an international forum to exchange and learn from others how to shape their form of democracy. Because democracy cannot be exported, it has to grow from within a society, but there are lessons to be learned and experiences to be drawn and the International Idea was to be the place for countries to do just that. International Idea has faced its share of challenges, but is today steadily forging its role as a centre of excellence for the advancement of democracy worldwide as a universal human aspiration and an enabler of sustainable development through supporting the building, strengthening and safeguarding of democratic political institutions and processes, quoting from its mission statement. While the conviction that democracy was the way forward seemed to be uncontested in the 1990s, things have since changed. Democratic backsliding, challenges to human rights and the undermining of the rule of law are trends we have witnessed for several years. Idea's Global State of Democracy report, a reference point when it comes to monitoring the development of democracy around the world, provides an invaluable evidence base in this regard. The most recent addition to Idea's toolbox, the global monitor of COVID-19's impact on democracy and human rights, clearly shows how this negative global trend has been further accentuated the pandemic. Dear friends, we need to act against and formulate a counter narrative to these negative trends. We know that authoritarianism is not the answer to today's challenges. We are as convinced today, as we were in 1995, that democracy is the best form of governance for stability and development, but we need to make the case again. Democracy provides political accountability and therefore a mechanism to correct mistakes and do better. Democracy ensures transparency and access to information without which there can be no progress. While the fear of COVID-19 has understandably triggered dramatic measures, we need to remain vigilant. The current pandemic must not be allowed to become an excuse for governmental overreach to undermine democracy or its institutions. It takes times, sometimes generations, to build up stable and impartial democratic institutions, but they can be dismantled very quickly. Any limitations to the enjoyment of human rights must be in accordance with international law. The response to the pandemic must be based on gender equality, human rights, democracy and the rule of law, because only that can ensure the confidence and credibility in societies to make it sustainable. Democracy allows for civil society to mobilize, for inequalities to be confronted, for policy issues to be openly debated, for trustworthy information to freely flow, and governments to be accountable to citizens, all essential tools for successfully dealing with the current public health, emergency and its consequences. Precisely for this purpose, the Swedish government last year initiated the campaign Drive for Democracy. Through diplomatic activity and a series of events and democracy talks, it aims to promote and strengthen democracy and the aspects that in our view must be part of a sustainable democracy. Equality, participation, sustainable development, inclusive growth, governance, human rights and security. We have particularly focused on supporting civil society actors, human rights defenders and trade union leaders as their role is central to upholding democracy and holding governments to account. This includes strengthening free and independent media and the safety of journalists and media workers, but we must also build global coalitions. In connection with this year's virtual United Nations General Assembly high-level meeting, we launch, as a follow-up to our Drive for Democracy, a cross-regional partnership together with a core group of countries called the Friends in Defence of Democracy. With two exceptions, the countries in this partnership are also members of International Idea, and I see Idea and its Member State as a platform and partner in this continued struggle of narratives. Dear friends, Sweden is proud to be an initiator, founding member, host country, and this year's Chair of the Council of Member States of International Idea. And I want to congratulate its current Secretary-General, Mr. Casa Samora, and all its dedicated staff around the world on this special occasion. The current circumstances show the absolute necessity of multilateralism and the continued pursuit of rules-based international order. International Idea will continue to be a central partner in this work, and we look forward to the next 25 years of democracy promotion. Well, thank you to all speakers for those uplifting words. Secretary-General, Minister Anlind, and thank you for the welcome to country, Dr. Anlind Matilda. Our Canberra session of the conference is focusing on future of elections in Asia and the Pacific, and asking questions such as how well is the region and its electoral stakeholders prepared for the unforeseeable, the future Black swans, just such as COVID-19 has been, and also how to address some of the persistent challenges or old ills of elections related to inclusion, roll of money, suppression of opposition, and so on. If anything, this pandemic has been an x-ray into our societies, revealing the strengths and weaknesses of our democracies and of our elections. We are to investigate those. It is now my pleasure and privilege to introduce our keynote speaker, Senator the Honourable Scott Ryan, President of the Senate of Australia. Scott Ryan was elected as Liberal Senator for Victoria at 2007 federal election. He was re-elected in 2013 and again in 2016. So he knows a thing or two about elections. And in November 2017, Senator Ryan was elected by the Senate to serve as its 25th president. Prior to this, he had hold number of ministerial and party positions. And I went to the Senate website and read his inaugural speech in 2008 when Senator Ryan said, I learned then that democracy and basic human liberties are not relative concepts. We must always guard against the slippery slope moral equivalence in such affairs. He would probably say the same thing in 2020. And we are truly grateful for your being with us today, Senator Ryan, and I would like to invite you to make your keynote on future elections in our region. Thank you. Well, thank you, Lena. And if I could acknowledge the welcome to country, the Secretary General and Minister's comments, it's a real pleasure to commence this series. I know it's a very odd hour over there, so we obviously had recorded messages, but I do appreciate the opportunity. Firstly, I'd like to congratulate International Idea on reaching this important milestone. I actually have one of International Idea's first publications printed in 1995 that I was given as a political science student university, which had a comprehensive summary of different electoral systems and their technical nature all around the world. I used that at university and indeed when I was Minister for Electoral Affairs here before I was President of the Senate, I was still using that publication as the best summary of different voting and electoral systems I'd yet come across. So the work that I've valued for a very long time. Australia is proud to have joined Idea as a founding member in 1995, and we've worked together since then to support democracy worldwide. And we are very much looking forward to succeeding Sweden as Chair of International Idea in December. Today, International Idea is launching a COVID update to its global state of democracy report. And I would like to acknowledge the contribution of Idea's important analytical work to global conversations about democracy, about which we heard so much there from Minister Lind and the Secretary-General. Elections in the Asia Pacific very much matter to Australia. They build stability, build equity and generate prosperity. When freely and fairly conducted elections reflect the will of citizens and electoral democracy can help realise individual rights, liberties and freedoms and economic well-being. This is why Australia supports elections in the Asia Pacific region. Whether it be by building the capacity of electoral management bodies, funding civic and voter education programs, or directly promoting citizen participation in democracy and elections. We heard before that building a strong democracy takes time. And elections on their own do not guarantee a successful, peaceful and inclusive democratic state. Rather, elections are one, albeit a critical element of broader democratic institutions, which are key to supporting democracy and liberalism in the Asia Pacific. Such institutions include the rule of law, judicial independence, a robust civil society and civic space for participation. The protection of individual rights, including freedom of expression and freedom of association, are also critical. Australia supports the building of accountable governing institutions in a number of ways, including by strengthening anti-corruption and order offices and working with civil society in our region. In the Philippines, for example, our support for the Coalition for Change Programme helps facilitate and form networks between civil society, the private sector and government to pursue lasting change in areas like land tightening. Now, we all know the COVID pandemic has had wide-ranging implications for the