India, Panama signs MoU on electoral cooperation

livemint.com:

New Delhi: The Election Commission of India and Electoral Tribunal (ET) of Panama on Friday signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Panama City to establish the institutional framework for their ongoing cooperation in the field of election management and administration, the government said in a press release. A three member ECI delegation led by Chief Election Commissioner of India Rajiv Kumar held interactions with Presiding Magistrate, Electoral Tribunal of Panama Alfredo Juncá Wendehake on strengthening collaboration and knowledge exchange between the two Election Management Bodies (EMBs).

Eduardo Valdes Escoffery, first vice presidential magistrate and Luis A. Guerra Morales, second vice presidential magistrate, ET of Panama were also present.

While speaking on the occasion, CEC Kumar said that this MoU reflects the ECI’s ongoing commitment to engage with electoral bodies across the globe and strengthen the democratic processes worldwide. He added “while learning from best election integrity practices from world over, ECI is committed to sharing its expertise and knowledge in conducting free, fair and transparent elections with its counterparts in other countries." During the interaction, the Presiding Magistrate, ET of Panama discussed collaboration between the two EMBs on use of technology and social media in elections.

ECI has been expanding its links and cooperation with foreign Election Management Bodies (EMBs) through its ‘International Cooperation Programme’. Having signed MoUs with Mexico, Brazil and Chile in the past years, this is the fourth MoU signed by ECI with an EMB in the Latin Americas region, with an overall 31 MoUs with EMBs and international organisations across the world.