Namfrel in Myanmar

September 2014

Namfrel in Myanmar
23 to 29 September 2014
by Telibert

(Top) Namfrel Manila chair Prof Mark Lester (Lec) Toribio speaks before Myanmar's People's Alliance
for Credible Elections (PACE). (Left) A participant in the workshop on engaging civil society in elections
presents their workshop group's outputs. (Right) Members of the Myanmar parliament, in a group
exercise, list their expectations for the parliamentary elections in 2015. All original photos by Telibert.

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Peer Exchange
Burma, Maldives, Nepal & the Philippines
Background. Namfrel national chair David Balangue, sent Manila chair, Prof
Mark Lester Toribio, to Myanmar to participate in a peer exchange program. Made
at the request of National Democratic Institute (ndi.org), Namfrel would share its
experiences to help prepare the newly-formed People's Alliance for Credible
Elections (PACE) in Myanmar, to observe the parliamentary elections scheduled in
late 2015. Outside of the peer event, NDI planned for Namfrel to speak before
members of the Myanmar parliament.
PACE plans to deploy over 1,500 election day observers and a yet
undetermined number of long-term observers for the pre-voting and post-voting
events. PACE will enter into a financial and technical support agreement with NDI,
which will put their program into motion.
On hand were peers from Transparency Maldives, Democracy and Elections
Watch (DEW-Nepal), both partners of NDI, and Namfrel. Advocacy and
communications manager, Aiman Rasheed, represented Transparency Maldives,
which is an affiliate of Transparency International. Founding and immediate past
chair, Dr Novel Kishore Rai, represented DEW-Nepal. Prof Toribio represented
Namfrel along with former executive director and current board member, Telibert
Laoc. As NDI's senior adviser of elections for Indonesia and Afghanistan, Telibert,
serve as coordinator of the peer exchange.
23 September - Briefing for international peers by NDI and PACE in Yangon
24 and 25 September - Peer discussion with PACE in Yangon
26 September - CSO workshop on the role of civil society in helping ensure
credible elections in Yangon
29 September - Lecture on the role of Namfrel in Philippine elections and in
their democratic transition with members of parliament in Nay Pyi Taw

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About NDI. The Burma program of NDI encourages civil society

engagement with parliamentary reformers to promote a legal framework for
democratic elections in 2015. Ahead of the 2015 parliamentary polls, NDI is
providing technical assistance to the Burmese parliament to strengthen its role in
promoting electoral reform and as a democratic institution of governance. The
Institute will also train citizens as election monitors to observe and report on the
elections, conduct an assessment of the countrys voter registry, and work with key
stakeholders following the elections to consolidate recommendations for future
electoral reforms. NDI will also conduct regional study missions for Burmas civil
society organizations to enhance their understanding of electoral processes and
international and regional electoral best practices. (More: http://bit.ly/Z6BD7F)
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., NDI programs in over 60 countries on
citizen participation, elections, democracy and technology, political inclusion of
marginalized groups, political parties, and women's political participation.
Namfrel's relationship with NDI goes as far back as the late 80s. NDI was
formed in 1984 and took notice of Namfrel during the watershed elections of
1986 in the Philippines. Eric Bjournlund, formerly director for Asia of NDI, wrote in
his 2004 book, Beyond Free ad Fair: Monitoring Elections and Building
Democracy, "Chapter 10 describes the historical emergence of nonpartisan
domestic election monitoring, beginning with the seminal work of NAMFREL in the
Philippines. Building on NAMFREL's experiences, nonpartisan domestic electionmonitoring organizations emerged in late 1980s and early 1990s in every region in
the world and succeeded in catalyzing democratic change and proving
momentum to the global struggle for democracy. He writes more to say,
"Domestic election monitoring began in the Philippines in the mid-1980s with the
pioneering experience of the National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections
(NAMFREL), which has inspired many similar efforts around the world."
NDI has created a number of significant events in many parts of the world
that has featured the volunteers and the story of Namfrel. They have invited key
volunteers to share the experience in at least 30 countries, where either NDI is
introducing the observation model or is supporting election monitoring
organizations and informing them of the way it is done Namfrel-style. This peer
exchange in Myanmar is one such example.

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As NDI event coordinator, the writer thanks the leadership of Namfrel for
making available their dedicated volunteers who shared meaningful and inspiring
experiences with others. As a member of the national council, the writer thanks
Namfrel for the honor of again donning the Namfrel vest and sharing significant
experiences of a continuing journey of close to 30 years. With colleague Lec
Toribio, the writer honors the nine Namfrel volunteers who have offered the
ultimate sacrifice -- heroes. The writer thanks NDI for yet again another wonderful
opportunity to engage with like-hearted individuals from other countries, and to
convey the Namfrel spirit to those who might not be as aware about the value of
citizens' contribution to nation-building.
The peer exchange.

(Left to right) Peer exchange participants U (Mr) Win Nyi Nyi Zaw (PACE board member), Sai Ye
Kyaw Swar Myint (executive director), Mark Lester Toribio (Namfrel), Dr Novel Kishore Rai (DEWNepal), Han Soe Htun (PACE), Aiman Rasheed (Transparency Maldives), Daw (Ms) Khine Khine Maw
(PACE finance manager), Hnin Htet Htet Aung (PACE program assistant) and Aye Aye San (PACE).

The agenda for the peer exchange on September 24 and 25 covered: 1)

PACE's operational plan and activities prior to the elections in 2015; 2)
international peers' comments and inputs on the plan; 3) discussion on operations
of domestic election observer groups; 4) an exercise for PACE to identify their
strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities (SW-OT); and 5) general
discussion and comments on the SW-OT.
The outputs from the peer exchange are grouped into three categories:
managing well, operating effectively and efficiently, and enabling others.
A. Managing well
A1. Recruiting observers
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A1.1. PACE plans to recruit individual observers at the state and region
levels. They will identify observers through their CSO network around the country.
A1.2. To prevent poaching of trained observers, in case there will be other
observer groups, PACE will have to agree with the others on a uniform per diem
for observers. In Nepal and in Afghanistan, observer groups receiving funds from
different international organizations, agreed to make the observer per diem
uniform.
A2. Engaging volunteers
A2.1. PACE wants to promote volunteerism and would like to refer to their
observers as volunteers. In recruiting episodic volunteers, Namfrel would
articulate its purpose, and instill love of country and a sense of nationhood. They
recruit primarily in schools and universities, and engage organizations rather than
individuals. They want volunteers to associate with (pull them to) Namfrels cause
and what the organization stands for. Mr Toribio refers to this as "pull factor".
A2.3. PACE would like to attract professionals into its fold, particularly those
with information technology (IT) skills. In the mid-80s, Namfrel approached
businesses who where in support of them, for employees to be seconded to the
organization. The borrowed employees were to perform a myriad of tasks from
recruiting volunteers, designing training programs and materials, designing the
parallel vote counting system, resource generation, etc. Their operational and
managerial skills greatly helped Namfrel run its operations.
A2.4. DEW-Nepal outsourced the encoding of over 10,000 election day
observer checklists to a data encoding company. This significantly sped up the
databasing, allowed the organization more time to analyze the data, and
eventually submitted the report to the electoral commission on time.
A3. Creating the PACE brand
A3.1. "We need to find our constituency". This was expressed by the
executive director when strategic communication came up in the discussion.
Defining who should be PACE's target audience or clients, and how the
organization should communicate with them is something for NDI to discuss with
PACE before finalizing the operational plan.
A3.2. PACE needs to earn the people's trust on the one hand, and not to be
seen as an extension of the Union Election Commission (UEC), on the other.

