Foreign observers in connection with the August 11, 2008 automated elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) arrived Monday afternoon in the southern Philippines for their election observation mission, said Commission on Elections spokesman James Jimenez.

The 22 man foreign delegation from Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Cambodia and Thailand are scheduled to visit the highest ranking poll officials, chiefs of police, candidates and various civil society organizations in the ARMM.

They are also set to visit random polling places and counting centers in the region to observe the conduct of the polls.

“This mission is quite special for me,” stated Somsri Hananuntasuk, executive director of the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL).

“Of course we have a lot of expectations but our supreme concern is the peaceful environment for the voters. We also want to see the ARMM voters really understand and trust the machines that will be used in the elections,” she said noting that the coming regional polls will lay the basis for the full automation of country’s elections.

Hananuntasuk, who hails from Thailand, added that the observers are also interested in seeing how the COMELEC will perform in this crucial electoral exercise.

ANFREL Secretary-General Kingsley Rodrigo for his part said his group also shares the poll body’s aim for “a free and fair elections in Mindanao”. Rodrigo said, he and his fellow observers hopes that there would be no violence when the region’s voters go to polls next week.

But for COMELEC spokesman James Jimenez, while the security situation in the ARMM is “everybody’s concern,” focus should also be given to “making the people understand their role in this election.”

“They should come out and vote. We believe that this exercise will bring about peace that we want in Mindanao,” Jimenez said.###