Wednesday 23 June 2010

Platforms and Manifesto's

Both* competing parties in the upcoming FIDE elections have now released their electoral platforms. Having read both, there isn't a lot of surprises in either, as they are both heavy on 'motherhood' statements, and in a sense promise to do what most people already know what needs to be done (organise high level events, attract sponsorship etc).
Probably the best place to read both platforms is at the Chessbase site, as the respective websites are weighed down with a lot of other guff ("We are now being supported by Elbonia!"). The Ilyumzhinov platform is here, and the Karpov platform here.
The only comment/proposal that really jumped out at me was the observation from the Karpov camp concerning funding for federations. In the introduction it says "Resources must be provided consistently rather than once every four years on the eve of FIDE elections. Past practices contaminate the electoral process." While this statement is true, the first part is as much the fault of federations failing to develop projects to be funded as it is FIDE's methods of disbursements. It is the second part of the statement that I feel is actually the most important part. For as it stands, there is an enormous advantage to the incumbent in this and past FIDE elections, and how that effect the democratic process is a big concern of mine.

(*BTW I now know who the 'mystery' third candidate is supposed to be and while it is someone who is probably quite obvious, as I am not convinced their ticket will even make it to the starting gates, I'll leave their name unpublished for now)

No comments: