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[rpd] On the newcomers requirements to vote.

Fernando Frediani fhfrediani at gmail.com
Sat Nov 9 20:03:25 UTC 2019


Owen, I don't think anyone is talking about the newcomers to participate
in any PDP meeting and everybody welcomes it. The point, as you well
described in part of the email is to be able to vote to on co-chair
elections.

It is very reasonable that only people that are committed and already
involved into the process for a minimal time and know how things work
should be able to decide. With that nobody is excluding new people to
come and participate and in a next election, if they remain and
contribute to the community to be able to choose as well.

6 months is not a big thing for someone that is willing to commit to
something and solves a huge problem which is the very well known of
bringing non involved people just to count as a 'ad-hoc' vote and
manipulate the process to something which certainly will not represent
the will of the majority of those who really build the things. To be
able to decide in group someone must be a stakeholder of the process and
those who come one-off are not.

Otherwise keeping the things as they are is a perfectly way to make the
people who really are committed and work to build good policy to go away
because the risk of the process to be manipulated will always be high.

Fernando

On 09/11/2019 16:32, Owen DeLong wrote:

>

>

>> On Nov 9, 2019, at 01:07 , Ahile shagba francis <ahilefranc at gmail.com

>> <mailto:ahilefranc at gmail.com>> wrote:

>>

>> The last elections in Kampala witnessed many weird practices. It was

>> glaring that the process lacks so much to term it credible.

>>  Some are forced to agree with the accusations of the person who sent

>> some harsh words regards the manner in which students and locals

>> where bought solely for the purpose of elections by some big wings

>> who play the modern day slavery role.

>

> I take issue with this characterization.

>

> Bringing students and local IT professionals to the AfriNIC meeting

> is, IMHO, a laudable and useful way to expand our community

> and improve participation. I don’t know of anyone who was brought

> solely for the purpose of elections. All of the fellowships I am

> aware of provided for attendance at the full meeting.

>

> The only elections which can be influenced by such attendees who are

> not representing bona fide AfriNIC members are the PDP

> co-chair and the NRO NC/ASO AC representatives. (The NRO NC also

> stands as the ASO AC).

>

> Here we are discussing the election of co-chairs, so the role of

> fellows in that election is a valid topic of discussion.

>

> I find it interesting that the call here is about the election in

> Kampala while nobody mentions what happened in Dakar.

>

> In Dakar, there were literally busloads of local people, many of whom

> had no relationship to IT.

> They showed up for lunch and the Co-Chair election and then departed

> never to be seen or heard from in the community again.

>

> In Kampala, there were a large number of local IT students and members

> of the IT profession who showed up for multiple days

> of the meeting in part because they were sponsored through fellowships.

>

> I can certainly understand criticism of what happened in Dakar, but I

> must ask about the criticism of Kampala…

>

> Is there some reason these members of the IT community should be

> marginalized simply because it is their first meeting?

>

> Are they in some way less qualified than other members attending their

> first meeting?

>

> At least in the case of the fellows which I met and of which I am

> aware, they each received briefing materials about AfriNIC and

> the policy proposals under discussion. Said briefing materials have

> been previously reviewed on this list and were as neutral

> and factual as they could be, modulo some minor mistakes which were

> admitted and which did not significantly prejudice any

> policy (a couple of minor misquotes IIRC).

>

> One of those fellows is now a PDP co-chair.

>

> Do we feel that the current co-chairs are doing a bad job? Do we feel

> that they have misrepresented the community in some way?

>

>> Newcomwers ought to have some knowledge about what AFRINIC in its

>> entirety entails. So you can make decisions bore from conscience and

>> sincere progress.

>

> How does a newcomer gain that knowledge without attending a meeting

> and observing the process first hand?

>

> Are you arguing that the co-chairs elected in Kampala are unqualified

> or a poor choice for the community? Are you arguing that the election

> had a bad outcome?

> If so, please offer some evidence to support this position.

