[rpd] Policy Development Process and Elections

[Mark Elkins]

On 2020/08/15 14:54, Dewole Ajao via RPD wrote:

>  > Thanks for the updates. While I need to take time to process the rest 

 > of the email, one statistic was glaring and I believe it will be > 
irresponsible for us as a group (except of course those waiting to > 
take advantage of that loophole) to let such exploitation of the > 
system slide this time. This has me worried. I totally agree with you. 
The people "stacking" the mailing list may well belong to the same group 
that are now claiming everyone on the mailing list can vote, regardless 
of when they were added. The criteria used to be if you had a Meeting 
Badge (and in the room) you could vote. That generally entailed 
travelling to the meeting to be in the room, often at great expense and 
time. Ideally, I'd like to see a cost associated with obtaining the 
Meeting Badge, either you have an air ticket and hotel at the venue or 
you pay US$100 for the badge if you are a local person. Now it seems, in 
order to have a Vote, all you need is a unique e-mail address, one vote 
per e-mail address. Not very difficult for ISP technically minded folk!

Just because what we did ten years ago was right (or simply convenient) 
- does not mean it is the right thing to do today.


> If historically we have had less than 60 people contribute to the PDP  > in any one month but in July 2020 as a precursor to online 

elections, > we have 177 email addresses joining the mailing list, we 
should this > one time, restrict the PDP elections to those subscribers 
who had > been on the list prior to the anomalous subscription rate of 
July > 2020. I would say June 30 should be the cut-off date. After all, 
the > in-person meeting would ordinarily have held before June 12, 2020. 
 > > Since the Board has claimed responsibility for the conduct of PDWG 
 > elections, then I would say it will be irresponsible of this Board to 
 > let elections hold under these conditions with the guise of > 
"preserving this right so that no one who has recently subscribed to > 
the rpd mail list will be debarred and/or ‘disenfranchised’ from > 
participating in the Policy Development Process." > > If I had a little 
more time, I would probably be able to prove that > the leadership of 
the PDWG does not fall under "general business > practices and 
procedures" but first of all, we cannot hold elections > when the room 
was very strategically stacked in July. > > Regards, > > Dewole. > > On 
8/14/2020 1:39 PM, AFRINIC Communication wrote: >> [Version en français 
ci-dessous] >> >> Dear colleagues, >> >> Further to its communique 
issued on 5 August 2020, AFRINIC wishes >> to inform its community that 
following its announcement regarding >> the holding of the Policy 
Development Working Group (“PDWG”) >> Co-Chair and NRO ASO-AC elections 
for the year 2020, it has >> considered all responses obtained in 
respect thereof. >> >> Consequently, AFRINIC considers it appropriate to 
clarify, for the >> benefits of its community, the following: >> >> (a) 
That the Public Policy Meeting (“PPM”) is convened by the >> AFRINIC 
Board of Directors pursuant to the provisions of articles >> 11.2 and 
11.3 of the Bylaws; >> >> (b) That in regard to the election of the PDWG 
Co-Chair and >> notwithstanding the fact same is held during the PPM, 
section 3.1 >> of the Consolidated Policy Manual (“CPM”) clearly and in 
no >> uncertain terms provides as follows: - “Internet number resource 
 >> policies are distinctly separate from AFRINIC general business >> 
practices and procedures. General business practices and procedures >> 
are not within the purview of the Policy Development Process. >> >> (c) 
That in light of para (b) above, the election process >> applicable to 
the PDWG Co-Chair election does not form an integral >> part of the CPM 
and is thus a matter for the Board of Directors to >> determine; >> >> 
(d) That, consistent with the above and having considered the >> 
exceptional context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Board of >> Directors 
recently resolved, inter-alia, that the forthcoming PPM >> will be held 
