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INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATION UNION/ WORKING GROUP OF EXPERTS ON STABLE ELECTION PROCEDURES
(RES. 78, MINNEAPOLIS, 1998)
1 March 2001
Original: English
REPORT OF THE COUNCIL WORKING GROUP OF EXPERTS
ON STABLE ELECTION PROCEDURES
I Introduction
1 In accordance with the decision of Council 2001 (twelfth Plenary Meeting, 27 June 2001 - Appendix 1 to this Report), a Group of Experts was set up under the Chairmanship of Germany pursuant to Resolution 78 (Minneapolis, 1998 – Appendix 2 to this Report).
2 The task of this Group of Experts was:
- to develop draft stable election procedures for the election of Member States to the Council, elected officials, and members of the Radio Regulations Board pursuant to Resolution 78 (Minneapolis, 1998), on the basis of Council Document C2001/51(Rev.1) (Appendix 3 to this Report) and Council deliberations (Appendix 1 to this Report); and
- to submit a Report containing these draft procedures to Council 2002 for consideration.
3 The Group was open to participation by all Member States and conducted its work by electronic means (the list of experts designated by their Administration to take part in the Group’s work is contained in Appendix 4 to this Report). The Group’s proposal was conveyed to all Member States and was revised in the light of their comments. The revised Report is submitted to Council 2002 for consideration. The proposal, as revised by Council, shall be submitted to the next Plenipotentiary Conference for examination and possible adoption as stable election procedures.
II Group’s conclusions
4 According to No. 64 of the ITU Constitution, at present, each Plenipotentiary Conference establishes and adopts the procedures to be followed for the election of Member States to serve on the Council, for the election of the elected officials (Secretary-General, Deputy Secretary-General and the Directors of the Bureaux of the Sectors), and for the election of the members of the Radio Regulations Board. In order to save valuable conference time, these election procedures should be established as permanent rules as is common practice in other United Nations agencies (Resolution 78 (Minneapolis, 1998), Doc. C2001/51(Rev.1) paragraph A.1 and Recommendation 23a) of the Working Group on ITU Reform).
5 It seems appropriate, as in other United Nations agencies, to group these election procedures together with the existing “Rules of Procedure of Conferences and other Meetings of the International Telecommunication Union” and the “General Provisions regarding conferences and assemblies” extracted from Chapter II of the ITU Convention (as proposed by the Group of Experts responsible for reviewing the provisions of Chapter II of the Convention). In concurrence with this Working Group, it is therefore proposed that the new combined text be entitled “General Rules of Procedure of the International Telecommunication Union”. The election procedures should form a specific chapter of these “General Rules of Procedure of the ITU” (Doc. C2001/51(Rev.1), paragraph A.1).
6 At present, according to the constant practice of the Union, candidatures can be announced at any time prior to the elections, including during the Plenipotentiary Conference. It is indeed up to the Conference to set the deadline for the deposit of candidatures. But the uncertainty with regard to the candidatures makes it difficult for Member States to develop national positions prior to the Conference. In Document C2001/51(Rev.1), paragraph A.4, it is therefore proposed to establish a deadline for the announcement of candidatures prior to the Conference as is common practice in other United Nations agencies. This proposal is in concurrence with Recommendation 24 of the Working Group on ITU Reform (WGR). In §1 No. 3 of the Draft Election Procedures, three options are proposed with regard to the deadline for the announcement of candidatures: two weeks (WGR Rec. 24), one month (Doc. C2001/51(Rev.1) and at least two months (proposed by two experts of the Working Group). When deciding on the options, consideration should be given to the time necessary for the Secretary-General to translate the relevant papers into the working languages of the Union, the time necessary for distribution of the papers as conference documents to the Member States of the Union and the time necessary for Administrations to consult internally and with other Administrations on their position.
7 In order to concentrate the work of the Plenipotentiary Conference on matters of substance, it has been proposed that all the elections mentioned above be held in the first week of the Conference (Doc. C2001/51(Rev.1) paragraph A.7 and Recommendation 23c) and d) of the Working Group on ITU Reform).
8 In order to save valuable Conference time it is proposed that all elections be held by electronic means whenever possible (Doc. C2001/51(Rev.1) paragraph A.8; cf. Recommendation 23b) of the Working Group on ITU Reform).
9 One expert of the Working Group suggested having a provision in the Election Procedures stating that a candidate holding an appointed post in the Union shall submit his resignation at least 30 days before the beginning of the Conference. The majority of the Working Group’s experts, however, felt that this point primarily touches upon the relationship between the Union and its staff and is therefore better dealt with in the ITU Staff Rules and Regulations and not in the Election Procedures of the Union. It was noted that Article 12.2 of the ITU Staff Rules and Regulations covers the case described by the one expert.
10 The establishment of stable election procedures as described above makes it necessary to propose certain consequential amendments to the Constitution, the Convention and the existing Rules of Procedure (i.e. those adopted by PP–98).
III Proposed Text
11 The proposed text is set out in Annexes 1 to 4.
- Annex 1 contains the “Election Procedures” which it is proposed to establish.
- Annexes 2 and 3 contain, respectively, those provisions of the Constitution and of the Convention which would need to be amended as a consequence of establishing the proposed “Election Procedures” as shown in Annex 1 as a specific chapter of the “General Rules of Procedure of the ITU”.
- Annex 4 shows the structure of the new combined text entitled “General Rules of Procedure of the ITU” as proposed by the Group of Experts on Chapter II of the ITU Convention and proposed to be amended by the Group on Stable Election Procedures by adding an additional Chapter III “Election Procedures”.
