05/11/2010 - Consultative meeting at STAE HQ

On November 5th, the Director of STAE, Mr. Tomás do Rosário Cabral convened a consultative meeting at STAE HQ, in which participated the thirteen (13) District Coordinators, the Heads of Department, the Heads of Sections, the Office of the Directorate of STAE, and the Advisers from STAE HQ. The overall objective of the meeting was based on the discussion of the activity plan 2011-2012.

At the beginning of the meeting the Director of STAE mentioned the relevant issues regarding the upcoming elections of the year 2012 and he required to the District Coordinators to start working on logistical issues relating to these elections.

The Director stressed to the district coordinators the importance of holding weekly meetings, in order to discuss and to distribute the official activities in the districts. He also mentioned that in some districts there is no planning in the distribution of the weekly and daily activities, and that is necessary to report as well to receive information from the Secretariat the activities and, from the STAE Direction.

Regarding the plan for the years 2011 and 2012, the Director of STAE presented the preliminary schedule for the 2012 general elections. This calendar contains all the most important activities that will happen in 2011. Among the most important activities for the 13 districts is the database base update, which is expected to occur in the second half of next year.

It was emphasized the importance of budget preparation from the districts for the 2012 elections, based on the model presented by the Department of Administration and Finance during its visits to the offices of STAE, on July and August of this year. It was also highlighted the need of the data collection for the preparation of the budget for the 2012 elections, that will be included in operational plans for elections, such as: number of polling centers and polling stations, electoral materials, like: voting booths, ink, and stamps, that are situated in the warehouses at the district level, as well as the information regarding the roads that require maintenance and that influence the access to polling centers and polling stations.

Then, the thirteen (13) Coordinators district coordinators had the opportunity to present questions and issues on various topics concerning daily activities in STAE at district level. Also, they expressed the specific needs of each district. Each representative also reported on activities at the district level and on the general situation in each of them. Next, each of the Head of Departments belonging to STAE HQ informed about the ongoing relevant activities, as follows:

Department of Administration and Finances: The head of Administration and Finance Section mentioned the importance of creation and the organization of archives at district level. It was pointed out as well, the importance of the Attendance lists, the Evaluation sheets for the Staff and, the role of the District administration.

Logistics Section: Preparations of the electoral materials (vehicles, equipment in the districts, fuel, and communications in general.)

Technical and Management Information of the Voters Database Section: It was highlighted the importance of a monthly backup of the Voter Registration Update as well as the documents needed for updating database (original documents issued by the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste).

Support and Management, Training and Voter Education Department: General information about the activity plan for November and December and made an update about the upcoming training course for STAE staff (course on Management and Electoral Administration). It was mentioned as well the importance of the sending of information from the districts to the Newsletter that is released monthly by the Support and Management, Training and Voter Education Department.

Legal Department: STAE legal advisors made a presentation regarding the proposal to amend the following laws:

• Law on the Electoral Administration Bodies Electoral,
• Law for the President of the Republic, and
• Law for the National Parliament

After these presentations the thirteen (13) District Coordinators presented issues regarding procedural nature in relation to the mentioned proposal to amend.

The meeting with the district coordinators was a form implemented by the Direction of STAE to inform on major activities that should occur in the upcoming months and to evaluate the activities that happened in the last months.

It was agreed that in the month of December will be a meeting for coordinators to submit their plans for 2011 and budget for 2012.