virtually and has even caused an Election Process 2020 >> to be 
published applicable to all elections to be held during the >> year 
2020; >> >> (e) That in so far as the role of the PDWG is concerned, the 
core >> responsibility of the latter is to discuss policy proposals via 
the >> Internet (mailing list) or in person (during face-to-face PPM). 
 >> Hence, since time restrictions are prevalent for the policy >> 
discussions during the PPM, rough consensus of policy proposals is >> 
determined during the PPM by considering both online and on-site >> 
contributions. Final consensus is decided upon after consideration >> of 
the discussions in the Last Call period; >> >> (f) That the right 
attributed to its community to contribute to >> policy discussions by 
either subscribing to the rpd mailing list or >> participating in the 
discussions in the upcoming PPM by registering >> for and attending the 
online meeting is sacrosanct and AFRINIC >> hereby renews its commitment 
that it will continue to give full >> effect to the principles of Policy 
Development as stipulated in >> section 3.2 of the CPM; >> >> (g) That, 
for the purposes of para (e) above, subscription to the >> AFRINIC rpd 
mailing list is considered as a step towards >> participation in the 
PDWG and AFRINIC undertakes to preserve this >> right so that no one who 
has recently subscribed to the rpd mail >> list will be debarred and/or 
‘disenfranchised’ from participating >> in the Policy Development 
Process. >> >> (h) For purposes of clarity, below are subscription 
numbers from >> January 2019 to 13 August 2020. >> >> >> >> *2019* >> >> 
 >> >> *Number* >> >> January >> >> >> >> 3 >> >> February >> >> >> >> 8 
 >> >> March >> >> >> >> 3 >> >> April >> >> >> >> 9 >> >> May >> >> >> 
 >> 30 >> >> June >> >> >> >> 53 >> >> July >> >> >> >> 8 >> >> August 
 >> >> >> >> 11 >> >> September >> >> >> >> 3 >> >> October >> >> >> >> 
4 >> >> November >> >> >> >> 11 >> >> December >> >> >> >> 18 >> >> >> 
 >> >> *2020* >> >> >> >> January >> >> >> >> 1 >> >> February >> >> >> 
 >> 13 >> >> March >> >> >> >> 7 >> >> April >> >> >> >> 2 >> >> May >> 
 >> >> >> 5 >> >> June >> >> >> >> 9 >> >> July >> >> >> >> 177 >> >> 
August 13th 12:50 UTC >> >> >> >> 27 >> >> *Current number of list 
subscribers* >> >> >> >> *986* >> >> >> On this note, AFRINIC encourages 
the PDWG to increase its >> engagement in the Policy Development Process 
through their active, >> substantial and constructive participation in 
developing resource >> policies that will help AFRINIC in its mission of 
managing Internet >> Number Resources for the African region. >> >> 
Furthermore, AFRINIC would like to take this opportunity to renew >> its 
invitation to the AIS’20 meeting and recommend that the >> community 
follows all procedures put in place for their online >> registration in 
respect thereof. >> >> >> >> Eddy Kayihura >> >> CEO >> >> …………………… >> 
 >> >> Chers collègues, >> >> Suite à son communiqué publié le 5 août 
2020, l'AFRINIC souhaite >> informer sa communauté que suite à son 
annonce concernant la tenue >> des élections du co-président du groupe 
de travail sur >> l'élaboration des politiques ("PDWG") et de l'ASO-AC 
du NRO pour >> l'année 2020, elle a examiné toutes les réponses obtenues 
à cet >> égard. >> >> En conséquence, AFRINIC considère qu'il convient 
de clarifier, pour >> le bénéfice de sa communauté, ce qui suit : >> >> 
(a) Que la réunion de politique publique ("PPM") est convoquée par >> le 
Conseil d'administration de l'AFRINIC conformément aux >> dispositions 
des articles 11.2 et 11.3 des statuts ; >> >> (b) En ce qui concerne 
l'élection du co-président du PDWG, et bien >> qu'elle ait lieu pendant 
la Réunion de politique publique, la >> section 3.1 du Consolidated 
Policy Manual ("CPM") prévoit >> clairement et sans ambiguïté ce qui 
suit : - "Les politiques en >> matière de ressources de numéros Internet 
se distinguent clairement >> des pratiques opérationnelles et des 
procédures générales >> d'AFRINIC, qui ne sont pas du resort du 
processus d'élaboration des >> politiques''. >> >> c) Qu'à la lumière du 
