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Several international observers were asked to oversee the January Taiwan presidential election to ensure freedom and fairness in what was predicted to be an extremely close race. Susan Henders, director of the 91��ɫ Centre for Asian Research (YCAR), was one of them. She’ll be discussing her experience as part of a panel Tuesday.

“Taiwan’s Super Saturday: Perspectives on the 2012 Polls from Canadian Election Observers” will take place Feb. 14, from 3:30 to 5:30pm, at 857 91��ɫ Research Tower, Keele campus.

Invited by the (ICFET), Henders was one of about 21 scholars, business people, parliamentarians and former government officials from eight countries, including Canada, the United States and several in Europe and Asia. This was the fifth time the Taiwanese people have voted directly for a presidential candidate since 1996. In addition, the legislative elections were also underway.

A street rally in support of��the Democratic Progressive Party campaign

“There are always issues of freedom and fairness in Taiwan elections,” says Henders, a political science professor at 91��ɫ. “However, there were particular concerns about this one because the presidential race was predicated to be really close. The ICFET wanted some international observers there who could comment on the spot about what might be going on in the days leading up to the polls and also to provide some judgment about the freedom and fairness of the election.”

Michael Stainton (left)��in Taiwan��with��a��poster in the background��in support of��the Kuomintang, the Chinese Nationalist Party, which was re-elected

Henders found the experience interesting and enlightening, and despite Taiwan’s unique situation and challenges, feels it has something to teach other democracies about the conditions that undermine the strength of democracy and the democratic nature of elections. She will join Michael Stainton, a Taiwan scholar and president of the Taiwan Human Rights Association of Canada who was also a member of the ICFET mission, in discussing their experiences as observers at the Tuesday event.

Stainton and Henders��will��examine how Taiwan’s democracy is affected by the island’s authoritarian past and its relations with China and the United States. B. Michael Frolic, a 91��ɫ political science professor emeritus, will speak about the election in light of Taiwan-China relations and democratization in other contexts. Lois Wilson, a former Canadian senator and president of the World Council of Churches, who was also part of the election observation mission, will also speak at the event.

A meeting��for the Democratic Progressive Party campaign, with the presidential candidate and her running mate on the background poster

In the preliminary report following the election, the ICFET observers noted issues, such as vote buying, were a problem in the Jan. 14 polls. They also noted some misuse of government power and a severe imbalance in party wealth and resources, which undermines the freeness and fairness of elections, but is a result of the island’s authoritarian past. Taiwan was under authoritarian rule until the late 1980s and is still trying to throw off the residue of that period in its bid for democracy.

Susan Henders

Taiwan’s particular geopolitical and economic positioning with respect to China and the United States also means that foreign interference in elections remains an issue, says Henders.��

The international election observation report stated that both Chinese and former United States officials interfered in the political process. During the election process, Taiwan and international media reported that Chinese officials��were using��China’s economic power to try to sway the election outcome. In addition,��a few days before the election, a former American Institute in Taiwan chairman commented that Taiwan relations with China and the US would suffer if the opposition won.

“It was that kind of thing we were able to respond to quickly,” says Henders. Head of the ICFET mission Frank Murkowski, former US Alaska governor and senator, publicly condemned the remarks saying the US government should be neutral in the election.

The Taiwanese people are particularly sensitive to the views of US and Chinese officials. Although the US doesn’t recognize Taiwan as a state, it is obliged to protect it militarily. “So if a former US official says anything before an election in Taiwan, it gets a lot of attention,” says Henders.����As Canada doesn’t formerly recognize Taiwan either, “it is particularly important that Canadian people, by participating in the election observation mission, showed support for efforts by Taiwanese people to strengthen their democracy.”

The Central Election Commission counting centre

Henders says the mission should be seen as a small contribution to the long-term building of a stronger democracy in Taiwan by getting rid of old authoritarian legacies and dealing with the power of China. “We were in many ways impressed by the election. We did not hear of issues with ballot counting or the mechanics of the process while we were there, and the candidates on the whole were forthcoming in answering the questions of our observation mission. Taiwan has achieved a lot.”

