[AFRI-Discuss] NomCom selection

Sat Jul 6 11:28:27 UTC 2019

  Thank you ALAN for your mail. I agree with you on some points and I
disagree on others:

I agree with you that a consultation with the RALO is mandatory as per the
ICANN Bylaw

I agree with you that any decision to accept or reject a RALO
recommendation or appoint someone else is a decision of the ALAC

I also agree with you that there has been a distinct lack of communication
in all directions in the current situation

And I finally agree with you that the proposal that Mohamed just made to
have an internal selection process is the right way forward. It is based on
Maureen’s proposal that I also applaud

But I strongly disagree with you that the ALAC Chair who is doing a
reasonable job should make discreet (that is private and confidential)
discussion with some ALAC members to make sure there is a strong consensus
on how to proceed.
The discussion must be with _ALL_ ALAC members (except those who have a
conflict of interest if any), in a closed meeting as we did in Panama last
year, not with some of them. Why some and not all? I’m not with decisions
prepared behind the doors among “a small group” of friends.

I also disagree with your allusion to the fact that if the RALO
recommendation is not accepted, ALAC can appoint a delegate to the NomCom
without going back to the RALO or even the RALO Chair. You were prudent
enough to say “there is no formal requirement”. But even that, I
disagree with because the formal requirement is in the bylaws article
12.2.(d)(v): The ALAC shall, after consultation with each RALO, annually
appoint five voting delegates (no two of whom shall be citizens of
countries in the same Geographic Region) to the Nominating Committee.

So ALAC appoints _AFTER_ consultation with the concerned RALO, not directly
without going back to the RALO. Your explanation is that since the RALO
proposed a name, it was consulted. My explanation is different based on the
fact that there is no formal permission to the ALAC to appoint without
going back to the RALO, and on the fact that ICANN has a governance model
based on a bottom up decision making system. If ALAC appoints without going
back to the RALO, its decision is top down

My other disagreement is about your contestation about us often focus more
on "democratic" procedures than on making sure we select knowledgeable and
capable people for all positions.

Do you mean the democratic process prevents the selection of the best
people????
Our AFRALO community shose so far very good delegates to the NomCom using
their democratic process: Yaovi Atohoun, Mohamed El Bashir, Dave
kissoondoyal, Fatimata Seye Sylla and Aziz Hilali. You can ask for their
360 evaluation to see that they performed very well. Also, this year, our
community made a good choice but there was an issue for him.

Do you think that Smaller group deciding instead of the whole members will
make a better decision?
How do you guarantee that this small group will not choose people that they
want (not the best or the best among their friends)??

Of course, we need knowledgeable and capable people. I still think that the
democratic process is the right one to have the best people if the
eligibility criteria are well defined in advance for each position, and if
they don’t change according to the will of the chair or any other
influent person. The solution is not to have smaller number of persons
deciding instead of the whole members. The solution is in a pre-defined
objective eligibility criteria for each position.

ICANN is a bottom-up decision making organization. ALAC and At-Large must
be and remain so as well.

Alan Greenberg <alan.greenberg at mcgill.ca> a écrit :

> I have avoided commenting during this process but now that we seem to
> be in a level postilion, I do have a few comments to make.
>
> Please note that these comments are NOT in reference to ANY candidate
> but are in relation to the process.
>
> - In accordance with the ICANN Bylaws and the ALAC Rules of Procedure
> (RoP), the Nominating Committee delegates are selected by the ALAC. A
> consultation with the RALO is mandatory.
>
> - Any decision to accept a RALO recommendation or appoint someone
> else is a decision of the ALAC. The Chair may certainly make a
> recommendation, but ultimately it is an ALAC decision. Prior to a
> Chair making such a formal recommendation, if he or she is doing a
> reasonable job, there would have been discreet (that is private and
> confidential) discussion with some or all advisors and ALAC Members
> to make sure there is a strong consensus on how to proceed. That is
> the process that I have followed in a similar situation last year and
> it is my understanding is that this is exactly the process that
> Maureen has followed.
>
> - If a RALO candidate is not ratified (or recommended to not be
> ratified), there is no formal requirement to go back to the RALO or
> even the RALO Chair.
>
> - Since we regularly (over many years) seem to have various people
> not understanding the NomCom delegate selection process, perhaps it
> is time to clarify the ALAC RoP.
>
> - All of the above notwithstanding, there has been a distinct lack of
> communications in all directions in the current situation, and that
> is a problem that needs to be rectified - and it cannot be fixed with
> rules.
>
> - The proposal that Mohamed just made, to have an internal selection
> process is one I applaud. If I understood correctly Remmy Nweke had
> earlier made such a suggestion. In my opinion, we (and that is both
> the ALAC and all RALOs) have often focused more on "democratic"
> procedures and not sufficiently on making sure we select
> knowledgeable and capable people for all positions. It is not
> typically sufficient to simply ask for volunteers (who may or may not
> have ANY of the skills needed) and then have a vote that is really a
> popularity contest and not a true evaluation of the candidates. For
> the ALAC, the situation has been largely remedied with the ALAC
> Appointee Selection Committee that began 3 years ago.
>
> Alan
>
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-- 
Tijani BENJEMAA
Executive Director
Mediterranean Federation of Internet Associations (FMAI)
Telephone: +216 52 385 114
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