paragraphe b) ci-dessus, le processus >> d'élection applicable à 
l'élection du coprésident du PDWG ne fait >> pas partie intégrante du 
CPM et donc est du ressort du conseil >> d'administration ; >> >> (d) 
Que, conformément à ce qui précède et après avoir pris en >> compte le 
contexte exceptionnel de la pandémie COVID-19, le Conseil >> 
d'administration a récemment décidé, entre autres, que la prochaine >> 
réunion de politiques publiques se tiendra virtuellement et a même >> 
fait publier un processus pour les élections pour l'année 2020 >> 
applicable à toutes les élections devant se tenir en 2020 ; >> >> e) 
Que, en ce qui concerne le rôle du PDWG, la responsabilité >> principale 
de ce dernier est de discuter des propositions >> politiques via 
Internet (liste de diffusion) ou en personne (lors >> de la réunion en 
face-à-face). Par conséquent, étant donné que le >> temps imparti aux 
discussions politiques pendant la réunion est >> limité, un consensus 
approximatif sur les propositions politiques >> sera déterminé pendant 
la réunion en tenant compte des >> contributions en ligne et sur place. 
Le consensus final sera décidé >> après examen des discussions durant la 
période du dernier appel ; >> >> (f) que le droit attribué à sa 
communauté de contribuer aux >> discussions politiques, soit en 
s'inscrivant à la liste de >> diffusion rpd, soit en participant aux 
discussions de la prochaine >> Réunion de politiques publiques en 
s'inscrivant et en assistant à >> la réunion en ligne est sacro-saint et 
que l'AFRINIC renouvelle par >> la présente son engagement à continuer à 
donner plein effet aux >> principes d'élaboration des politiques comme 
stipulé dans la >> section 3.2 de la CPM ; >> >> (g) Que, aux fins du 
paragraphe (e) ci-dessus, l'inscription à la >> liste de diffusion rpd 
d'AFRINIC est considérée comme une étape >> vers la participation au 
PDWG et AFRINIC s'engage à préserver ce >> droit afin qu'aucune personne 
qui s'est récemment inscrite à la >> liste de diffusion rpd ne soit 
exclue et/ou "privée" de sa >> participation au processus d'élaboration 
des politiques. >> >> (h) Par souci de clarté, voici le nombre 
d'abonnement de janvier >> 2019 au 13 août 2020. >> >> >> *2019* >> >> 
 >> >> *Nombres* >> >> Janvier >> >> >> >> 3 >> >> Février >> >> >> >> 8 
 >> >> Mars >> >> >> >> 3 >> >> Avril >> >> >> >> 9 >> >> Mai >> >> >> 
 >> 30 >> >> Juin >> >> >> >> 53 >> >> Juillet >> >> >> >> 8 >> >> Août 
 >> >> >> >> 11 >> >> Septembre >> >> >> >> 3 >> >> Octobre >> >> >> >> 
4 >> >> Novembre >> >> >> >> 11 >> >> December >> >> >> >> 18 >> >> >> 
 >> >> *2020* >> >> >> >> Janvier >> >> >> >> 1 >> >> Février >> >> >> 
 >> 13 >> >> Mars >> >> >> >> 7 >> >> Avril >> >> >> >> 2 >> >> Mai >> 
 >> >> >> 5 >> >> Juin >> >> >> >> 9 >> >> Juillet >> >> >> >> 177 >> >> 
Août 13 12:50 UTC >> >> >> >> 27 >> >> *Nombre d'abonnements actuels* >> 
 >> >> >> *986* >> >> * * >> >> >> >> Sur cette note, AFRINIC encourage 
le PDWG à accroître son >> engagement dans le processus d'élaboration 
des politiques à travers >> leur participation active, substantielle et 
constructive dans >> l'élaboration des politiques de ressources qui 
contribueront à >> aider AFRINIC dans sa mission de gestion des 
ressources numériques >> Internet pour la région africaine. >> >> En 
outre, AFRINIC voudrait saisir cette occasion pour renouveler >> son 
invitation à la réunion de l'AIS'20 et recommander que la >> communauté 
suive toutes les procédures mises en place pour leur >> inscription en 
ligne à cet égard. >> >> Eddy Kayihura >> >> CEO >> >> 
_______________________________________________ RPD mailing list >> 
RPD at afrinic.net https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo/rpd > -- 
Regards, > > Dewole. > > _______________________________________________ 
RPD mailing list > RPD at afrinic.net 
https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo/rpd --

Mark James ELKINS  -  Posix Systems - (South) Africa
mje at posix.co.za       Tel: +27.826010496 <tel:+27826010496>
For fast, reliable, low cost Internet in ZA: https://ftth.posix.co.za

Posix SystemsVCARD for MJ Elkins


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