Fwd: [AfriNIC-rpd] Handover to new PDWG co-chairs

[Trevor Mwangi]

oops.  didn't copy the list.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Trevor Mwangi <trevor.mwangi at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 14 Jun 2011 13:39:16 +0400
Subject: Re: [AfriNIC-rpd] Handover to new PDWG co-chairs
To: sm+afrinic at elandsys.com

On Mon, Jun 13, 2011 at 10:55 PM, <sm+afrinic at elandsys.com> wrote:

> Hello,
>
> First of all, I would like to mention that I do not have any issue with the
> appointment of the two new PDWG co-chairs.  I understand that NomCom faces a
> difficult task.
>
> There were only two nominations for the two seats of PDWG co-chairs.  There
> has been such a case previously and formal elections were organised to
> determine the candidates' term.  That is also stated in the Election
> process:
>
>  "The candidate with the highest number of votes shall win a two year term
>   and the second highest number of votes shall win the one year term."
>
> The controversy during the last public policy meeting could have been
> avoided if NomCom gave the community a choice instead of taking the
> community by surprise in announcing the election results immediately after
> providing the list of candidates.  A few meetings ago, I mentioned that the
> lack of formal elections does not affect the outcome as there is rarely more
> candidates than open seats.  The community had the option to accept of
> reject the two nominations last year.  I hope that any future NomCom will
> respond to community feedback instead of ignoring objections from the floor.
>


You're wrong SM.  There were TWO points of controversy:
Firstly, the announcement of the results before a show of hands could take
place.  This was partly rectified when the NomCom representative then ceded
to the audience's request to actually do a show of hands.

Secondly, the 'voting technique';  from the stream that I was listening to,
I understand that the NomCom procedure went thusly:
-- "Who supports X for 2years and Y for 1year"
-- Any objection to #1 above ?
...end of election.

The legitimate:  "Who supports Y for 2years and X for 1year" was not asked;
and no, that's not the same as #2, as any pedantic English speaker will
patiently explain.  I think someone did try to object but the NomCom rep
shut them down.  And, of course, the 15sec delay in the stream meant that it
would have been futile for us to register our protest.

Rather than cry over spilt milk, I hope the next NomCom learns from these
incidents, and does not repeat them.



> There was strong participation during the last meeting.  I note that Graham
> took the time to participate remotely.  I hope that there will be more
> remote participation in future.
>

There was more than just Graham online;  though at one point the Jabber room
did devolve into someone's personal dinner planning calendar  :-)

Thank you SM for relaying our questions to the microphone.
More online participation would be a good thing;  I hope the earlier
non-constructive comments about participation from people outside the
region, did not affect anyone's intention to participate online.



> Some people have commented on the participation of the co-chairs in the
> discussions about the proposals.  The co-chairs can ask questions in an
> individual capacity.  As you may have noticed, these persons come to the
> microphone line on the floor and wait for their turn like any other
> individual when they comment about a proposal.
>

I support this;  in fact, I would like to see AfriNIC staff do the same;
although my (admittedly brief) reading of the mailing list archives did not
supply an explanation, I surmise that their conspicuous absence at the
microphone is as a result of some dictatorial edict.



> At the last meeting somebody asked for a french version of the RPD mailing
> list so that French speakers can participate.  I suggest getting a list of
> people who are interested in such discussions and asking AfriNIC to host
> that mailing list.
>

I could be mistaken, but I'm sure that there's a note on the AfriNIC website
that says the official language of communication is English.
Encouraging local support is great (Hey, can we have a Swahili list as
well please?) but how will all of this be consolidated ?

--t.