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A3.3. Having a strong voter information program (a component or PACE's

mission) with clear value-added should help PACE build its image. A good
program could serve as a way of introducing PACE to the public.
A4. Deploying efficiently
A4.1. Early determination of the long- and short-term observation analyses
framework, data collection methodology and instruments, database set-up and
management, and training methodologies, will permit PACE to see the big picture
of its operations.
A4.2. The early release of the complete election calendar by the UEC,
which is among PACE's advocacy, will enhance the organization's ability to plan
more efficiently.
A4.4. Mobile election day observers introduced by DEW-Nepal is
something new to PACE. Members of DEW-Nepals district secretariats were the
mobile election day observers. They witnessed voting to gain first hand
information, monitored observers, and ready to provide support to them when
needed. PACE may decide to have mobile observers but this will have to be done
in accordance to its observer deployment strategy.
A5. Operating transparently
A5.1. Having transparency and accountability mechanisms, such as board
oversight, regular operational and financial reports to internal and external clients,
will improve PACEs credibility. The international peers advised for these systems
to be in place at the onset and strictly observed henceforth.
A5.2. Regular observation and operational reports will enhance PACEs
reputation before election stakeholders including international donors.
A6. Preparing for sustainability
The key to sustainability is to have a diversified and reliable resource base.
This should allow PACE to operate for at least the medium term or five years.
PACE sees sustainability as decreasing dependence on foreign funds over time,
and conversely able to fill the gap through resourcing locally. Namfrel, which does
not receive foreign funds for its election observation work, takes the same
approach in recruiting volunteers with local businesses. They breakdown their
operational requirements and solicit from specific businesses. For example, they
sourced their office paper requirements from paper companies, handphones and
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subscriptions from mobile phone companies, and food for the volunteers
nationwide from the different franchises of fast food chains at the provincial level.
The supporting companies' names printed in the Namfrel stationery and in the
official reports, as a form of recognition.
B. Operating effectively and efficiently
B1. Understanding the political and electoral environment
A pre-election assessment, initiated by the domestic election observer
group Transparency Maldives (transparency.mv) for 2013 presidential elections,
could broaden PACE's understanding of the environment where it is operating. It
could help inform and position them conduct pre-election, activities, voting day
observation, and advocate for legal and procedural improvements.
Transparency Maldives is a member of a high-level election stakeholder
consultation mechanism, which includes representatives from the electoral
commission. Their "proximity" to the current goings-on and access to key
information allows them to position their observation in the constructive manner.

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B2. Advocating
B2.1. That the UEC pass the observer regulation and code of conduct by
mid-2015 and before the voters lists are displayed. They should not impose any
unnecessary restrictions for observers.
The Electoral Commission of Nepal in 2013 tried to impose a +2 pass
(sophomore college-level) minimum education for observers. It also restricted
observers from observing in any polling stations within the district where the
observer is registered as a voter. In many cases observers would have to travel to
neighboring districts the day before election day. Through lobby and direct
discussions among the various observer groups with the commission, the
requirements were eventually relaxed. The observer groups pointed to difficulty
in recruiting observers with the high educational qualification, which is also very
restrictive for women. They also argued that observers are going to be
disenfranchised if they have to go out of their districts to observe. The final
regulation allowed for at least high school level education, and restricting
observers from observing only in the polling center that s/he is registered to vote.
B2.2. That the UEC provide transparency in the advance voting processes,
particularly the out-of-constituency voting.
B2.3. That the UEC ensure even access of and effective penetration of voter
and election-related information and procedures in ethnic communities.
B2.4. That the UEC mandates that party and candidate election finance
reports be publicized.
B2.5. That the UEC publish early a complete election calendar.
B2.6. That the UEC reduce and rationalize the cost of filing electoral
complaints. It is currently MKK 1 million, or about USD 1,ooo.
B2.7. That the UEC is transparent in the deployment of security forces
during the election period.
C. Enabling others
This category reflects one of PACE's values, and this speaks well of them. As
a pioneering organization of such kind in Myanmar they intend bring other CSOs
into the ambit of election observation and share learning among them. They also
intend to engage them in advocacies on electoral reforms in the future.
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C1. There is apprehension that requirements that will be written into the
associations registration by-law might be too strict for small regional organizations.
C2. PACE sees that political parties should benefit from advocacies for
improvements in the electoral process and leveling the electoral playing field.
This pursuit could help close the trust gap between parties and CSOs.
CSO Workshop: Enabling Civil Society to Help Make Elections More
Credible
The objectives of the event with the larger CSO group is to familiarize them
with how domestic groups in the region operate, and enhance their
understanding of the contribution of nonpartisan election observation in current
context in Myanmar.

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Prof. Toribio advised the CSOs to plan well. They must consider
contingency (in case some will not be accredited but would still want to be
involved), workable alternatives to accessing resources (like tapping family and
friends to volunteer as observers), training (teaching each other), sharing
information (including networking), maintaining unity, being proactive (like
researching to be anticipative). He offered the word memory aid CATSUP for
Contingency, Access (to resources), Training, Sharing (of information), Unity and
Proaction.

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NDI senior country director for Myanmar, Dr

Richard A Nuccio, introduces the topic before
Myanmar MPs. (Below) MPs try SW-OT
analysis for their electoral environment.

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Photo courtesy
of NDI.

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Middle photo
courtesy of
NDI.

(Top) Namfrel session with Members of Parliament at the NDI Parliamentary Resource Center
in Nay Pyi Taw. (Middle) Prof Mark Lester Toribio tells the story of volunteers in action. He
showed a photo of a small house where volunteers found out, in their audit of the voters list,
that there were 91 voters registered in the same address.

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Conclusions and recommendations

The domestic support generation/volunteerism model of Namfrel remains
its most distinct contribution to the world of nonpartisan election observation.
Stories of how it draws volunteers and resources from the community has never
failed to amaze, and to inspire some. While difficult to emulate elsewhere as
contexts are different and other drivers of civil society activity in elections exists
today such as international funds, many who hear the story aspire to be like
Namfrel. PACE is one of them. They had specified to NDI for Namfrel to be among
the peers to be represented in the exchange.
The likes of Lec Toribio, who volunteered for the first time in 2001 and has
taken on the leadership role for Manila a decade later, speaks volumes of the
ability of the Namfrel cause and its leaders to find, keep, and motivate good and
hardworking individuals. Despite the limits in time and resources in 2013, Lec did
a stellar job of providing volunteers -- mostly youth, a meaningful and
unforgettable experience. Lec is too humble to thank Namfrel for the
opportunities provided him. But, it is to individuals, selfless volunteers and
exemplars, like him that Namfrel is most grateful.
The current and developing political and electoral events in the Philippines
continue to present a challenge to the value-offering of Namfrel and to the
organization's ability to evolve. Like how starting in 2007 the automation of the
counting of votes rendered the operation quick count irrelevant, and the difficulty
it faced to innovate a substitute that was similarly relevant and engaging enough
for volunteers. The continuing discussions on election automation are exclusive to
the IT circle, constricting the space for more citizen participation. The challenge to
Namfrel is how to operate under these conditions or similar situations and still
come up with an engagement model where volunteers find their participation
worthy.
The relevance of Namfrel as a provider of meaningful venues for citizens to
contribute in achieving credible elections -- its mission, remains timelessly
relevant. There are areas in the political and electoral processes and new
developments there where citizens could be meaningfully engaged. There are
potentials in: decreasing the cost of getting elected (or elections become more
and more exclusive to the moneyed); advocating for transparency in reporting and
timeliness in adjudicating election cases; and tracking efficiency and operational
performance metrics of the Comelec. In order to innovate, Namfrel needs to
evolve and build its own capacity to design and offer venues for citizens to be
involved.

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In closing, I offer my humble, but frank, take on the current state of Namfrel
through this SW-OT analysis.

Appendix
1. Letters (http://bit.ly/1tKE51k, http://bit.ly/1te2nie, http://bit.ly/1t4MsD3)
2. Presentation to MPs (http://bit.ly/1CUUEGR)

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