In a move to mutually strengthen relationship in election administration and opportunities for the exchange of information and technology a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Election Commission of Bhutan and Australian Electoral Commission.
The signing, which took place today, is expected to further strengthen the relation between the two Commissions in supporting election management and capacity building.
It was signed by the Chief Election Commissioner, Dasho Kunzang Wangdi and the Deputy Electoral Commissioner of Australia, Tom Rogers.
“This MoU is very important for us; it is a great vehicle for both the AEC and for the ECB to strengthen our relationship but particularly in the area of staff exchanges and more training because people are fundamental to running good elections,” said Tom Rogers.
The MoU also include development of political democratic and electoral culture, voter education and sharing of experience in election management.
“The fact that ECB has started from a very small beginning and has become so successful in such a brief period, we would like to learn how they did that. We have been a stable democracy for many years but we sometimes find it difficult to change quickly but ECB has grown so successfully in such a short period. That is something we would like to learn,” Tom Rogers said.
One of the significant activities under the co-operation between the two countries includes the on-going BRIDGE programme. BRIDGE -which stands for Building Resources in Democracy, Governance and Election – has helped in knowledge and skills broadening among election officials since 2009.
The Australian Electoral Commission is one of the major partners in Bhutanese Electoral system.
