Former President Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is billed to leave for Cambodia on Wednesday to honour an invitation to a dual event of observing the country’s general elections and participating in a democracy dialogue and international leadership conference.
The former President is leading the African delegation to the scheduled July 23, 2023, general elections in Cambodia and will also serve as co-leader of a 100-member International delegation from 37 countries coordinated by the Universal Peace Federation (UPF).
Other co-leaders are former heads of state from Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Guatemala.
A joint invitation from UPF and Asian Vision Institute (AVI), an independent think tank based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, described Dr Jonathan as one of the distinguished democrats and observers whose presence helped build public confidence in the honesty and transparency of electoral processes.
The statement read: “The International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace (IAPP) and the Asian Vision Institute (AVI), along with Think Tank Asia Pacific Secretariat, wish to extend this invitation to you to attend an International Leadership Conference (ILC) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on July 21-24, 2023. The theme of the ILC is “Democracy, Good Governance and Sustainable Development: Toward a Culture of Peace.
“Excellency, you are also invited as one of the distinguished Observers to witness the Cambodian General Election to be held on July 23 2023.”
The former President, who is the Chairman of the West African Elders Forum (WAEF), recently led the Forum on a mediation mission to Sierra Leone elections which held last month. Dr Jonathan has just returned from Liberia as head of WAEF pre-election mediation mission.