The CEC completes a series of workshops on electoral systems and monitoring

In partnership with the Italian Cooperation Office (ITCOOP) and the Italian Consulate, the CEC completed three election training workshops last week as part of the joint project entitled “Strengthening Palestinian Electoral Participation”, which is funded by the Italian Government. The workshops were held at Birzeit University, Bethlehem University and An-Najah National University in Nablus.

The workshops were opened with welcoming remarks by the CEC’s Deputy Chief Electoral Officer, Ashraf Shu’aibi, the Deputy Consul General of Italy, Roberto Storaci, and the director of ITCOOP, Silvano Tabbo. In his remarks, Mr. Shu’aibi explained that the project, which was launched last summer, had already produced 70 trainees representing 28 Palestinian Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), who had been trained on the steps and procedures of the electoral process by professional trainers from the CEC.  This effort has succeeded in establishing a group of dependable experts prepared to spread electoral awareness among the public, as these trained CSO representatives will, in turn, hold several additional workshops throughout the West Bank.

Each of the workshops included a presentation by Carlo Fusaro, professor of Parliamentary Procedures and Public Law at the University of Florence, entitled “Models of Electoral Laws and Systems, Election Management Bodies and the Role of Domestic Observers” and another by Dr. Dirk Axtmann, an elections expert from Heidelberg, Germany,  entitled “The German Election System and Administration: Similarities and Differences to the Palestinian System”.  The workshops also included training sessions offered by the CEC for elections observers appointed by local observation bodies, which focused on observers’ rights and obligations during the electoral process.

For more information please contact the CEC’s media unit on 00970 2 2969700 or [email protected]