Svenska sektionens svar på IEC:s förslag om valsystem för ICM och CF Underlag till styrelsemöte 1-2 juni 2010

The Swedish section's comments regarding the IEC's proposals on “Systems for electing international members to attend the ICM & CF” and “Terms of reference for the INC”

The right of international members to participate in the ICM and CF is something we fully support in the Swedish section. What we find most important at this stage is whether the system for electing members to attend is fair, non-discriminating, and democratic so that all members that wish to attend such meetings are given a fair chance to be elected to do so as well as having de facto possibilities to participate in the election process. Please find our comments below.

• Revision of the system – the IEC stipulates that the system “may need some revision based on experience after it has been used for one or two years”. However, there are no guidelines presented as to how, when and by which organ this revision shall be made. Although we understand the IEC's position that this is a new system and will need some time to “settle in” it would be helpful to know how the IEC plans to tackle any major revisions to the election process. For example, if it's within the IEC's discretion to redefine the term “international member” then that has a significant democratic impact.

• Term limits – We do not agree with the comparison between term limits for the international members and term limits for the section’s board members or ICM delegates. The section’s ICM delegates always represent their own section. They do not, for example, have their own vote but vote in accordance with their section. An international member, on the other hand, always represents himself or herself. The international members also have a much broader and, arguably, more diverse constituency. These factors increase the importance that more voices and representatives of the international members are allowed to be heard. We are concerned that a lack of term limits for these members can lead to a situation where the same international members continue to take part in the ICM, for example because their former experience becomes relevant to the election process. We therefore suggest that international members can only be elected to attend the ICM and CF a limited number of times in a row.

• Deputy members of the INC – In paragraph 15 of the terms of reference for the INC, there is a suggestion that IEC shall fill vacancies. In principal we take issue with the idea that the IEC would fill vacancies for a body whose primary responsibility is to prepare the nominations for the IEC. Perhaps even more importantly we believe it could have a negative impact on the INC's legitimacy. There are various other ways this could be handled, for instance, by having the ICM elect one or several deputy member(s) to the INC, by allowing the INC to co-opt members much like the IEC does or by having the Chairs Forum fill vacancies.