| Presentation
8
HOWARD SUMKA, USAID MISSION DIRECTOR, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
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It is pleasure to be with you here today.
First of all, I would like to add my voice to the chorus of congratulations
for the successes of your organization. The year 2002 was a critical
test for election officials in Bosnia and Herzegovina. You passed
with excellent marks.
You administered elections for the first time
without international management or supervision, and the process
worked well. Thanks to your hard work and dedication, the October
election process was the smoothest since the war. I served as an
international observer in October, and I saw in a dozen polling
places how seriously you took your very important work.
This demonstrates that you “have what it takes,”
as we say, to do the job, now and in the future. Most of you have
been through extensive training, and now you have managed the very
complex electoral system in Bosnia-Herzegovina. I have to say that
I was astounded at the complexity of the ballots and how it difficult
it was to count them in orderly way. I was very impressed as I watched
for an hour as the local election counters worked themselves through
the process in a very systematic and effective way. In fact because
of this complexity in your training, you are probably among the
best technically qualified election workers in Europe. A group from
election officials from Albania visited to learn from you this year,
and I expect others to do the same in the future. I would like to
add a personal note about how pleased I am to see this collaboration
with Albania. As most of you know, Albania is close to my heart,
and I was very much engaged with IFES election assistance program
there for more than three years. There I was international observer
for three different elections.
We in the west believe that free and fair elections
are the cornerstone of a true democracy. USAID has invested millions
of dollars in Bosnia and Herzegovina to train election officials,
to support the material costs of election administration, and to
build the capacity of the Association and of other local institutions.
For the most part our job as both a donor and a provider of strategic
direction in elections administration is over. For USAID, this represents
a successful investment. I can understand it might make some of
you nervous at the prospect of having a large donor say, “Our job
here is done.” I hope you will view this as what it is: a tremendous
success that brings with it other challenges. We all hope this success
will be repeated in many different sectors: the economy, judicial
institutions, public administration, and education. The test of
your country’s success in the transition process will be willingness
and ability of local institutions to meet the standards for those
of a modern European state. That will be the basis on which Bosnia
and Herzegovina will be accepted in Euro-Atlantic institutions.
In elections administration, I believe this test has been passed.
As I see it, the Association and you as a group
have three main tasks ahead of you:
- First, keep yourselves well trained. Make good use of the resources
the Association offers in terms of professional development and
opportunities to exchange ideas and experiences. You are the best
trained election officials in this part of the world. Your next
big test will be in the local elections of 2004. Do not let the
skills and knowledge you have now slip during these next two years.
- Second, learn to speak with one voice on important technical matters.
With no OSCE Elections Department, you will become the primary advocates
for election-related issues. You will need to be in the forefront
in matters such as financing elections and keeping the voter registration
lists accurate and useful.
- Finally, in order to accomplish these two goals, you need to maintain
a strong, healthy Association of Election Officials. The fate of
the Association is now largely in your hands. USAID will continue
to assist you as we can. But our help will have to become more limited
and more targeted. We are now helping through DemNet program, through
ADF, and will look for others ways to help as well. But from now
on, the Association can only be as strong as you choose to make
it be. I encourage you all to play an active role in the life of
the Association, in its governance and its finances.
Ladies and gentleman, after such a tumultuous,
eventful year as 2002, I wish I could say the next year will be
one of rest and contemplation. This is not the case. You face a
number of challenges, but you have demonstrated that you are up
meeting these challenges. I have to great confidence you will.
I want to add special thanks to IFES for their
successful efforts to assist you. I have had a long and professionally
productive relationship working with IFES elsewhere in this region
as well. I have tremendous respect for their capabilities and devotion.
Beverly, Irena, and each of you at IFES and the Association secretariat:
thank you for your years of hard work in these efforts.
I wish all of you the best, and thank you
for inviting me to be with you this weekend.
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