>

>> Many who are pushing for certain policies have failed to sit back and

>> search themselves if they really are for the good of the RIR of they

>> are just out chasing clout.

>

> Blanket accusations of malfeasance such as this are hollow and

> useless. If you have examples of such malfeasance, you don’t have to

> name names, but at least

> provide specific citations. Provide actual content or quotations or

> references to points on the video record of the meeting where such

> malfeasance is demonstrated.

>

> If such an accusation is to be leveled, then it should be leveled such

> that the accused have some ability to proffer a defense. In a case

> where it is impossible to know

> not only who, but what, exactly, is being accused, there is no ability

> to offer any defense and the accusation can be neither proven nor

> disproven. It is hollow and

> should be regarded as entirely fictitious in nature.

>

>> Whatever we try to fix here should be from a sincere motive of taking

>> the RIR to greater heights.

>

> In this, at least, we can certainly agree. Let us focus on actual

> problems to be solved and not on vague and hollow accusations which

> cannot be meaningfully

> addressed.

>

> Owen

>

>>

>> Shalom

>>

>> Ahile Shagba Francis.

>> Developer | Branding |Graphics

>> Frankie-Code Solutions.

>>

>> On Sat, Nov 9, 2019, 07:48 <rpd-request at afrinic.net

>> <mailto:rpd-request at afrinic.net>> wrote:

>>

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>>

>> Today's Topics:

>>

>>    1. Re: new policy proposal: AFPUB-2019-GEN-003-DRAFT01: "Chairs

>>       Elections Process" (Daniel Yakmut)

>>

>>

>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------

>>

>> Message: 1

>> Date: Sat, 9 Nov 2019 07:46:59 +0100

>> From: Daniel Yakmut <yakmutd at googlemail.com

>> <mailto:yakmutd at googlemail.com>>

>> To: JORDI PALET MARTINEZ <jordi.palet at consulintel.es

>> <mailto:jordi.palet at consulintel.es>>

>> Cc: "rpd >> AfriNIC Resource Policy" <rpd at afrinic.net

>> <mailto:rpd at afrinic.net>>

>> Subject: Re: [rpd] new policy proposal: AFPUB-2019-GEN-003-DRAFT01:

>>         "Chairs Elections Process"

>> Message-ID:

>>        

>> <CAB3X6me1QCE3_yFZUjfJ+h3=7uWRjP9Xe6J-fqkZfG8oD0iwfA at mail.gmail.com

>> <mailto:7uWRjP9Xe6J-fqkZfG8oD0iwfA at mail.gmail.com>>

>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

>>

>> A quick question is "are Co-Chair tied to Country?" I thought

>> part of this

>> community is some form of universality, meaning as long as the

>> person(s)

>> understand and are doing the job well, country specific should

>> not matter.

>> Else we may be trading competency for representative.

>>

>> Therefore, I will disagree with inserting that co-chairs cannot

>> come from

>> the same country. Rather can we have other implicit ways that could

>> possibly ensure that co-chairs from the same country are not

>> chairing at

>> the same time.

>>

>> Simply,

>> Daniel

>>

>> On Fri, Nov 8, 2019 at 7:35 PM JORDI PALET MARTINEZ via RPD

>> <rpd at afrinic.net <mailto:rpd at afrinic.net>>

>> wrote:

>>

>> > Hi Fernando,

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> > I see your point, which has been also expressed by Pascal, and

>> after

>> > thinking again I believe I could agree with an alternative

>> solution and

>> > simplification of that specific paragraph.

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> > Note that I?m responding by myself, so my co-author should

>> agree if both

>> > of you accept this alternative, as well as the rest of the

>> community, so

>> > take it as tentative wording:

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> > ?Both chairs can?t be from the same country, except in exceptional

>> > situations where there are no other acceptable candidates.?

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> > Instead of the actual:

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> > ?Both chairs can?t be from the same country, except in exceptional

>> > situations where there are no other acceptable candidates, in

>> which case

>> > one of the chairs will cease in their position at the following

>> election

>> > process (following year), either because their term has come to

>> an end or

>> > by agreement among the two chairs, failing which the chair who

>> has held the

>> > position the longest will automatically cease in their position.?

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> > So, will you agree on this? others?

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> > Regards,

>> >

>> > Jordi

>> >

>> > @jordipalet

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> > El 8/11/19 16:49, "Fernando Frediani" <fhfrediani at gmail.com

>> <mailto:fhfrediani at gmail.com>> escribi?:

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> > Hello

>> >

>> > I have to agree that I am also not comfortable the way text is

>> 3.3.1 with

>> > regards chair of the same country. While I agree they should

>> not come form

>> > the same country as much as possible I recognized there are

>> exceptions

>> > where they have to be and no one should be forced out if they

>> became a

>> > chair already.

>> >

>> > There are two situations where I believe 2 chairs from the same

>> country

>> > may co-exist:

>> > 1) When there are no other acceptable candidates from other

>> countries (eg:

>> > 1 single candidate form the same country as the current chair

>> or all

>> > candidates from the same country of the chair)

>> > 2) When there is a vacant position that AfricNic Board has to

>> fulfill

>> > temporarily.

>> >

>> > With regards the traveling expenses mentioned I don't think

>> they should be

>> > in the PDP. While I believe the RIR should always cover that

>> given the

>> > importance of the role to the RIR community it is discretionary

>> and up to

>> > them to decide that. Furthermore I don't think having this in

>> the PDP can

>> > oblige the RIR to do anyway as it's a administrative decision.

>> >

>> > I agree with section 3.3.2 in regards the minimum time to be

>> able to

>> > participate in the election process. It brings a lot of value

>> into the

>> > process and avoid big issues of non-related people influencing

>> the process.

>> > This part for me is one of the most important of the proposal.

>> >

>> > Fernando

>> >

>> > On 08/11/2019 04:33, JORDI PALET MARTINEZ via RPD wrote:

>> >

>> > Hi Pascal,

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> > Thanks for your inputs, let me answer below, in-line.

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> > Regards,

>> >

>> > Jordi

>> >

>> > @jordipalet

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> > El 8/11/19 4:32, "Paschal Ochang" <pascosoft at gmail.com

>> <mailto:pascosoft at gmail.com>> escribi?:

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> > Hello this is a great proposal but I have some concerns about

>> some of the

>> > newly adopted procedures.

>> > In section 3.3.1 I don't think it will be right for a chair who

>> has held

>> > the position longest to vacate the position in a scenario where the

>> > cochairs originate from the same country in extreme scenarios.

>> While we aim

>> > to select algorithms to minimize the possibility of a vacant

>> seat at any

>> > point in time we should also try not to break the wheel of

>> experience here.

>> > A longer serving cochair will be more conversant with the

>> affairs of the

>> > PDWG in most cases so I think vacating his or her seat won't be

>> ideal.

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> > ? While I could agree here in your view, I think that there

>> must be a

>> > balance in giving opportunity to new people. The text already

>> gives the

>> > opportunity to the chairs to take a decision on that. Note

>> also, that if

>> > the chair that has been longer time in the position hasn?t

>> exceeded the two

>> > consecutive terms, he still can submit his candidacy for that

>> election, so

>> > it is giving the voice to the community about that. On the

>> other hand, we

>> > may have a longer time in the position chair that is not

>> performing well

>> > (even if it has more experience) so the community has a way to

>> not vote him

>> > again. It is a difficult balance. I will like to hear from you

>> and others

>> > specific suggestions about this point.

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> > Secondly while we aim to sanitize the motives for people

>> contesting for

>> > cochair I don't think a little stipend for co-chairs will do

>> any damage to

>> > the election process for me I think a per sitting allowance or

>> stipend

>> > should be adopted if not already so.

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> > ? AFRINIC (I believe) support the chairs in their traveling

>> expenses to

>> > the meeting and from time to time to other RIR meetings. Is not

>> that

>> > sufficient? Otherwise, what you will suggest? Should we have

>> that (even for

>> > traveling expenses) in the PDP?

