“Transparent Election Campaign Financing in the 21st Century”

Jubilee Conference of the

ASSOCIATION OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPEAN

ELECTION OFFICIALS

13–17 October 2001

Brijuni, Croatia

Hosted by:

Association of Central and Eastern European Election Officials (ACEEEO)

State Election Committee of the Republic of Croatia

International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES)

Saturday, 13 October 2001

16.00 - 20.00              Registration of Participants and Guests (Hotel Neptun)

20.00 - Welcome Party for all Participants and Guests of the Conference (Restaurant, Hotel Neptun)

              Executive Board meeting (after the Welcome Party)

Sunday, 14 October 2001

09.00 – 10.00              Registration of Participants and Guests (Hotel Neptun)

09.00 – 09.30              Press Conference

10.00 – 11.00              Opening Session (Congress Hall)

Chair: Mr. Ivica Crnić, Chairman of the Executive Board of the ACEEEO

Mr. Stjepan Mesić, President of the Republic of Croatia

Dr. Zoltán Tóth, Secretary General of the ACEEEO

Mr. Richard Soudriette, President of the IFES

11.00 – 12.00 Opening and first viewing of the Exhibition of the Suppliers of Election Equipment and Services and the Election History Exhibition

Opening Speech: Mr. Zsolt Szolnoki, Operation Director of the ACEEEO and Ms Patricia Hutar, Board Chair of IFES

12.00 – 13.30 Lunch (Restaurant, Hotel Neptun)

13.30 – 15.30 Sightseeing in Brijuni (by train)

15.30 – 16.00 Election Equipment and Services Exhibition

Refreshments served

16.00 – 17.30 Session one: Election Campaign Financing in the 21st Century (Congress Hall)

Chair: Mr. Michailo Ryabets, Member of the Executive Board of the ACEEEO

                          Presentations by

Mr. István Zsuffa, Program Director of the ACEEEO

Mr. Michael Pinto-Duchinsky, Board, IFES

Mr. Jan Ikstens, Expert of IFES

*** Moderated Question and Answer Period ***

17.30 – 18.00 Presentations by the Equipment and Services Suppliers (Congress Hall)

Code Incorporated, Canada

Hungarian Exhibitors

19.00 – 20.00 Reception – Hosted by Mr. Stjepan Mesić, President of the Republic of Croatia (Residency of the President)

20.30 – Banquet Dinner – Hosted by Mr. Ivica Crnić, President of the State Election Commission of Republic of Croatia (Restaurant, Hotel Neptun)

Monday, 15 October 2001

9.00 – 10.30 Session Two: Election Campaign Financing – Regional Trends and Solutions (Congress Hall)

Chair: Mr. Alexander Veshniakov, Member of the Executive Board of the ACEEEO

Mr. Evgeni Kolyushin, Member of the Central Election Commission, Russia

Mr. Mario Jelusić, Election expert, Croatia

Ms. Emília Rytkó, Deputy Head of the Hungarian Election Office

              *** Moderated Question and Answer Period ***

10.30 – 11.00 Election Equipment and Services Exhibition

Refreshments served

11.00 – 13.30 Professional Development Workshops: Regulating Election Campaign Financing

Workshop Group A (Blue Salon)

Theme One: Developing Appropriate Election Campaign Finance Regulations

Chair: Mr. Zenonas Vaigauskas, Member of the Executive Board of the ACEEEO

Moderator: Dr. Daniel Smilov, Expert of IFES

Presentation by the ACEEEO member countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lithuania, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Turkey)

Workshop Group B (Congress Hall)

Theme Two: Practical Questions of the Election Campaign Financing

Chair: Mr. Arnis Cimdars, Member of the Executive Board of the ACEEEO

Moderator: Mr. Marcin Walecki, Expert of IFES

Presentation by the ACEEEO member countries (Belarus, Croatia, Hungary, Latvia, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine)

13.30 – 15.00 Lunch (Restaurant, Hotel Neptun)

15.00 – 16.30 Session Three: Workshop Results (Congress Hall)

Chair: Dr. Gábor Máthé, President of the Hungarian Central Election Committee

Presentation by

Ms. Maja Tjernström, Normative Division, International IDEA

Dr. Daniel Smilov, Expert of IFES

Mr. Marcin Walecki, Expert of IFES

16.30 – 17.45 Session four: Technical problems of the US Presidential Election (Congress Hall)

Chair: Richard W. Soudriette, President of IFES

Presentation by

Mr. Alexander Veshniakov, Member of the Executive Board of the ACEEEO

Dr. István Zsuffa, Program Director of the ACEEEO

Mr. Paul DeGregorio, Director, University of Missouri-St. Louis

17.45 – 19.15 Election Equipment and Services Exhibition

Refreshments served

19.15 – 21.00 Concert of the Zagreb Solists (Congress Hall)

21.00 - Dinner (Restaurant, Hotel Neptun)


Tuesday, 16 October 2001

9.00 – 10.30 Session Five: Election Observation in Belarus (Congress Hall)

Chair: Mr. Kazimierz W. Czaplicki, Member of the Executive Board of the ACEEEO

Speakers:

Mr. Alexander Veshniakov, Member of the Executive Board of the ACEEEO,

Mr. Hrair Balian, Head of the Election Section of OSCE ODIHR,

Mr. István Kőszegi, Program Manager of the ACEEEO

*** Moderated Question and Answer Period ***

10.30 – 12.30 Sightseeing around Brijuni (by boat)

12.30 – 13.30 Final Viewing of the Election Equipment and Services Exhibition

13.00 – 14.30 Lunch (Restaurant, Hotel Neptun)

13.30 – 14.30 Executive Board Meeting (Blue Salon)

15.00 – 19.00 ACEEEO General Assembly Meeting (Congress Hall)

Agenda

1. Cooperation between ODIHR and the ACEEEO

Speaker: Mr. Vadim Zhdanovich, OSCE ODIHR

2. Cooperation between International IDEA and the ACEEEO

Speaker: Mr. Bengt Säve-Söderbergh, International IDEA

3. Report of the Secretary General of the ACEEEO

4. Discussion of the Plan of the Strategy of the ACEEEO for year 2002-2004

5. The topic and the scene of the Annual Conference of the ACEEEO in year 2002

6. Recommendation for election of a new honorary member of the ACEEEO, Mr. Marijan Ramušćak, Judge of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia

19.30 – Closing Ceremony

                                                            Mr. Zoltán Tóth, Secretary General, ACEEEO

                                                            Ms. Patricia Hutar, Board Chair, IFES

                                                            Mr. Ivica Crnić, Cairman, SEC, Croatia

                        Reception – Hosted by ACEEEO (Restaurant, Hotel Neptun)

Wednesday, 17 October 2001

              Departure