EDEWECHT - EMA President Uwe Martens has decided to quit his job as the president of the European Mahjong Association (EMA).

Mr. Martens has been president since the first General Assembly of the EMA, Nijmegen, the Netherlands, June 2005. He does not want to give a formal reason for his decision ("personal reasons are private reasons").

Uwe Martens had quite a busy job in the Synod (the parliamant) of the German Evangelical Church, which did not leave him as much time for his job as the EMA president as he would have liked. As a result of this, he had to miss the second World Mahjong Championship in Chengdu (2007), and he was a rare player in international tournaments. He left the Synod last year already.

Uwe is known as a very conscientious president, who does not take decisions light-heartedly. During his term, EMA witnessed a considerable growth. The mahjong association started with six member countries in 2005, a number which has doubled since.

Uwe Martens is also the president of the German mahjong league (DMJL). He will not resign from that funtion; in fact, he is just re-elected for another term of two years.

The new president will be elected in the meeting of the General Assembly of the EMA during the OEMC 2009 at Baden (Vienna). Also, a successor will have to be found for Martin Rep (the Netherlands), who was elected vice-president during the OEMC 2007 (Copenhagen), but who has resigned his office. The only current vice-president left is Ms. Tina Christensen from Denmark.

Some sources mention her as the possible next president, since she seems to be the candidate who has the best communication abiities with divergent nations as Germany, France, Hungary and the Netherlands. Otto Myslivec from Austria, the secretary of the Austrian OEMC 2009 committee, might also be a good candidate, while also the name of Robert Rijnders, president of the Dutch mahjong association, is mentioned.

On the other hand, the Latin countries such as France and Italy, might claim a presidential seat. They play an important role in EMA, and have large national mahjong federations. The Italian FIMJ is one of the largest member countrues of EMA.

Interview with Uwe Martens on the website of Riichi Mahjong Germany (in German)