“Election Visits Program” to be Conducted in Japan Under the Framework of the Bali Democracy Forum (BDF)

July 7, 2010
Japanese

On the occasion of the election of the House of Councilors (Upper House) in Japan on July 11, an “Election Visits Program” will be organized in Japan. Officials in charge of elections in Asian countries will be invited to Japan from July 8 (Thu) to 13 (Tue) to visit sites and obtain information concerning relevant matters in Japan, such as systems of democracy, national election and administration.
Participating in the Program will be Dr. Ketut Putra Erawan, Executive Director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy (IPD) set up at the Udayana University in Bali, the Republic of Indonesia, and nearly 40 other people, including mid-level officials and young researchers involved in the area of elections. They are scheduled to undergo various programs, including a workshop with university professors and other experts as lecturers, a study tour of six polling stations in the Tokyo metropolitan area and a visit to the National Diet.
The Program will be implemented under the framework of the Bali Democracy Forum (BDF), based on the Chair’s statement issued at last year’s BDF session. Japan and Indonesia will be cooperating under the lead of the IPD in the process of implementation. It is expected that the participants will deepen their understanding of democracy in Asia, particularly in the area of elections, through their shared experience obtained during the elections in Japan.

[note] The Second Bali Democracy Forum (BDF II), held in Bali in December last year, was Co-Chaired by President Yudhoyono of Indonesia, and then Prime Minister Hatoyama of Japan. The Forum issued a Chair’s Statement which ‘recommended activities...in priority areas of cooperation, including workshops and seminars, training, election visits, policy-oriented research, and field studies.’ This Election Visits Program is part of our collective efforts to give effect to this recommendation.

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