conduct and legitimacy of elections. Indeed, whilst the pandemic has the potential to be abused to restrict electoral freedoms or undermine elections, it also represents a valuable opportunity to develop innovative new methods, such as special voting arrangements, which may indeed improve the conduct of elections and widen their participation by citizens in the future. For our perspective, the current global crisis represents an opportunity to uphold the principles of accountability and transparency. We have worked closely with countries in the Asia Pacific region to support inclusive and credible electoral processes, responding to and throughout the pandemic. We were proud to work closely with our neighbours Papua New Guinea and Boganville to support the 2020 Boganville General Election. We provided technical assistance through the International Foundation for Electoral Systems and deployed advisers to support the process. The Australian Electoral Commission also printed the ballot papers and Australia supported the delivery of these to Boganville. In Myanmar, we worked with partners such as the International Foundation for Electoral Systems again to bolster electoral capacity and support COVID-safe polling preparations for their 2020 general election. Myanmar sought to reduce COVID-19 risks for voters in a number of ways, including through the provision of personal protective equipment, PPE, advanced voting options for the elderly and more voting stations with lowered capacity limits for social distancing requirements. Australia and international idea share a deep commitment to supporting free and fair elections and democratic transition in Myanmar. I think we can agree then that COVID-19 has indeed been a Black Swan event for elections, but there are others we are more familiar with even if we do not yet have a perfect means to handle them. The capacity for misinformation, disinformation or manipulation is a consequence of the new forms of social and digital media, but having franchised many who previously lacked of us. In my view, while we need to be aware of the risk of these tools being abused, we should not forget that not long ago, it was restrictions on citizens freely communicating that was our prime concern to those concerned with democracy. Conscious that these tools can be used to manipulate or indeed sometimes to stoke hatreds, we must strive to ensure that it is citizens that have the capacity, the skills and the information to rebut or dismiss such attempts as relying solely on authorities to do so is in my view, doomed to failure and risks recreating some of the problems of the past. So what of white elephants? It seems that in some nations we need to be careful to protect those time-on-institutions of democracy that have made public faith and that indeed work. One of those I am strongly committed to protecting and defending in Australia is the use of paper ballots, simple pencils and masses of volunteer scrutineers who watch the counting of our ballot papers. These arrangements in my view validate our elections and I note only recently elections Canada actually tweeted about this very point yesterday given that they have a similar type of voting system to Australia, which is of course different to their immediate neighbour. Indeed, we are seeing elections election results contested in places that utilise technology. In my view, it is easier to impugn results when the method of election or voting isn't immediately transparent, familiar or easily explained and this will of course have some local context, which is why I made my point with respect to Australia. In Australia, it is much more difficult to misrepresent paper ballots marked by hand and effectively counted in public and this has ensured that three of the last four elections in Australia which have been the closest in over 60 years have been widely accepted without any challenge. So innovation is important, but it needs to be considered. Technology is a tool and we shouldn't fetish over it and change what we do simply because we can without considering what the public values. Finally, a lesson of COVID-19 as it is the same for any emergency. We must ensure that temporary restrictions on democratic participation or activity do not become a new norm and that they remain both strictly defined to the necessary purpose that has widespread community consent, in this case public health and that the authorities imposing them, whether political or even expert health officials, are accountable and not given open-ended powers. Even in Australia some of these elements have come into question and that questioning is itself a positive as questioning extraordinary powers, even in an emergency, is an important check upon their use. Again, I would like to congratulate International Idea on this important milestone and I look forward to many more years of collaboration between Australia and Idea in support of democracy in our region and indeed worldwide. If 2020 teaches us anything, it is that we cannot take anything for granted. Thank you so much. Thank you very much, Senator Ryan, and I think your speech is confirming yet again. Australia is indeed one of the world leaders on what it comes to managing electoral risks and seen as a full-trunner in conduct of COVID-19 elections as proven by the successful elections in HCT, Queensland and Victoria in 2020. And we much encourage Australia also to share your knowledge and your skills internationally as you do, employing Australia's soft power to even better, even better effect, particularly important perhaps these days as some of the world's leading democracies have taken a hit on what it comes to managing pandemic in a democratic way. And we are indeed very excited about Australia's chairship of Idea Council of Member States in 2021 and look forward to working together. Thank you once again, Senator Ryan, and also many thanks to your team for making your presence with us today possible. Thank you. Thank you. And now we are moving on to our panel discussion on future of elections in Asia and the Pacific region, moderated by Rahim Abdul Rahim, Ima, for short. She is director of Public Policy for Southeast Asia at Facebook. Ima joined Facebook in March 2019 after serving the Habibi Centre of Indonesia for almost 20 years. And as its executive director for the last nine years. I have always known Ima as Tyler's advocate for peace, democracy in Indonesia and the region, and also for her work on gender equality. And you can learn more about her and about our distinguished panelists from our anniversary website, which is worth visiting. It includes testimonies, memorabilia, films from the last 25 years of democracy support. Over to you, Ibu Ima, the panel is yours. Thank you so much, Lina, for that really warm introduction. And I think the honor is definitely mine to have been asked to moderate this distinguished panel. First and foremost, of course, I would like to congratulate International Idea on the 25th anniversary. 25 years of doing amazing work for democracy and for assistance globally. This was an easy yes for me when they asked me to moderate this panel. Not only because I'm very familiar with International Idea and the work that they do globally, especially in my home country, Indonesia. The spirit and ideals that International Idea upholds in providing electoral assistance in the country's working work is something that I have seen firsthand and worked very closely with in the work that I did in Indonesia. And to that I would like to introduce, it gives me great pleasure to introduce actually this brilliant panel of people. One of them is a very good friend, and I'll introduce her first, Ibu Titi Angreni, who is a member of the advisory board of the Association for Elections and Democracy, or in Indonesia, it's known as Parindem, a program in the community of democracy. And then Miss Moon Sochua, who is a Cambodian human rights activist, an exiled opposition politician who has dedicated her life to fighting for women's rights and democracy in Southeast Asia. And then the Honorable Aya Saeed Hayum, who is the Attorney General and Minister Responsible for Election, and also who used twice elected Attorney General and Minister for Economy, Civil Service, and Communication. And last but of course definitely not least, Honorable Rowena Guantan, her being as a commissioner for the Commission on Elections, Kamalak, and the Philippines. I think they're all with us now already. Hello everyone. Thank you so much for already being ready. And I promise not to ask any surprise questions, although I should probably not. I'm kind of knowing some surprise questions, but we'll keep this as straightforward as possible because there are a lot of things that I think we need to discuss. Just a number of elections that have gone on in 2020, I think has been quite monumental, especially in this pandemic. We've already mentioned Senator Ryan already mentioned the Black Swan, which is of course this year's pandemic, and we even went through several elections this year already, and we have one massive one as well coming up in December in Indonesia. Which is where I'm going to start actually. I'm going to start with Matipit. Looking forward, Matipit, especially in the region, not just Indonesia, I know that's your bread and butter is Indonesia. But looking forward, what's likely to change in the