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India will lead the Council of Member States of the International IDEA
India will lead the Council of Member States of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) for the year 2026 after Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar formally assumed the chairship in Stockholm on Wednesday
India will lead the Council of Member States of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) for the year 2026 after Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar formally assumed the chairship in Stockholm on Wednesday.
As chair, Kumar will steer the council’s work with a focus on the theme “Democracy for an inclusive, peaceful, resilient and sustainable world”. Mauritius and Mexico will serve as vice chairs for the year.
Kumar said the chairship will be “decisive, ambitious and action oriented”, with India set to guide the council’s work around two pillars — reimagining democracy for the future, and independent & professional election management bodies for sustainable democracy. At the handover ceremony, where he was received by India’s Ambassador to Sweden Anurag Bhushan, Kumar also held discussions with International IDEA Secretary-General Kevin Casas-Zamora.
In his acceptance speech, the CEC located India’s electoral scale and experience at the centre of the chairship. “I am from India and will therefore begin by telling you about India,” he said, noting that the country has more than 900 million electors across 28 states and 8 Union Territories, and that the Election Commission has “nearly 75 years of experience in conducting transparent elections and preparing accurate electoral rolls based on eligibility”.
Referring to the 2024 Lok Sabha election, he said India had witnessed a vast democratic process involving over 20,000 candidates from 743 political parties, including six national and 67 state parties, supported by more than 20 million election personnel — over one million booth level officers and five million polling staff among them. He added that during parliamentary elections, the Commission “becomes the largest organisation in the world”.
Kumar highlighted that India has held 18 general elections to Parliament and more than 400 to state legislatures since 1947. The chairship, he said, would be used to share India’s institutional learnings as well as democratic principles embedded in its constitutional and civilisational traditions.
“As Chief Election Commissioner of India, I… accept the Chairship of Council of member States of International IDEA,” he told representatives of the 35 member democracies and two observer nations. He said India would work closely with all member states to strengthen electoral institutions and democratic processes worldwide.
He closed with a commitment to inclusion and voice, stating that India would work to ensure “every vote counts, every voice matters and that democracies worldwide become more inclusive, peaceful, resilient and sustainable”.
International IDEA’s membership spans countries such as Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico, Germany, France, South Africa, Ghana, Australia, Sweden, Estonia, Cabo Verde and Barbados, with a combined electoral roll of more than 2.22 billion registered voters.
