Friday, November 05, 2010

Jordanian princess re-elected world equestrian head in Taiwan

Taipei, Nov. 5 (CNA) Jordanian princess Haya Al Hussein was re-elected as president of the Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) in a landslide victory at the body's general assembly in Taipei on Friday and pledged continued reform in her second term.

The princess won with 90 votes of a total 124 valid ballots, beating out contenders Sven Holmberg of Sweden, who received 23 votes, and Henk Rottinghuis of the Netherlands, who received 11 votes.

"Thank you so much for your confidence and trust. I promise that I won't let you down, " Al Hussein addressed the assembly after the election.

During a post-election press conference, she expressed gratitude toward the host country, saying that she will remember Taiwan for a lot of happy moments and for Taiwanese people's warmth and hospitality. Al Hussein said she would like to visit Taiwan again.

The FEI president acknowledged there had been criticism during the four years of her first term, with people saying the federation lacked democracy under her leadership.

"I took criticism seriously, and I have learned a lot, " she said, adding that the greatest lesson she has learned was that it is important to cope with diverse cultures and deal with people in an international organization. (BY Chris Wang) enditem/MH