Dears all, members of the ICANN middle-east, I hope this message finds you well and that the new year brings you prosperity and success. I would like to extend my best wishes to all members of the Middle East region for a positive and fulfilling start to 2025. Firstly, I want to express my appreciation to Farzaneh for your consistent and valuable contributions. Your input is always highly appreciated and meaningful. On a personal note, I would like to emphasize my full support for holding an election, regardless of the number of candidates— *even if only one candidate*. To my knowledge, there has been no communication (at least through the emails I’ve received) suggesting opposition to proceeding with the election, and I strongly believe it is vital that we move forward with it. *For everyone’s attention, I had a prior discussion with the ICANN Middle East team regarding next steps. The clear message I received last week was: “If you are asked about the cause of the delay, you can simply say that ICANN org was closed for the holidays.”As the election process is not explicitly outlined in the ME Space Charter, I understand that ICANN staff may require additional time to finalize the necessary steps.* *I want to highlight a key point, that I understood from the ICANN staff: many other regions do not have a charter for their Space. However, we are fortunate to have a charter for the ME space to build on. Thank you to the ME space founders.* *In General, there are two key points I would like to highlight:* *1-* Over the past two years, I have invested considerable time and effort into implementing the decision-making methodology outlined in the ME Space Charter. As stated in the Charter,* "For any decision-making (development and adoption of statements, work plans, or other documents, etc.), the ME Space shall seek to act by consensus. Consensus calls should always make best efforts to involve all members."* This methodology emphasizes the importance of consensus and aims to involve all members in the decision-making process. This is why I called for a meeting during the ICANN meeting in San Juan in March 2024, where we discussed these principles. As co-chairs of the ME Space, we have worked diligently to ensure our discussions focus on positive developments and opportunities, despite the challenges we’ve faced. We have maintained privacy regarding these challenges in our discussions without sharing them widely within the community. Also, *in December 2024*, I continued these efforts with a short discussion during the IGF in Riyadh (in person) or by message, by reaching out to available members, to ensure we continued moving the ME Space forward. *I also shared some recommendations I received with the ME ICANN staff to see if we could make progress with their support.* *2-* At the start, as Co-chairs, of our two-year term in January 2023, we proposed a draft strategy plan for the ME Space and opened it for discussion. Unfortunately, we lost seven months due to challenges and resistance in advancing this plan. Nonetheless, we have consistently advocated for *diversity in our approach* to topics related to our region, as demonstrated during the last ME Space ICANN session in Istanbul, where we saw strong attendance with big numbers of attendance and high levels of participation, both in-person and online. These efforts resulted in meaningful engagement and progress. and our responsibility, *all of us*, to continue forward. Looking back, I recognize the absence of some key voices during this period that we hear today, particularly me and Layal, who we were in critical need of these voices to support our initiatives and recommendations. I thank all who collaborated and made efforts for the region and the space. Moving forward, I hope to see more engagement like this, especially in light of the challenges we’ve already overcome. *I fully understand that we all lead busy lives, *but as we continue to advance, it is important for us to reflect on the progress we’ve made and to continue striving toward the best possible outcomes. Thank you for your attention, and I look forward to our continued collaboration and success. Best regards, Amin Hacha Member of the Middle East Space