Former Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will officiate a conference on the state of democracy in Southeast Asia, organised by the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) and the Kofi Annan Foundation.

Susilo, who led Indonesia between 2004 and 2014, will deliver a keynote address on "Democracy in Southeast Asia: Achievements, challenges, prospects", which is also the title of the conference.

Former Prime Minister of Belgium and current head of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) Yves Leterme will also be making opening remarks.

Surin Pitsuwan, former Thai foreign minister and former Asean secretary-general, will close the conference.

It is understood that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak was invited to launch the conference, but organisers could not secure his attendance.

Instead, Putrajaya will be represented by Paul Low Seng Kuan, a minister in the Prime Minister's Department, whose portfolio includes governance, integrity and human rights.

Among others, the conference will discuss development, electoral integrity, political financing, safety during elections, and pluralism in democracies.

According to the latest conference agenda distributed to the press on Thursday, no Malaysian government representatives are listed as panellists, although it is understood that organisers made repeated efforts to invite Malaysian government representatives to the meeting.

Electoral integrity: Too hot for Putrajaya?

Sources told Malaysiakini that the session on electoral integrity and monitoring bodies was supposed to feature Election Commission chairperson Hashim Abdullah as a panellist.

However, the latest conference agenda listed Suhakam commissioner Aishah Bidin instead for the session, which is titled "How can election management bodies build trust and legitimacy in the political process?"

Unlike the other two panellists and moderators for the session, Aishah does not appear to have any experience in electoral affairs, and is instead an academic specialising in law, according to her profile on Suhakam's website.

The conference agenda lists four international experts on electoral affairs speaking at the two-day event, including Hasyim Asy'ari, head of Indonesia's General Elections Commission (KPU).

Kofi Annan, the chair of the event sponsors Kofi Annan Foundation, said in a statement that the conference was aimed at providing a "much needed" exchanges to strengthen democracy in Southeast Asia.

"Elections without integrity cannot provide the winners with legitimacy, the losers with security, and the public with confidence in their leaders and institutions," he said.

Suhakam said that the conference's objective was to allow participants to share experiences and best practices to strengthen electoral integrity in the region, support peaceful elections with integrity and smooth transitions.

Countries represented include Indonesia, Singapore, Timor Leste, Philippines, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam and Cambodia.

The event will be held on Sept 2 and 3 at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. To RSVP, contact S Parameswari or Norashikin Hamzah.