On December 28^th Lajee Center held its bi-annual elections for the Administrative Board and its Monitoring Committee. Lajee Center Aministrative Board is the committee that oversees the work of the center, makes recommendations to Lajee staff, and verifies all projects, activities, and financial matters.

 

All members of Lajee’s General Assembly are permitted to vote in the elections. The General Assembly is made up of members of the local community and significantly a large number of our New Generation who are former child members of Lajee who after having benefited from the center’s work for many years eventually move into positions of responsibility within the organization. From the overall membership of the General Assembly, 36 of the 42 members took part in the elections, and campaigning and competition for election was very active between the 12 candidates who stood for a total of 9 seats.

The elections themselves were overseen by two independent witnesses – Mr Issa Qarake who is a resident of Aida Camp and the current Minister of Prisoners Affairs, and Mr Muhammad Jaradat who is the Campaign Coordinator at BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights. Mrs Lutfiah Al-Mashi, who is the External Relations Officer for the Palestinian Authority Ministry of the Interior, was the official Palestinian Authority Representative who by law must be present to officially verify that the elections are held in a fair and democratic manner. All three of these witnesses expressed satisfaction in the process and applauded the elections as a success.

It is also worth nothing that no members of Lajee’s paid staff are eligible for election on either the Administrative Board or Monitoring Committee, and also that only one person from each family can be elected as one of the final 12 members comprising both official bodies.

During vote counting, tensions rose further as it became clear that the vote was very competitive leaving everyone unsure of the final outcome until the results were officially announced. We would hereby like to announce the personnel of the Lajee Center Administrative Board that will carry out its duties through to the end of 2011.

Lajee Center Administrative Board

Mr Nidal Al Azzeh – Director of the Administrative Board

Mr Faris Malash – Vice-Head of the Administrative Board

Khalid Qarake – Treasurer

Basil Zboun – Secretary

Khadr Lutfi – Head of Activities Committee

Hiba Al-Azraq – Head of Projects Committee

Mohammad Hamida – Public Relations and Media

Samir Awaise – General Board Member

Mohammad Al-Khawaja – General Board Member

Elections were also held to elect a Monitoring Committee to oversee the work of the Administrative Board. 4 candidates fought for 3 final places within the committee and those elected were all former child members of Lajee Center.

Monitoring Committee

Marwan Faraja

Basil Sarhan

Yusef Shakurah

Lajee Center would like to congratulate all the successful candidates, and thank all who stood in the elections and members of the General Assembly who participated in the vote. We would also like to thank Mrs Lutfiah Al-Mashi, Mr Issa Qarake, and Mr Muhammad Jaradat, for their work as independent monitors of our electoral process. We look forward to continuing to develop our work through the terms of the newly elected bodies, and working closely with all members to strengthen our range of activities and facilities to an ever expanding number of members from Aida Camp and the surrounding areas.