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> > section 3.3.2 will disenfranchise voters. It's possible a

>> deprived voter

>> > might not be active in the rpd but has been abreast with the

>> happenings of

>> > the community. Therefore are we going to say we cannot allow

>> that voter to

>> > cast his or her vote?. A deprived voter might be attending a

>> PPM for the

>> > first time and will feel disenfranchised because I believe the

>> presentation

>> > of the candidates is also an incentive to motivate or give

>> voters an idea

>> > of their portfolio which I think is enough to orientate a

>> newbie attendee

>> > if I may use that phrase .

>> >

>> > Without elaborating or handling some of this concerns I think this

>> > proposal cannot be accepted as it is.

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> > ? Note that I?m asking only for having been in the RPD list for

>> 6 months.

>> > I?m not asking for demonstrating ?activity?. I my opinion this

>> will fulfil

>> > the case you?re indicating in your first case.

>> >

>> > ? Regarding a newcomer participating as voter, I?ve seen in

>> many RIR

>> > meetings, including AFRINIC, a bunch (even hundreds) of local

>> students,

>> > participating for the first time as guest. 99% of those

>> participants will

>> > never participate again in AFRINIC, RPD, etc. Hundreds of them

>> can vote for

>> > a specific candidate, without knowing at all nothing about the

>> candidate or

>> > the PDP, for example, just because the candidate is local. Of

>> course, in

>> > some cases that candidate can be a very valid one, however

>> nothing ensures

>> > it and further this is a distortion of the process and very

>> discriminatory

>> > towards the other candidates. For example, the other candidates

>> can say

>> > ?I?ve organized a remote hub so the people can participate in a

>> remote

>> > meeting room? (and get there hundreds of people that possibly

>> will support

>> > that candidacy). I think those newcomers can perfectly

>> understand, if they

>> > are interested in a continued AFRINIC participation, shy those

>> rules are

>> > done and this specific point will not, for that, feel

>> uncomfortable or

>> > decide not to continue participating because that, in the other

>> way around

>> > ?next time I will be voting?. Is like when you need to have 18

>> years to

>> > vote. Reason for that is that you have some degree of ?adult

>> thinking, life

>> > experience, public policy understanding, etc.?; here we are

>> saying your

>> > experience to be able to participate is having been there for a

>> few months.

>> >

>> > ? Note that a participant in the meeting if really interested

>> in AFRINIC,

>> > has been able to be in the RPD list much more time ahead the

>> meeting, so

>> > nothing forbids him to actually participate.

>> >

>> > ? Last but not least, the way that electronic voting is

>> organized is

>> > based on using the RPD list as the electoral census. NOBODY

>> will vote

>> > ?on-site?, the election is done BEFORE the meeting.

>> >

>> > ? As said, happy to heard inputs on those specific points (and

>> in general

>> > in all the proposal, of course!):

>> >

>> >

>> > On Wednesday, November 6, 2019, Fernando Frediani

>> <fhfrediani at gmail.com <mailto:fhfrediani at gmail.com>>

>> > wrote:

>> >

>> > Hello.

>> >

>> > The text of the proposal is well written and I believe brings

>> value to the

>> > election process with control mechanisms to ensure neutrality

>> and balance

>> > of the chosen persons.

>> > One important point I highlight is that staff when implementing

>> this make

>> > sure a trustable electronic system is used to ensure one vote by

>> > participant and to avoid fraud. I guess something about that

>> will be

>> > contained in the impact analysis that will come.

>> >

>> > Fernando

>> >

>> > On 05/11/2019 11:04, JORDI PALET MARTINEZ via RPD wrote:

>> >

>> > Hi all,

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> > As with the previous ones, I'm attaching our proposal PDF,

>> already submitted, so the community can start commenting in case

>> the publication by AFRINIC is delayed.

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> > Thanks in advance for any inputs!

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> > Regards,

>> >

>> > Jordi

>> >

>> > @jordipalet

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> >

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