Re: elections

[Abdulaziz Al-Arfaj <alarfaj0 at yahoo dot com>]

--- Arafat Medini <lumina at silverpen dot de> wrote:

> >From my starting at arabeyes three years ago till today, and the project
> was a big playground for ppl who were jaleous about it and about its
> existence. We all know them, and we all know how HARD the fights about
> the power in Arabeyes were and still are, take fedora as an example or
> take some suspicious papers as another example.

What suspicious papers?
[...]
> Instead of us concentrating on the REAL problems awaiting us, SO MANY
> problems which are not solved, we simply begin to start playing with the
> stability of the project in introducing new ppl to fields they should
> not be interested in. Not because they are not good but because of our
> problems:

Just having elections doesn't mean anything will change. For all we know, we
might have the exact same core members after the elections as we did before the
elections. As for Youcef who resigned of his own choice, I really wish I could
put a gun to his head and force him to stay, but I can't ;)

> Too few ppl, no real mass translations! SO FEW MAN even after all these
> years!
> Too few skilled ppl to roll out quality work and define standards.

If every member that ever joined Arabeyes would never leave, we wouldn't be in
the situation you describe above, and you are right. However, I don't see how
having or not having elections will have an effect of the phenomena of people
simply losing interest.

[...]
> And instead of us coming together, working together and being for eg.
> present and discuss our problems in the IRC etc... NO we are only hungry
> for power, well you not me...

I doubt it. We probably won't even have to have the elections, because there
may not be enough people running. Don't you see? Nobody even wants to be a core
member!
[...]
no discussion were held, so where is the REAL
> democracy in this process??? no qualified person, no real discussion, no
> real argument.... Well for me this elections are not democratic! A
> reaction to some internal mood at the core group?

The discussion about elections was held months ago, and all members were
welcome to discuss them. Check the archives of the core list, the forum list,
and the minutes of core IRC meetings. I hate to say I told you so but I told
you so ;) , being subscribed to only the doc list and the general list will
definitely leave out of the loop.

> What I am afraid of, and what is also clear for me, is that groups and
> ppl who don't know what Arabeyes is simply can change the track of the
> project, that only cz ppl are busy or bored they step down from their
> responsabilities and that at the end like the Arabic regimes we'll
> become a playground for untrained ppl living their power illusions and
> enjoy being a "leader"....

Well, when someone becomes bored with his responsibilites for any reason, even
if he was a great core member, I think he should be allowed to step down and
not be forced, otherwise his morale will go down and so will his performance.

We can't expect someone to be part of core forever. People do have their own
personal lives... Having elections is the best way to regulate when people go
into core and when they leave. Youcef's decision to leave was a sad one and a
shock to us all and the timing too was bad for Arabeyes as a whole. An elected
member, however, will feel obliged to serve his full term.

The elections, of course, have many regulations and rules to prevent the
situations you mentioned. Not everyone can just come off the proverbial street
and become a core member. Also, don't forget that your voice is a weapon. If
someone is running for core and you don't think he is fit for the job, its your
duty of course to vote against him. I don't believe these elections will ruin
Arabeyes, in fact I think in the future they might save it. Sure, we have an
EXCELLENT core now, but will that always be the case? If not, we can always do
what we think is best for Arabeyes and vote in the people who are fit for the
role.

So I hope to see everyone take part in these elections, and no boycotts like
what I've been hearing :)

Regards,

Abdulaziz,


		
_______________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Declare Yourself - Register online to vote today!
http://vote.yahoo.com