Monday 20 July 2009

Personal view on the elections

Today were the elections to Central Committee (CC) and the new Constition Working Group [an online list is still missing]. They went really fast, because there were only two challenges. Challenge means that there is a proposal to replace a person on the list of the nominations committee by another person. Both challenges failed.

I was supporting one of them very much, it was within the Czech Republic. I wished to have Milan Balahura, young delegate from the Church of Czech Brethren, instead of Katerina Dekanovska, young delegate from the Hussite Church. There is only one seat in the CC for the Czech Republic. The Hussites have this seat at least already 12 years - in my opinion it would have been necessary not to have a monopoly of one church, but a rotation that everyone of the churches with similar size gets the chance to take part in the executive body of CEC. Besides, I think that Milan would have been the better candidate:

1. He says, what he thinks. Unfortunately, this is not that common in the CC - even for the members elected on the youth quota.
2. His mother is Orthodox, and he knows Orthodoxy well.
3. Milan is male. Too often the young people are only women, because they have to improve the gender balance. For young men it's quite harder to get to the CC than for young women.

But the challenge wasn't succesful, the support of the Assembly for Milan was too weak. Why? I don't know. Some decisions of the Assembly seem to me very cryptic...

All in all, the balances within the new CC are not satisfying. The gender balance is okay (17 women, 23 men), but there are only 12 lay again 28 ordained and only 6 young people. 2 lay and 2 young persons will be replaced by delegates of the Russian Orthodox Church, so there will be 10 lay and 4 youngsters (that is 10% instead of 20% demanded by the Constitution).

I hope that, despite of this composition, the CC will do a good work and support the reform towards a functioning and democratic organised CEC.

5 comments:

  1. Well, that presumes that ROC nominates ordained non youth which is not necessary the case?

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  2. 2 lay and 2 young persons will be replaced by delegates of the Russian Orthodox Church, so there will be 10 lay and 4 youngsters (that is 10% instead of 20% demanded by the Constitution).

    i am deeply shocked! why the decision was taken to replace 2 lay and 2 young??? how will it work?

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  3. And I am very sad about Milan. At least, I hope, you, Tobias, is in CC??

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  4. At least Katerina will do a great job, even though she is not a boy :-)

    Good luck Katka!

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  5. I'm not in the CC. I was proposed, but then we refused the idea to make a challenge within the own delegation.
    I don't know exactly, how it will work with the MP. I think, when they ask for returning into the CC, there will be an announcement, the MP will appoint its CC members, the CC will take notice, and that's it.

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