way elections are taking place in Asia and the Pacific in the next 10 or 20 years. Taking into account all the different tools that we have on hand and taking into account all the different developments that we have seen in democracy and elections. Thank you, Ima. I hope you can hear my voice clearly. Is it clear? Good morning to all of you from Indonesia, Jakarta. First of all, I would like to congratulate International Idea on its 25 years role in building strong democracy in all over the world. Thank you personally for all your effort in strengthening Indonesian democracy and also for being an important part of the pro-democracy civil society movement in Indonesia. Related to Ima's question, it's a tough question, but I hope I can answer it. Well, of course by Ima, every country has its own social and political context. There are differences between one country and another if we are speaking about Asia-Pacific. However, in global relations, the condition of a country can also affect other countries. I think the election in the Asia-Pacific in the next 10 or 20 years will still be remarkably interesting, especially when it is related to the political dynamics in each country. However, I predict there will be many developments in the way we organize elections in Asia-Pacific. For example, elections usually are synonymous with a predictable process and an unpredictable result. But political conditions, natural or non-natural disasters can create an uncertain process at any time. Like the COVID-19 pandemic we are experiencing today. Make election, particularly the election law in the future, must be able to adapt to this unpredictable condition. That is why, in my opinion, a crisis-compatible legal framework is urgently needed to strengthen election in Asia-Pacific. A legal framework that includes spatial voting arrangements such as early voting, home voting, as well as postal voting is very much needed to facilitate adaptation to unexpected conditions that we might face in our elections. Last but not least, I think technically the way we hold elections in Asia-Pacific will also change a lot. For example, how to model a more secure and interactive campaign, the use of technology to make elections easier, but also the challenge to ensure that the technology is safe. Learning from Indonesia and also citing a common phenomenon in Asia-Pacific, technology is likely to be increasingly used in the Asia-Pacific election in the future. Including the role and impact of social media will also influence the quality of election in Asia-Pacific significantly that we need also to provide our anticipation on its impact. I think that's my start on your question. Thank you very much. Thank you so much, Mathevi. If I can follow up on one issue, how do we balance that credibility and use of technology? Because if you remember just now, Senator Ryan mentioned paper to ballot as high credibility when you can count it. But again, as you said in the future, technology is going to play more of a role. How do we balance that well? Well, I think the inclusive process is part of the effort to balance between the credibility and public trust. Because in technology, it's not like easy word to say, but not easy to implement. But inclusive and participatory process among the policy makers, the rule makers and the public is really, really needed by us to convince the people that election runs smoothly and with all the integrity principles during the process. I saw that we can learn from Indonesia when we decided, I mean when I said we, it means election commission, parliament and also government when they were decided to continue the election to be held in December 9 this year. In my opinion, it looks like the policy makers leave the public involvement to get involved in the process. So inclusive process, transparency and also openness of the process is like our, what is it, a deal to make sure that the election can run with its credibility principles by IMA. Thank you so much Matiti. I'd like to now island hop to Fiji. Honorable Aya say thank you so much for being with us from a point of view of a national political leader. What do you think will change in the way elections are conducted in the next 10 or 20 years. How do you see it. Thank you for the invitation to being on this panel. I think a lot of what Mr. Titi has already mentioned is quite relevant in respect to what you just asked me. But definitely, apart from the advent of technology and the use of technology, both by the respective election offices, but also by the voters, I think it's going to have a huge impact. I think I'd like to focus a little bit on that aspect because, you know, for example, things like we have a 48 hour blackout period before the actual voting commences. Now the we could see that the supervisor elections of the Fijian elections office really had to lay down the rule because they were obviously political parties that had proxies perhaps that were doing the campaigning for them in the blackout period, you know, through different accounts. So, you know, you could have people who say, well, you know, as individuals, we can talk to each other, we can talk to our relatives, and that's really not campaigning. And it's not done by the political party, but they obviously could be proxies. So I think the management of that is going to get a lot more difficult. And you need to have the elections offices very much, you know, in alignment and talking to organizations like Facebook, etc. And I think also that from a campaign perspective, we have seen certain political parties, of course, in the days prior to, you know, social media, you could control it quite easily in the sense you could manage it. So the rules could actually be enforced a lot more easily. Now, of course, social media is a lot more difficult to do so. And, you know, that coupled with the fact that you have the rise of populism throughout the world now, there is a general, of course, the appears to be a general move to the right simple solutions for complex issues. They are, you know, obviously have a huge impact on how democracy actually pans out in individual countries. I mean, each country has their own specificity. But the reality of the matter is that internationally what is happening, it does have an impact on people. And I think the, hopefully, you know, there'll be again the rise of multilateralism, but, you know, inward looking, you know, sort of insular looking states, in particular larger countries when they start doing that, then you've got the smaller states begin to do that too. So become very parochial. And when people become very parochial, I think it poses a lot of problems for democracy itself. And the other issue is, of course, the, as somebody mentioned, I think the, the center, the intergenerational challenges that we face. We have a country in Fiji where 70% of the population is below the age of 40. The voting age is 18. And how do you actually, you know, from an electoral system perspective, how do you get the voices of that majority being heard, whilst at the same time, ensuring that people actually have a much more holistic view of the policies or the issues that face the country itself? I last but not least, without taking too much time, climate change is a huge impact, in particular for island nations. And I'm sure countries like even in Indonesia, there is a huge impact. We've, you know, we've got some like 43 villages that need to be moved to higher ground. Now, fortunately for us, from an electoral system perspective, we don't have individual constituencies. We actually, the entire country is one constituency. So it's a member of parliament, you're responsible for everybody. But I can imagine what would happen in different countries in the world where you have, you know, individual constituencies. And if parts, if one constituency is near the shoreline, and if part of the land is, you know, half of it is washed away, or inundated with water, then it can cause a lot of problems in respect of the movement of people within the different constituencies. And you could end up, you know, having some gerrymandered situation. And I think that obviously needs to be, needs to be addressed too. I think the last point is that, and I'd like to endorse what the senator said, there's a lot of merit in having ballot, paper ballot papers. In particular for small jurisdictions like ours, you know, while some minister responsible for elections, I really don't have any much to do with the running of the elections. It's more to do with the, you know, any of the laws pertaining to elections or registration of political parties comes through his office. And I think there's a lot of merit in having ballot papers, in particular for small jurisdictions, because the cost of having electronic voting obviously is quite exorbitant, in particular if you want to have good systems in place. And you know, even in very mature democracies as we are currently seeing, there's still questions regarding electronic voting. And we sort of stayed away from that when we have the new constitution put in place and looked at various systems. We stayed away from electronic voting. We had looked at the system in India. And of course we have proportional representation, which is not very different to first pass the post, etc. We have to be able to take the ballot box to the voter, not the voter to the ballot box. I think that's critically important. So, you know, in terms of accessibility for the people who are disabled, for people who are elderly and, you know, having pre-poll voting, I think that's critically important. For us, we have seen like 110 islands. A lot of them are very remote to, you know, to get them to be able to vote. We have one day of voting. So pre-poll voting is critically important in the logistics surrounding that I think it also needs to be very closely looked at. So I'll probably stop there. We've got quite a few comments. I don't take hog up all your time. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much, sir. We'll come back to you for sure. And now we've crossed over north to the Philippines. Honorable Rowena Guangzong, Bing, are you there? Hi. Can you hear me? Hi. Yes, and are you? Okay, there you are. Hi. So good to see you. So elections 2022 for the Philippines. What change would you like to see for how elections are conducted and then establish democracy like Philippines? Commission and elections is really trying to make, to find new ways and methods. As you know, under our constitution and the rules, we have the sole discretion on means and methods. So Congress is nothing, cannot dictate on us on how we will run the elections. And thank goodness for that, because you only have a year, practically a year to prepare for it. When they file their candidacies in October 2021, we will have presidential and local elections. Can you imagine the volume of the ballot in May 2022? And well, just like Fiji, about 70% of our voting population below 40 and social media is really largely, I mean widely used now. I'm sure not only for the campaign, but this information and fake news, et cetera, which have an impact on election and democracy. So the main business of the Commission on Elections in the Philippines is not only to administer elections efficiently and with credibility, but also with transparency. Also that the rules of the game should be fair and the rules of the, for example, the Fair Elections Act should not give, is designed to discourage or stop rich candidates from having an advantage by limiting the size of the posters, et cetera. Now, I assume in our meetings, I say we have to assume that this is as good as it's gonna get. So we have to imagine an election as if we are running it now under a pandemic where people probably how many hundreds of thousands of our people are on quarantine. And we have continued registration of voters, but we have discontinued also in some provinces where the pandemic is getting worse or not any better. So this is something that the Commission on Elections has never done before because this is an unforeseen event. This is not a, under the Constitution, we only have 30 days to move elections postpone it if there are 42 events and I think a pandemic may qualify for that. But certainly the elections in May 2022 will happen in the Philippines. Now what are we thinking about? Those are the changes that we have to do. I agree with the honorable parliamentarian from Fiji that you have to bring the ballot to the people. See, we are limited by the prohibition under our laws. So we need Congress to pass these laws. Right now, there are bills that are on the table in Congress allowing the elderly to vote by mail. Right now in the Philippines, we have an overseas voting law where our overseas voters vote by mail and they have an option to do that. And here, right now, we have a local absentee law which allows them, for example, qualified persons like the armed forces, the police, teachers who are on duty on election day to cast their ballot days before the elections but not for local candidates. Right now there are ways similar to mail voting or our voting by mail is actually being done for overseas voters but not domestically. So the commission on elections has already approved a comment to the House of Representatives that we agree with mail voting for the elderly. In fact, I'm sending a comment that we should also add the persons with disability. Now, as you know, it takes a long time to pass all these laws and the only way we can do this fast is if the president will certify it as urgent. Our problem now is how do we give people access to the 2022 elections given that we have a pandemic and all these restrictions. Plus, the more immediate thing is how do we encourage people to register for 2022. We're thinking about, in fact, we have initiated it with the Department of Foreign Affairs. I initiated the idea for those who have already passed sports and these are people who have traveled. We are proposing and our commission and bank has approved that we should initiate we have already met with the Department of Foreign Affairs about this. They are no longer required. They should no longer be required to personally go to the elections office to, you know, put their thumbmark, their biometrics because they already have biometrics in their passports. Now, so that's underway. The Department of Foreign Affairs is positive about it, but their lawyers are still studying whether or not they are prohibited by law since that is not their first function. So this is elections. I am very optimistic that the Secretary of Foreign Affairs will be as excited as we are. So because if we just allow that to happen, that's millions and millions of people of Filipinos who will be registered just by technology. They can just fill up their application. We can verify in the Department of Foreign Affairs records, verify their biometrics, et cetera. That's it. They registered as voters. Then we worry about people who, again, the people who cannot go to the election offices and I agree. So, but, you know, we have 7,100 islands. We do only have 1,100. And going house to house may not really be visible in terms of registering, but we have designed that and we did that in the previous registrations. Our people go to the barrio, the villages and they register the voters there. So we have to be as inclusive as possible, especially the persons with disability and the elderly and the indigenous people and the women. Especially the women, because the women, more women than men voted in the last elections in the Philippines. And in fact, of the people who voted in the Philippines, around 60 something percent were women. So it's the voting behavior of women is significant in the next elections now. Do they have access to social media? Do they have access to the internet? Because that is their best way to get information. They have access to credible TV networks or radio. So I think people should have informed choices. And the best way to do this is through media and participation of volunteer groups. We are encouraging volunteerism because, you know, it's very, it's very hard to watch both buying in the Philippines. Buying is a problem here. That is a serious democracy in the Philippines. They're not talking about it, but I'll talk about it. We can have all the rules of fair play and all these, you know, nice methods. But both buying is prevalent and we just don't have the human power to do that and the police. So we should encourage volunteerism during the campaign and the election. So with this pandemic now, and it's not going to get better. I just assume that this is as good as it's going to get. So we just have to, you know, think of more ways to give people access to registration and voting. And we are encouraging young people, especially to organize and register and vote because our target is three million new voters who will be 18 in May 2022. So democracy is only, the commission elections is only as good as it can, you know, according to the law. Yes, and you're doing a brilliant job. I hope so. But the defendants of the commission and elections is also the very important thing. That for rule of law and election fairness to prevail, the commission on elections has to be an independent body. It has to be with no interference from politicians. That's why I always get into, I get into trouble because I always say they should just leave us alone. Thank you. Thank you so much. Okay, we'll come back to you again because I think there's a lot more that you would love to say and I really want to hear back from you. But I want to move before we I want to move to move so to give us what she thinks needs to change in Cambodia, in particular to meet a lot of the Democratic principles that we have yet to see in Cambodia. Oh, are you are you here. Can you hear me. Yes, I can hear you. Thank you. Hi, there you are. Yeah. I can hear you. Can you hear me. You hear me. Okay, let me begin by saying congratulations to international idea for its 25 years of being involved pushing promoting democracy globally. In Cambodia, in the context of Cambodia, I will focus on the level playing field of elections. Why do I say that? Because Cambodia, as you know, went through genocide from 1975 to 1979, the dark years of Cambodia. We went we came out after the signing of the Paris Peace Accord in 1991. And the elections in 1993, after the dark years, the genus that side of years, but the, the elections that were sponsored by the United Nations, gave a chance to millions of 98% of the people, the voters to come out and participate in the most democratic, most fair, most free, most just elections. And through one of the years, we have been, we have conducted