Bengaluru, Sep 3 : Asserting that eternal vigilance is theprice democratic countries pay for liberty, Chief Election Commissioner SunilArora on Monday said the world's election bodies should be vigilant in ensuringfree and fair polls

 "Eternalvigilance is price democratic countries pay for liberty, especially in emergingnations where the political will of the people suffers from weak institutionsand lack of trained manpower to conduct free and fair electionstransparently," Arora said in his address at the executive session of theAssociation of World Election Bodies (A-WEB) here.

Noting that as an electoral miscarriage may breed distrustin democratic institutions, he said that multilateral organisations like A-WEBwould have come to the fore.

"The constituent units of the A-WEB are the electoralmanagement bodies (EMBs) of different countries, structured to work togetherand learn from the experiences and best practices of one another," hesaid.India is one of the founding members of the AWEB since it was formed inOctober 2013 and has been its Vice-Chair since 2017 to promote partnershipamong EMBs the world over.

"With 115 EMBs from 109 countries as members and 20international organisations as associate members, A-WEB has become a globalorganisation to strengthen electoral management in a non-invasive manner,"said Arora.

Recalling the role of the Constitution framers in setting upthe Election Commission of India on January 25, 1950, a day before the countrybecame a republic, Arora said the poll panel had conducted 17 parliamentary and388 state assembly elections since 1951-52.

"The elections over the last 68 years have strengthenedthe country's faith in electoral democracy. As a reputed institution, the ECIshares best practices and skills with other EMBs through its internationalcooperation programme," he said.

The EC has an agreement on electoral cooperation with 26EMBs and international organisations worldwide.

Arora also complimented AWEB's Secretary-General Yong-Hi Kimof South Korea and his colleagues at the secretariat for organizing trainingprogrammes and conferences yearly, fostering promoting of exchange andcooperation among the EMBs.

About 120 delegates from 50 countries the world over areparticipating in the 3-day WEB summit.

Prominent among the participants are A-WEB chairperson andRomania Electoral Authority Adviser Ion Mincu Radulescu and heads of EMBs fromBangladesh, Burkina Faso, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Fiji, Kenya, Malawi,Palestine, Paraguay, Tunisia and Uzbekistan.

Delegates of EMBs from Cameroon and Ecuador are alsoattending the event as special invitees.