The ICFET mission visited Taipei, Kaohsiung, Tainan and Taichung and met with candidates or organizers from the three main political parties – the Democratic Progressive Party, the Chinese Nationalist Party and the People’s First Party. They also attended street rallies and campaign events, and visited polling stations. The mission members were present in the Central Election Commission counting centre on election day, they spoke with the media and held press conferences, as well as a public forum on democracy.

‘These kinds of observer missions represent a way civil society groups can be vigilant in helping each other and strengthening democracy,” Henders says.

For more information, contact YCAR at ycar@yorku.ca or visit the YCAR website.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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All talks, unless otherwise specified, take place in the McLaughlin Senior Common Room, 140 McLaughlin College, at noon. The talks are free and open to anyone in the 91��ɫ community.

�մǻ岹��,��Ian Greene (left), master of McLaughlin College, will speak about his volunteer activities in Ethiopia for a Canadian nonprofit organization that helps at-risk children obtain adequate food, shelter and an education so that they can go to school, then university, and then contribute to Ethiopia’s rejuvenation. Find out what you can do to contribute.On��Thursday Sept.��22,��L. H. Gummi justice of the high court of Nigeria along with��several other high court judge, will speak on the differences and similarities between the Nigerian court and the Supreme Court of Canada, which was a model for the Nigerian High Court when it was established.��

Lieutenant-General (Ret’d) George Macdonald (right), the former vice-chief of the Canadian Defence staff,��will speak on Sept. 23 about the��current challenges facing the Canadian Forces as they transition from a combat mission in Afghanistan, deal with the pressures of reduced government funding, and try to manage within a very cumbersome procurement system. Macdonald, a Fellow of McLaughlin College, spent 38 years in the Canadian Forces, retiring in 2004 after three years as the vice chief of the defence staff. He began his military career as a fighter pilot and has occupied staff and command positions at several levels. He has served with NATO in Germany and Norway, and with NORAD in Canada and at Colorado Springs in the US. He currently works as a consultant in defence and security issues in Ottawa.

On��Tuesday, Oct. 25, Sandra Vides Martinez,��a senior student in International Development Studies and��in the Faculty of Education at 91��ɫ, will compare her experiences of working with youth in a Peruvian orphanage and her experiences of working with youth in Toronto. She will be facilitating discussions surrounding the importance of breaking down biases when working with at-risk youth in marginalized communities in conjunction with developing programs that are based on participatory development and capacity building.��Vides Martinez��will draw on her experiences in working with communities in Toronto as well as her work with McLaughlin College's Human Rights, Participatory Growth and Poverty Eradication Project.��

Gregory Tardi, legal counsel to the House of Commons, will speak on Monday, Oct. 31 about��“Accountability to Law as an Aspect of Democracy.”

Then on Thursday, Nov. 24, Tahera Aurban-Ali, who is a 91��ɫ student and a Canadian who was��born in Afghanistan, will provide her passionate analysis of the situation in Afghanistan. She argues that allied (including Canadian) intervention has done a lot of good to promote human rights, but we should be wary of compromises made with the Taliban.

On Wednesday, Nov. 30,��James Sheptycki (right), a professor of criminology at 91��ɫ, will speak about his 20-year career researching transnational crime and policing. This talk coincides with the publication of two new books Transnational Crime and Policing' (Ashgate, 2011) and Global Policing, co-authored with Ben Bowling, professor of criminology at King's College, London (Sage, 2011). In his talk, Sheptycki will reflect upon the role of the researcher the study of "the police" and how this is effected by "globalization".

A��light lunch is served at noon and the talks usually begin at about 12:15pm, followed by a question-and-answer session. Each talk usually finishes shortly after 1pm.

For information on subsequent lunch talk schedules, visit the McLaughlin College website.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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