elections where are not so fair, but they've always been elections in Cambodia, where everyone, every party was allowed to participate. And so, however, in, because, and that's how the opposition, my party, the Cambodia National Rescue Party, was able to make tremendous gains to the point where we got to 40, 43% of the votes, 3 millions out of 6 million votes, that's incredible. However, it is because of that success or success in that we got punished for our success. Cambodia has been ruled by the same man, the same party for the past 35 years. You can tell just there that the playing field for election is not leveled. It is why the, because of our success in 2018, the ruling party, the Prime Minister today, dissolved our party unconstitutionally. All the seats that we gained, including my seat as a parliamentarian and the 5,000 councillors at the local level, we lost it all in one day. When our party was dissolved in 2017, and which allowed the Prime Minister, Mr. Hoon Sen, to hold an election in 2018 without the real opposition. That's why I want to focus heavily on the level, the level, a level playing field for election. And that is a process, it doesn't happen in one day. Election day is one day, but the result of the election can greatly advance democracy or set back the gains. The result of 2018 totally, totally set back the gains, the democratic gains that we in Cambodia have been able to make. Now Cambodia is a one-party state, and the next election will be in 2022, local elections, 2023 parliamentary elections. So in the context of Cambodia, immediately now, what we are, what we are appealing to, to the signatories of the Paris Peace Accord. Indonesia played a big role in the peace conference in Cambodia. Australia also played a very big role during this peace process. Now we are in exile, the leaders of the opposition are in exile, and we are being sentenced by the court to stand trial. But we can't go home because the government of Cambodia has revoked all our passports. So how can we go home to participate? So I want to emphasize the inclusivity, where competition and that all political prisoners must be released. All charges against political prisoners, activists, human rights defenders, journalists must be released, the charges must be dropped. The freedoms of the people, the rights of the people today in Cambodia, not even one person can hold a protest. It's illegal. Everything is illegal with the pretext of COVID-19. The journalist can use this excuse anytime, any day, whenever he wants. Yes. We are in desperately in need of the Paris Accord signatories to come together these 18 countries to stand together and fulfill their obligations when they sign the Paris Accord, to establish a one of the principles of the spirit of the Paris Peace Accord was free fair elections, promotion, protection of human rights and democracy. So that is my pitch for. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much, but we'll come back to you for sure. In true ideas for electoral assistance, of course we have a poll, because we talk about the opinions of people. So I'd like to invite Adi, the poll master to put up our first poll, and this is for everyone who was participating with us on the WebEx. So the first question, and please, as it pops up, please vote for one as in other elections as well. What is the greatest challenge for the future of elections? A, voter apathy, B, disinformation, C, rubber stamp elections, and D, emergencies. What is the greatest challenge for the future of elections? So we'll give some time for people to vote for this, and then we'll see what people think, what our participants feel is the greatest challenge for the future of elections, as we've just discussed in the panel. There has been some, you know, from Aditi again about making sure that there's a crisis compatible legal framework. I think that's relevant for all the countries that we've been talking about. From Fiji, we have, again, climate change is a big issue, but again, how, so that probably falls into emergencies. And the emergency keeps popping up in some of the, in the conversation just now. And from being we heard, again, on voter apathy, how do we get people to make sure they're registered? Sometimes it's not apathy, sometimes it's being suppression. So, again, so please vote. And, okay, the poll has ended. Is it? Can we see the results? Yeah, this information 53%. Vote voter apathy 13% disinformation 53%. I think the winner is disinformation. Again, that's, that's pretty high. I'd love to hear from while we answer the next questions as well because I think this also builds on onto that. Hi on that, hi on that number is disinformation. My question to you is, and especially because you mentioned, you know, you are, you are, you know, supporting paper to ballot, and then getting the getting the ballot box to the voters. I think the future elections still build on technology and other innovations, especially when you have all of these emergencies in, in, in, in, in your country, as well as in all of our other countries as all in our countries. Sometimes bringing that ballot box is a logistical, a big logistical challenge. I think it's still built on technology and other innovations and still maintaining the credibility of an integrity of the election. I think, thank you. I think technology is critically important in respect of your, for example, we have electronic voter ID cards to use the technology biometrics, etc. In respect of your logistics, your planning, using technology to get the ballot boxes there fairly quickly, you know, access to, for example, very basic technologies, you know, electricity and water and all of that to set up, you know, polling stations in remote areas. Those things are critically important. But you know, also your, the result management system, as the results are coming out, you have the electronic results coming out, results are being put out electronic means that gives a lot of confidence. We've seen the Fijian elections office, they have the results app, so you get on the phone, you know, the different members of, sort of different candidates, they results based on where they got their votes from, which polling stations they've gone right down to the polling station. As I said, we have a open constituency. So those things mostly do help, they build a lot of confidence, using technology to reach out to people in terms of, you know, because it is a kind of a bit of a paradox because you can use technology to reach out people to give them the correct information. But then, you know, people using technology can also spread this information or misinformation. I think that's sort of the irony there. But most definitely I think technology can be used in that respect of what I've just highlighted. Okay, thank you so much. Sorry, I just wanted to correct one thing. We don't have, we don't have 1000 islands. I wish we did, but we actually have only about 300 islands of which 110 are habitat. Okay. So we know we need to Philippines or Indonesia. Yeah, I was, I wasn't going to bring in Indonesia because I just basically put a damper in everyone with our 17,000. We're at, and yeah, just like logistical nightmare. Yeah, but you can tell you tell us all about it later. Being I'm coming back to you, the innovations or change practices, especially you've already alluded to the issue of voter registration. But how do we also use those innovations to address this persistent issue of under representation of minorities. You've already mentioned women played a major role, but still under representation of women voting but not also voting but under representation of women running as well. How do you use those innovations and make sure that even those that are running have that opportunity but also get that exposure, as well as of course inclusion of minorities and and migrants. Okay. Yes. Yeah, I think you're on mute being. Yeah, there you are. Yeah. Well, we have lost on during the campaign, the campaign period will give everybody all the candidates, especially for senators. To, you know, talk about their, their aspirations for free, etc. But, you know, why women cannot. There is the reason why we have a present I think around 20% or in the last Congress, about 25%, which is very high because on the average is only 10%. It's because of the, the party list. Yeah, representation. All right, which are polluted, which is polluted or corrupted by political dynasty. So the families that I've already congressmen in the district will assign their niece or daughter as party list representative they go to the commission elections to register a party list organization and I've been very strict about this political this using the party list system to, to, you know, not only to perpetrate themselves in power but to add to their number of congress people in the House of Representatives so it's very hard to generate women candidates because our elections are expensive, especially for the district so you will see. There's a good percentage in the local, local positions, but even in the city mayors, not, not so, not even over 30%. It's in Congress, it's because it is expensive to, to win elections. And well now you know with social media I'm glad that somehow this is happening because now everybody gets a shot through social media for free. So, but television is so expensive, you know, hundreds of thousands just for a few seconds. So that's a main obstacle for women plus the political dynasties. They always say, oh, let the men do it first. That's crazy. Even our first trans woman, congresswoman Jerry Roman told us in a conference that at first she wanted to, she wanted to run but people thought, you know, they could not accept. Even her family, there were some discussions but when she finally ran, she won. She's our first trans woman in Congress, Geraldine Roman and she's, she's, she's a very good, very good, very smart woman. So, when we talk about women who go into elections, et cetera, in the Philippines, these are women who are, whose families are, can afford, can afford even the councillors just in the local government for councillors, it costs you hundreds of thousands or millions to run. So, media and social media is a crucial, significant role to play in leveling the playing field. But media, mainstream media is so expensive. So, social media is now really an opportunity for candidates who do not have as much money. So, I think just about registered voters, we are, we have more women also are registered than men, but just the small percentage. The important thing is the turnout, the turnout. There are more women who actually go to the polls to vote. And of course the indigenous people, we, that's another story because they, they live in far flung area. So, our registration efforts there and during elections, they are assisted also because some of them may not have adequate literacy. We also make sure that they are not excluded from the, from casting and registering their votes. Okay. Thank you so much, Bing. I'm going to go quickly move to Mu. Again, you know, based on poll just now, hate speech and disinformation and election campaign. How do you think we should manage those, especially in a country like Cambodia? Now you can see me. Yes. Democracy, especially during the campaign is very important. The information during the campaign is very, very important because democracy is built on trust on the information, true information upon facts. Yeah, but when fake news comes in, when hate speech comes in, it totally, totally have a direct, a threat, is a direct threat to the fabric of democracy. How to, because hate news is about, it is irrational. It is an intention. It is an intention in providing fake news, flaking the news. Hate speech is also an intention, especially during the campaign. It's an intention to destroy. It's intention is a weapon even to disqualify your competitor. And that's why it is really during the fake news and hate speech are so detrimental to democracy, especially during the electoral campaign. How do we do that? We do that by, first of all, every one of us, every one of us must be responsible, must be vigilant. When it is fake news, it is hate speech, we must stand up and we must be on the side of the victims and we must be courageous no matter who we are, especially the journalists who stand up and call out these fake news and these hate speeches. They put their lives at risk. And that's why when it is a fake news and hate speech to the point where it involves criminal acts and violence, the law has to come in. Police, policing has to come in. However, when we talk about policing and harsh regulations and harsh laws during the campaign, it is also a double-edged sword because you can't infringe on freedom of speech, freedom of expression. That's why a mechanism to regulate, but at the same time allow real people to express themselves. And finally, I think like, for example, in the United States, what has just happened, a mechanism, especially independent media is so important to regulate Facebook as well as regulate the candidates, the main candidates, for example, candidate President Trump in a 90-minute speech, he made over 132 fake news. He intentionally misinformed the audience and who came in to check him, it was right there, there was a mechanism to check him right there. But this takes a lot of sophisticated technology, a lot of freedom of expression, freedom of the media. And in countries like our countries where you do not have freedom of expression, the right to speak, and then we have a media that is controlled by the government, it is difficult. However, it is still feasible if all of us are aware and can stand up together to name and to shame and to stop hate news and fake news. Thank you very much, Mu. And thank you for the recognition. I'm going to move quickly to Matiti and then we have another poll after that. Matiti, money politics. That's always an issue in all of our countries, but in Indonesia. It's inevitable, but how can we make it more positive instead of negative? I remember we had a campaign in Indonesia to stake the money, but vote however you can. How can we do that more? It's a 24 hours conversation about this. Let's make it simple, but money is a big problem in, I think, almost all Indonesia, Asia-Pacific election, including Indonesian election. For example, in Indonesia, everyone complains about the high cost of politics and the massive practice of candidacy and vote buying. Not only vote buying, but also candidacy buying. Buying nomination tickets to be able to be nominated by the political parties. Everyone realized that money politics is a trigger for corruption practices by elected officials when they are in power. Unfortunately, a campaign finance report is also considered an administrative or, let's say, a formal document, only as a formal document as an administrative process without considering the ferocity of the report. I know that managing money in politics is not a simple effort because it is a complex problem wherever we are, which involves many stakeholders to solve this problem. For me, how to make it more feasible, the biggest challenge also is how to make our election simpler and cheaper. So it requires us to provide a clearer and firm legal framework by also including a transparent and accountable provision to regulate money in politics. And the idea of limiting, I would like to specifically talking about in Indonesia for 30 seconds, and the idea of limiting the expenditure of campaign funds in addition to the existing donation limit. I think it's relevant to be enforced in like country like Indonesia, as well as designing an effective supervisory and enforcement agency that can enforce the law on violation of money politics. In addition, political education to build voter awareness to be more critical in scrutinizing campaign funds and candidate wealth reports is very much needed. And also free media also has a big role in reporting election campaign funds and to educate the public about this. And the last one is the rise of social media as also can be used as a tool to raise awareness on candidate integrity on campaign finance. I think it's a mixed recommendation. Thank you. So we're going to quickly, Mas Adi, can we have the poll quickly? Ima, could I come in? Oh, yeah. I'm just going to put the poll up so that people can vote for that. Please see the question. Please read the question while we get, you can, yeah, go on while people poll. Yeah, go ahead. I was just going to mention about, you know, the state has made the money is a problem Asia Pacific. I mean, certainly in Fiji, we have not seen money being a problem of late under new system. But I think what is critically important, I've heard stories, for example, in India, you know, if you buy a particular newspaper, you'll find a thousand no dollar rupee or thousand rupees in it. And people go off and buy the newspaper sponsored by some particular party. We don't have that. One of the things that we have done to mitigate that is that political party donations now cannot be given by companies. It cannot come out from there, you know, a company check cannot be given, which some of them used to claim as expenses of course, but now it's limited to only individuals. And it's only $10,000 Fijian a year. Which is about 5000 US. You cannot give any more than that as an individual. And it's only restricted to Fijian citizens or former Fijians who, you know, because we have quite a few people in the diaspora, which are left Fiji for various reasons. And I think what is critically important also is the public accountability of both candidates and also the political parties. So candidates now, before they actually run for elections, there's an asset liability declaration. No more. So you get to know how much money the person has. Number two is that every year the political parties are required to submit the audited accounts. Now, what is really interesting if I could share a personal view is now wearing my hat as the general secretary of the political party that I am part of. That's got voted into government. We have been extremely transparent in our donations. So, you know, we made a particular plug for ensuring that we do not have, you know, fundraising dinners, for example, because you could use fundraising dinners as a means of hiding. You know, you could say, I'm going to have barbecue chops or something, and anybody that comes to attend this dinner pays $5 in attendance. But you have to know everybody's name down. So we had individual donations. When we've seen other political parties at this point in time, they have said, we had a fundraising dinner and we collected, you know, $50,000. But we don't know who gave the $50,000. It could have been one individual, could have been one company. So I think this constant work is required, but I think most definitely, and the fact you knew the law is very, you know, needed, very much needed. We definitely need accountability of political parties, publication of their accounts and also individual candidates and how much money a person can donate. And it should be restricted to individuals. I think that will then, you know, bring down the cost of running elections, most definitely. And better accountability. Okay. Thank you so much. Yeah, definitely. I think there's a lot more work to be done for that for sure. So we have the results of the poll. And it seems the biggest thing that I think people think that the solutions to challenge for future elections is a powerful electoral management body. I want to add to that that I think a powerful electoral management bodies that's accountable and transparent, I think is very much needed, as we've already said. I do how I wish I could go on because there's there's so many questions that I still have for the panel, but our time is very limited. So I'm going to go around to all of the panels. To say, very, very briefly, in a 30 second sentence, what do you think what do we need to do to ensure or in what what is one thing on on on from that list. What do you think we need to ensure for future elections. I'm going to start with you, Mr. Sorry, my eyes are pretty bad. I can't see the screen. What are the options that I am sorry. The use of technology and elections are powerful electoral management bodies compulsory voting and public funding of election campaigns. So what do you think what what do I think is the most important. What do you think is the most important. What do we need to do to make sure to ensure future elections. I think look, I think it's a powerful, making sure the right laws are in place. And the laws need to keep laws need to keep up to speed with changing technology and changing, you know, behavior like the example that I gave you, how people try and you know, obfuscate the law or sort of bypass the law. I think that's critically important to be constantly vigilant in their perspective. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. I'm going to move to miss move so to what do you think in very short and 30 seconds what do you think is the most important thing we need to do to ensure free and fair elections in the future. Say an independent independent institutions in including the national election commission, as well as they should the supreme the the courts that will make the final decisions if they are. If the results are contested and of course, the freedom of the people to be part of the elections from the until the end throughout the whole process. Thank you so much brilliant and being what do you what's your answer to the same question. What do we need to ensure. There you are. Okay. What do we need to ensure for future elections. We need to see more public public funding for campaigns but specifically for for this for underrepresented candidates say for example, there's no a bill in our Congress that will recommend state funding for political parties that have a certain number of percentage of women candidates which I think it's good. We fully support that, but also that that will require that the political parties will have to be strengthened, because in the Philippines we have a multi party system so anybody can just register a party with 1000 members, and then they can join the elections either with a party or without a party as independent. So what I always say that public funding I've been saying it that public funding for small credible political parties will attract record should be available. Only these rich people can have seats. Also that reserved the seats. There should be reserved seats for women for indigenous people, etc. But you know, this requires law and the laws are controlled by Congress and our Congress is dominated by political parties who want to remain in power. We have a chance for elections for that right. So thank you so much. But the same question. What do you think? I think referring to Indonesian context to make it short. My answer is the public funding of election campaign to achieve level playing field, but not only public funding for election campaign but also for political parties. I think that's the root of problem in Indonesian election right now. Thank you. Thank you so much. It's been such a pleasure to moderate this discussion. I think there's so much more that we can discuss. I look forward to connecting with you and other forums as well. It's been a pleasure for me to hear your thoughts. I'm way I'm way over time and I want to apologize to our host, but I'm going to pass it back to Lena. Thank you so much everyone for that brilliant discussion. Thank you so much. It was super interesting and I'm really sorry we had to cut this short and thank you for such a skillful moderation. I must say I particularly enjoyed listening to you all discussing the possible solutions for democratic renewal while not forgetting that we still have oceans to cross and mountains to climb to secure more inclusive just and democratic region for us all. So my sincere thanks to all panellists for providing these different vantage points. That is how we can take this debate forward and thank you very much, Ima. We will end our program with two high level greetings from India and Mongolia, both international idea member states. First one will be by Honorable Munchin Patrumbar, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Mongolia, very short one, followed by Honorable Villamvedi Muraliran, Minister of State of External Affairs from India. Both have very powerful messages to share. And our next session, the future of democracy development in Myanmar, lessons and outlook from the 2020 elections will start in one hour's time with the same link, same channel. But with these ministerial video greetings, we say thank you for watching from Canberra and thank you everyone for attending. Thank you our wonderful panellists. In difficult times, such as the ones we live in, Spain is firmly convinced of the importance of robust democracies, inclusive multilateralism and global cooperation. Democracy cannot fall victim to the pandemic. It is imperative to remain committed to promoting and strengthening democratic values. We are also convinced that upholding multilateralism is the only way forward to deal with the major global challenges ahead of us, as well with the consequences of the pandemic. Happy 25th anniversary dear Idea Institute and dear colleagues, let's continue working together, 25 more years towards sustainable and resilient democracies. Hello, it is my pleasure to extend my sincere greetings to all of you on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. It is the right time to reflect what we've achieved in the past 25 years. Democracy is not a single short effort. It requires constant attention and care. It requires polishing from promoting democratic education to educating people on democratic values. The idea is championing in this area to further promote democratic institutions and democratic values throughout the world. Once again, I wish to extend my sincere appreciation to Idea and happy 25th anniversary. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate International Idea for its 25th anniversary. As you may know, Chile is a founder member of Idea and our commitment to democracy remains stronger than ever. We believe that during this difficult time of the pandemic, the work of Idea is more important than ever to defend democratic values worldwide. So, I want to congratulate especially to all the staff members, both in Stockholm and in the regional offices, for this anniversary. And I encourage you to continue working to defend the values that founded this great institution. Congratulations to International Idea on its 25th anniversary. The German government is proud to be a member of International Idea. Over the past 25 years, International Idea has proven to be an important thing and do thank for the promotion of democracy around the globe. Nowadays, this task is more important than ever. The world faces an erosion of democratic systems and of civic and political space, worsened by COVID-19 crisis. We have to protect democratic values in all parts of the world. Germany is strongly committed to this challenge. German Development Corporation is focusing on democracy protection and promotion in more than 40 partner countries. And we are very happy to partner with International Idea in this endeavor. Minister of International Development, I'm sending you this message to celebrate the 25th anniversary of International Idea. Canada is committed to promoting and protecting democracy worldwide. Since becoming a member state of International Idea in 1997, we have been supporting and working closely with your organization. We value your strong international reputation, extensive programming, and high quality policy products. For example, we have benefited from your biennial report, The Global State of Democracy, and your leadership in calling to defend democracy during the COVID-19 crisis. We particularly appreciated the valuable insights you had provided during consultations for our feminist international assistance policy a few years ago. With