Peter VOSS
Chairman
Group of Experts
on Stable Election Procedures
Annexes: 4
Appendices: 4
Annex 1
Election Procedures
These election procedures shall apply to the election of the Member States which are to serve on the Council, to the election of the elected officials and to the election of the members of the Radio Regulations Board in accordance with Articles 8 and 9 of the Constitution.
1 General Rules on Election Procedures
1 At least six months prior to the opening of the Conference, the Secretary-General shall invite Member States to nominate candidatures, if appropriate.
2 Each candidature shall be accompanied by the curriculum vitae of the candidate.[* ]
3 The exact time (Geneva) and date of the deadline for submission of candidatures shall be specified in the invitation sent by the Secretary-General. That date shall be [at least two months] [one month] [two weeks] prior to the opening date of the Conference.
4 Candidatures shall be published as conference documents as soon as they have been received by the Secretary-General.
5 Elections should be held during the first week of the Conference. They should be held after adoption of the Credentials Committee’s Report by the Plenary of the Conference (see No. 334 of the ITU Convention).
6 Elections shall be held in the following order: 1) Elected officials, 2) Members of the Radio Regulations Board and 3) Member States to the Council.
7 Elections shall be held by secret ballot.
8 Elections should preferably be held using an electronic system when a suitable system is available and if the Conference does not decide otherwise.
9 Whenever ballot papers are used, before proceeding to the vote, one teller for each region shall be designated by the Chairman from among the delegations present. The Chairman shall hand them the list of delegations entitled to vote and the list of candidates.
10 Delegations fulfilling the conditions set forth in Article 31 of the Convention shall be entitled to vote.
11 Proxy votes in accordance with Nos. 335 to 338 of the Convention shall be permitted.
2 Specific Rules of Procedure for the Election of Elected Officials
[1 Elections shall be carried out in two groups on a single day, if at all possible, the first one comprising the posts of Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General, and the second the posts of Directors of the Bureaux of the Sectors. The second group of elections shall only start upon completion of the first group of elections.]
[1 Elections shall be carried out in three stages, as follows: first, the Secretary-General; second, the Deputy Secretary-General; and third, the Directors of the Bureaux of the Sectors. The election of the Deputy Secretary-General shall only start upon completion of the election of the Secretary-General. The election of the Directors of the Bureaux shall only start upon completion of the election of the Deputy Secretary-General.]
2 Candidatures [of one person] for more than one post shall not be permitted.
3 Before proceeding to the elections pertaining to [one group] [each stage], each delegation entitled to vote shall receive:
a) a list of the posts included in the [group] [stage], bearing the names of all candidates in French alphabetical order, together with the names of the Member States which have presented the candidates or,
b) when ballot papers are used to hold the elections, a separate ballot paper for each of the posts included in the [group] [stage], bearing the names of all candidates in French alphabetical order, together with the names of the Member States which have presented the candidates.
4 Each delegation should indicate the candidate it supports:
a) by electronic means or,
b) when ballot papers are used to hold the elections, on its ballot paper by means of an “X” in the box against the name of that candidate.
5 Any candidate obtaining the majority [see No. 72 of the Rules of Procedures of Conferences and other Meetings of the ITU] [see No. 115 of the General Rules of Procedure of the ITU[*]] shall be elected.
6 Blank ballot papers shall be considered as abstentions. Ballot papers with more than one box marked, or bearing any mark other than an “X” inside a box, or bearing any mark whatsoever outside the boxes, shall be considered as invalid and shall not be counted. In computing the majority, delegations abstaining from voting shall not be taken into account.
7 When the number of abstentions exceeds half the number of votes cast, the provisions of [No. 78 of the Rules of Procedure of Conferences and other Meetings of the ITU] [No. 121 of the General Rules of Procedure of the ITU[*]] shall apply.
8 When the counting of the votes is completed, the Chairman of the Conference shall announce the results of the ballot in the following order:
- number of delegations entitled to vote;
- number of delegations absent;
- number of abstentions;
- number of invalid ballot papers;
- number of votes recorded;
- number of votes constituting the required majority;
- number of votes secured by each of the candidates, in ascending order of the number of votes;
- name of the elected candidate, if any.
9 When, in the first ballot, no candidate obtains the necessary majority of the votes, one or – if required – two further ballots shall be taken after successive intervals of at least six hours, unless the Conference decides otherwise, from the announcement of the results.
10 When, after the third ballot, no candidate has obtained the necessary majority of votes, there shall, after an interval of at least twelve hours, unless the Conference decides otherwise, from the announcement of the results, be a fourth ballot in which the two candidates having the largest number of votes at the third ballot shall be voted upon.
11 If however, after the third ballot, there is a tie between several candidates so that the two candidates to be voted upon at the fourth ballot cannot be selected, one or, if necessary, two additional ballots, after successive intervals of at least six hours, unless the Conference decides otherwise, from the announcement of the results, shall be first held to distinguish between the candidates in question.
12 When there is a tie in both the additional ballots mentioned in paragraph 11 above, the Chairman of the Conference shall draw lots to determine the candidate or candidates to be selected among those having obtained the same number of votes.
13 When, after the last ballot, there is a tie, the Chairman shall draw lots to determine the candidate who shall be declared elected.
3 Specific Rules of Procedure on Election to the Radio Regulations Board
1 The total number of members of the Radio Regulations Board and the number of seats per region of the world shall be decided in accordance with Nos. 62 and 93A of the Constitution.
2 The Conference may only re-open the list of candidatures for the region(s) concerned for a seat on the Radio Regulations Board if: