Paul Wilson’s APNIC have released their annual report and audited accounts four days before the close of voting.
See this post on the APNIC mailing list explaining why this is unfair, biased and the timing of the publication does not meet the criteria of a free and fair election.
If there isn't time to scrutinize the documents before voting closes, then the publication date either has to be brought forward or future elections must be scheduled for well after the publication (i.e. before the start of v to allow for full scrutiny. It raises even more questions about the legitimacy and oversight of the Executive Committee and whether they understand they are meant to serve the interests of the community and not APNIC senior management.
APNIC and Paul Wilson’s new board must answer the concerns of the community about these elections! They can't remain silent.
Read below:
Congratulations to APNIC on a great looking annual report - but is it right to publish it just as the EC elections finish?
The team at APNIC have been working hard on the annual report and audited reports. I thank the team for their hard work in producing these. The content in both documents is important and I encourage everyone to read it and raise any questions that you may have.
There is a problem here though. Why publish these documents right at the end of the EC election campaign? It is now nearly impossible to ask the candidates any questions. This is especially important for those candidates' seeking re-election. These are the only real in-depth documents the community have access to on APNIC’s governance and finances and they should be at the heart of any free and fair election so that we all have time to scrutinize and ask candidates any questions we may have.
It is so important to hold the EC to account - but we cant if these documents are published after the vast majority of the electorate have voted. They cant change their mind! We now have a situation where those voting now in the election have more information available to them to make an informed choice than those who voted before. That is unfair.
It is not as if these publications aren't planned and holding back information that is at the heart of accountability and scrutiny during an election is not best practice. It is designed to limit scrutiny and therefore favour incumbents seeking re-election. It also places external candidates to a disadvantage because it limits their ability to set out an alternative prospective of how they would scrutinise the secretariat. It is another example of APNIC not understanding the very basic principles of what a free and fair election actually means.
The principle of free and fair elections is not limited just to outsourcing the voting system to an external supplier (as correct as that is) but it also has to mean the fair and equal treatment of all candidates, the widest possible choice of candidates, the provision of all relevant information to the electorate so they may make an informed choice and the removal of any doubt of institutional or personal bias. It seems that APNIC dont actually understand these basic principles of fairness in elections meaning that the community will continue to loose further trust in the governance process.
For the 2025 elections, it is essential that these documents are published well in advance of the start EC election campaign so that we can hear from all of the candidates during the campaign. All the other issues that go to fairness and equality must be resolved as well.
It is clear that a lot of hard work went into the production and presentation of these reports and I thank the team for their hard work in this. Its too late for this election, but I will be insisting on getting answers from APNIC about this For the sake of APNIC’s improved governance, these issues need to be resolved for 2025.
In the meantime, everyone who hasn't voted please use your vote before the closing deadline.