democracy under constant threat, we look forward to continuing to work with International Idea to support democratic development and inclusive governance across the world. Thank you and happy anniversary. Dear Idea Secretary-General, colleagues and friends, Finland is a founding member of the International Idea and we are proud of that. Nobel Peace Prize awarded and former President of Finland, Martti Ahtisari, was a member of the first Idea Board. Finland has contributed Idea's work for many years in Myanmar at present. Idea data and tools are used by Finnish ministries, political parties and academia in advancing new forms of democracy. Democracy, the most successful political idea of the 20th century, is now challenged by authoritarian regimes and movements. We need Idea, its member states and its dedicated staff in defending democracy and human rights. And all together we can strengthen a sustainable democracy for next decades. After 25 years, International Idea is old enough to know better and young enough to be in one card to promote democracy. Happy anniversary. International Idea shows us that democracy is not a finished task without a permanent exercise for which it is necessary to have solid and effective institutions that make possible more fair and inclusive societies. Thus, next to celebrate its bicentenary of republican life, Peru has launched internal reforms to improve the representation and electoral system, whose results should be verified in the presidential and parliamentary elections of 2021. In this hemisphere and as a promoter of the Inter-American Democratic Party, Peru continues to be committed to the values that inspire it and continues to promote peaceful actions to recover democracy where it is vulnerable. As a member of this organization and a member of a national office, they receive the testimony of the unvariable bet on Peru for the strengthening of democracy and governability, as well as the support to International Idea in this shared task. Thank you very much. We value International Idea on its 25th anniversary. It's great that colleagues in Australia can participate in this event, including the President of the Australian Senate, Scott Ryan. Australia is proud to be a founding member of International Idea, and we thank Idea for its ongoing efforts to promote and to protect democracy and support free and fair elections around the world. We value International Idea's role in our region. In 2019, it's testing all of our institutions, from the global level to the local level. It's clear that democracies have to stand up against efforts by some actors to use the pandemic as an opportunity to erode democracy and advance an authoritarian agenda. Governments need to find ways to balance respect for civil and political rights with the safety of communities. Supporting gender equality and women's empowerment is also vital to strengthening democracy. Australia looks forward to succeeding Sweden as chair of the Council of Member States for International Idea in 2021, and taking forward this important work. On behalf of the Government of Uruguay, it is my pleasure to convey our most sincere and warm congratulations to International Idea on its 25th anniversary. We would like to recognize the relevance of the organization in promoting and strengthening democracy around the world, and commend its Secretary General and all the staff for their work. Today, the current context of COVID-19 represents an additional challenge to democracy, and we need to ensure that electoral processes take place in a credible and transparent manner. Uruguay is proud to be one of the full democracies in the world, and it has recently conducted elections during the COVID-19 scenario, confirming that it is possible to ensure a ballot if suitable precautions are taken. We are ready to collaborate with other countries by sharing our experience. Finally, current circumstances are showing a deterioration on the quality of democracy and respect for human rights around the globe. And for this reason, we believe it is more relevant than ever that International Idea play an active role by providing relevant insight and knowledge to help us defend our core values. Dear audience, I would like to congratulate International Idea with its 25th anniversary. Of course, democracy itself already dates back over 2500 years, which is also cause for celebration. Today, it is as important as it was in ancient history to ensure fair and effective representation of the people. We as the Netherlands are long-term supporters of International Idea. Throughout the years, we have very much valued the tremendous work, events, tools and studies of the Secretariat and our International Corporation with Idea Member States in the Council. Today, we celebrate Idea's anniversary during the global COVID-19 pandemic, a crisis with unprecedented effects, also on democracy and elections worldwide. Idea rightfully addresses these risks and puts them on the international agenda. This to me shows the continued value and agility of International Idea. I firmly believe that Idea's efforts are very important in advancing democracy both in context where it's newly embraced as well as in established democracies. Congratulations with this milestone. This milestone is in the fiber of the Costa Recense cell, and that is why we are part of this group since its beginnings. We share with Idea the premise that democracy is a universal aspiration, and so it is for all sectors of society that receive their benefits directly. Women, children, teenagers, youth, indigenous people, older adults, people with disabilities and descendants, and the LGTBIQ Plus population are part of the national order that nourishes democratic political processes, strong and open spaces for the free manifestation of their ideas. The current pandemic is changing how we live our lives and how political leaders are making decisions. The current situation underlines the importance of well-functioning institutions and trust, trust between people and trust between people and the authorities. Democracy, youth, and climate change is a timely topic. Today's young people are not only our future leaders, but also our future guardians of democracy and our future guardians of the environment. The persistence and bravery of young people who are demanding democracy across the world gives us hope. Popular decisions make a difference in the lives of young people. Building democracy across the world gives us hope. Popular decisions may be effective in the short term, but they're not always the right decisions for future generations. Democracy, human rights, and the rule of law are essential for young people to be able to control and shape their own destiny. Teaching children and young people to become active citizens through an understanding of democratic norms and practices is an important element in creating lasting peace. I would like to thank International IDEA for your important contributions in building sustainable democracy over the last 25 years. The fight for democracy is not over. COVID-19 has made the organization's mission even more relevant. You have an important role to play also in the next 25 years. Happy anniversary. It's my pleasure and privilege to congratulate the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance on its 25th anniversary on behalf of India, the largest democracy in the world. Democracy needs to be cherished, preserved, and celebrated. Every effort to strengthen democracy is a welcome force multiplier. In the last 25 years, I IDEA has contributed to advancing democracy around the world and deserves our greetings on its 25th anniversary. India is happy to have supported International IDEA from its inception in 1995. On this occasion, I would also like to compliment the Swedish government in taking a lead in the establishment of the International IDEA. In India, the democratic ideals have permeated to everyday reality from their high pedestal of the constitution. Beginning with an ambitious, almost impossible project of universal edit suffrage of its diverse and numerous people after independence in 1947, India has held 17 successful general elections so far. The 2019 general elections had a voter count of more than 900 million with nearly 1 million polling stations across the country. International IDEA has also witnessed this gigantic festival of democracy. As many parts in the world are increasingly faced with strife and conflict, promotion of sustainable democracy and democratic institutions by International IDEA for inclusive socioeconomic development in these societies assume more significance than ever before. India, through the Election Commission of India, is actively engaged in exchange of standard operating procedures and know-how on conduct of transparent, fair and open elections with countries around the world. I IDEA is welcome to benefit from and collaborate in this regard to promote democracy and equal rights to all. It's our firm belief that in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, democracy and democratic institutions have proved effective in fighting the known and unknown challenges of our times. I am confident that through our common endeavors, democratic ideals would be strengthened further and there would be more prosperity and peace across the world in the years to come. Thank you for the attention.