[rpd] Policy proposal

[Ekaterina Kalugina]

Dear Sunday, dear community,

First of all, I would like to point out that I see no reason to withdraw
the policy proposal completely, although some minor editorial changes and
corrections of stylistic and grammatical mistakes might be necessary.

 In regards to its content, a proper discussion from the side of the
community is due.


>From my side, I do not think that the proposal adds operational burdens to

the board. Rather, in my view, it makes the process of recall more clear
and explicit. The board is already making a decision on whether or not each
request is duly justified and worth appointing a committee. The present
policy just spells out this process and adds a deadline for the board to
make its decision. I think it is a necessary addition as having the board
entertain all recall requests without assessing the justifications can
prove to be a serious waste of the AFRINIC resources in the long run.

Moreover, setting a recall committee is necessary even if the board decided
that a request is justified. The board here only determines whether or not
the request has legitimate grounds, while the committee is the one
conducting a thorough investigation and making a final report on the issue.

Secondly, I believe that the evaluation of the appointed committee members
by the community is necessary to ensure the committee's integrity and
ascertain that there are no conflicts of interest. When it comes to a 6
week waiting period, I agree that it is excessive and perhaps could be
shortened as to streamline the process.

Thirdly, I believe that it is very important that this proposal outlines
the community's participation in every step of the recall process. The
AFRINIC is governed through a bottom up process, so it makes sense that the
ultimate decision-making power shall remain in the hands of the community.
I don't think it would be fair for the recall committee to make such a
decision unilaterally. It would rather make more sense for them to create a
comprehensive report where they outline all facts and conclusions that is
then brought forward to the community for a deciding vote.

Overall, in my view, this policy contains import clarifications to the
recall process. In addition, it aims to reinforce AFRINIC's governance
values in the sense of keeping the decision making power within the
community.

I believe this proposal is a valuable addition to the CPM and thus im
looking forward to hear more feedback on this regard from the side of the
community.

Best wishes,

Ekaterina

On Wed, 25 Nov 2020, 09:54 Sunday Folayan <sfolayan at skannet.com> wrote:


> Good Morning,

>

> Apologies for a long email, but ... If it has to be, it has to be and up

> to us.

>

>

> In order to ensure that we focus on what is helpful, let me point out a

> couple of issues with this proposed policy.

>

> Referring to the CPM

>

> 3.4  Policy Development Process

> *Anyone can submit a proposal. Policy proposals are submitted to the

> Resource Policy Discussion mailing list (rpd at afrinic.net <rpd at afrinic.net>)

> by the author*. AFRINIC will provide administrative support and assist

> the author(s) in drafting the proposal if requested. AFRINIC shall also

> provide relevant facts and statistics if requested during the discussion.

>

> One can see that:

>

> 1. The submission was sent to rpd at afrinic.net ... This is OK

>

> 2. The submission was addressed to the Co-Chairs ... This is Unnecessary

>

> 3. Addressing the Co-Chairs could suggest that they must acknowledge ...

> Not really

>

> 4. The Co-Chairs must trigger discussions ... Not according to the CPM.

>

> 5. The Co-Chairs not acting immediately, could kill a proposal ... Not at

> all

>

>

> Having outlined the above, let us deal with the substance of the proposal

> - co-chair recall.

>

>

> The substance of the current recall provision in the CPM is:

>

>   - The AFRINIC Board of Directors shall appoint a recall committee

>

>   - The recall committee shall investigate the circumstances of the

> justification for the recall

>

>   - The conclusion of the recall committee shall determine the outcome

>

>

> It is important to therefore note that:

>

>   - The Appointment of the Recall committee is at the discretion and

> wisdom of the AfriNIC Board.

>

>   - Beyond appointing a recall committee, the AfriNIC Board does not even

> need to know the merit or otherwise of the recall

>   - The recall committee's work/report, does not require the approval of

> the AfriNIC Board.

>

>   - The entire process does not have any input from the rpd.

>

>   - The process has never been tested.

>

>   - The recall committee's modus Operandi is a black-box. Hence until it

> is tested, it is not wise to modify it

>

>

> The substance of the proposed policy:

>

>   - The AfriNIC Board shall investigate the circumstances of the

> justification for the recall

>

>   - The investigation will include community consultations

>

>   - The AfriNIC Board will junk the recall, if it sees no justification

> for the recall

>

>   - The AFRINIC Board of Directors shall then appoint a recall committee

>

>   - There is a time waster - Name Challenge process embedded therein. Pick

> 9 members one at a time for 6 weeks. One Year is gone!

>

>   - If the Recall committee Stands, it will go ahead and determine if a

> recall is necessary

>

>   - If a recall if not necessary, its work is done.

>

>   - If a recall is necessary, it will submit a report to RPD, that will

> then vote whether to recall or not

>

>   - A Supermajority vote (70%) is needed to affirm the recall

>

>   - Where the vote is not obtained, the recall also fails.

>

>

> The substance of this draft proposal seeks to alter the pillar of minimum

> Board involvement, without clearly articulating why.

>

> Indeed, it goes ahead to burden the Board with more work.

>

> Especially With:

>

> (A) The Board shall first investigate into the recall request within 4

> weeks upon receiving the recall request and decide whether the recall

> request is justified or not, after having consulted with the community’s

> opinion in the mailing list.

>

>

> This is at total variance with the spirit of the current process and

> provisions that simple gives the Board an administrative duty of appointing

> the independent committee that will then go ahead to determine the

> appropriateness of the recall request.

>

> The proposal brings the Board into the role of being the RPD umpire, and

> determining the merits or otherwise of the recall request, before setting

> up a committee. Why the need to setup a committee, if it will have

> determined the merit or otherwise of the recall proposal?

>

> All other details of the proposal follow the same pattern ... solving a

> perceived problem, without really paying attention to the underlining

> principle that allows flexibility and creativity, without allowing process

> capture.

>

> Indeed, proceeding on pushing this proposal through, will take at least

> One Public Policy meeting, and therefore will not meet the needs of the

> current situation.

>

> In my humble opinion, I think the Author should withdraw the proposal

> which was definitely submitted in haste, wait for the play of the current

> situation, see the determination of the matter, learn from it, and then use

> the experience to make a proposal that will be better ... but definitely

> not with all those details in the draft proposal that are laced with traps

> and mines, too many for me to begin to enumerate herein.

>

> Volunteer work is extensive, demanding and requires a lot of input. Haste

> in not one of those ingredients.

>

> Do have a nice day.

>

> Sunday.

>

>

> On 11/24/20 2:56 PM, Abdulrauf Yamta wrote:

>

> Dear Co-Chairs

> Please find attached a policy proposal named AFRINIC Co-Chair Recall

> process. In view of some current development, and the need to have a recall

> process properly defined we seek that the chairs should seek that this

> proposal be discussed immediately.

> Thanks

>

> Abdulrauf *Yamta*

>

>

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>

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