NDI - Czech Republic

Democracy Activists Pay Tribute to Václav Havel and His Ideals

fgalleto — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 19:16:21 +0000

Political dissidents from China, Syria, Iran, Ethiopia, Cuba and Burma joined NDI Chairman Madeleine K. Albright and others to pay tribute to the life and work of Václav Havel at the National Endowment for Democracy. Havel, a playwright and political activist who went on to become the president of Czechoslovakia and later the Czech Republic, died last month at the age of 75.

The tributes emphasized Havel's empathy with those living under authoritarianism, his warm humor, his great intellect, and his constant striving to "live in truth," a major theme of his seminal work The Power of the Powerless.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Burma's democracy movement, sent a video message paying tribute to her long-time friend. She recounted that two days after Havel's death, a letter arrived from him offering his continued support to her and to the democracy movement in Burma. Noting that it was written only days before he died, "it was a surprise that he had remembered us at a time when he was so ill," she said.

Similarly, Li Xiaorong, a Chinese democracy activist, recalled seeing Havel deliver a letter to the Chinese embassy in Prague in January of 2010 demanding the fair trial and release of Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo. Though the winter was particularly hard on Havel due to his illness, Li said, his concern for Liu Xioabo outweighed concerns for his own well being. "Havel speaks directly to us," she said. "We always felt that he knows intimately what a dissident writer like Liu Xiaobo faces as he or she criticizes a powerful authoritarian regime and tries to speak the truth."

Birtukan Midekssa, who is often referred to as the Aung San Suu Kyi of Ethiopia, said that she identifies with the humble green grocer in The Power of the Powerless who becomes a dissident by refusing to live the lie of authoritarianism. Havel provided "a narrative of struggle" that helped sustain her during her long periods in solitary confinement as a political prisoner.

Albright, a friend of the Czech president, recalled both personal and public moments she shared with Havel. "I recall especially the night he played host to President Clinton at the Reduta jazz club in Prague, shaking maracas and a tambourine while Clinton tried out the new saxophone that Havel had given him," she said. She also spoke of Havel's humility and his optimism. "He had an unshakeable confidence in certain basic principles about how we humans should treat one another, and about the proper relationship between citizens and the state."

President Obama and the Dalai Lama, unable to attend the memorial, sent statements in praise of Havel and his work.

Related:

Published Jan. 11, 2012

Remarks by Madeleine K. Albright at the NED Memorial Tribute to Václav Havel

fgalleto — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 19:05:07 +0000

Author:

Madeleine K. Albright

Publisher:

National Democratic Institute

Published Date:

01/06/2012

Resource Type:

Speech

Language:

English

Attachment	Size
Read the remarks	61.83 KB

Vaclav Havel, the principled president

ntekeei — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:52:10 +0000

Source:

The Washington Post

Article Link:

Published Date:

12/19/2011

In a eulogy to Vaclav Havel, who died Sunday, NDI Chairman Madeleine Albright writes that he was a man preoccupied with moral values, ethics and a belief in democratic institutions.

"Havel was steadfast in pursuing a moral universe, but he never suffered from the illusion that he lived in one. The urgency in his voice came less from lofty expectations of human character than from the distress he felt at those who accepted injustice simply because it was easier to look away than to resist."

NDI Mourns the Passing of Václav Havel

fgalleto — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 22:09:58 +0000

NDI mourns the passing of former Czech President Václav Havel. The Institute recognized Havel in 1991 with its W. Averell Harriman Democracy Award, honoring him for his years as a dissident, political essayist and leading figure in the Velvet Revolution of 1989 — the bloodless end to communism in Czechoslovakia.

“Václav Havel leaves our world better for having been a part of it,” said NDI Chairman Madeleine Albright, a Czech-born friend of the playwright and political leader. “Amid the turbulence of modern Europe, his voice was the most consistent and compelling — endlessly searching for the best in himself and in each of us.”

When asked in an interview if he wanted to be remembered as a politician or playwright, Havel replied that he “would like to say that he was a playwright who acted as a citizen, and thanks to that he later spent a part of his life in a political position.”

It is fitting that he tied his legacy to the concept of citizenship, a core component of democracy, and to the importance of creating a strong civil society. In his 1978 essay, The Power of the Powerless, Havel called it the “independent life of society,” and believed it formed the basis of political action.

His words resonated decades ago behind the Iron Curtain, and today find expression and relevance among new forces of civil and political activism. Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi often quotes that most famous essay.

Following his time in office, Havel could have rested on his accomplishments and celebrity status, and retired gracefully from the world stage. Instead, he chose to serve actively as a voice of conscience and a force of solidarity for those who today suffer and sacrifice for their democratic ideals as he once did. He was a passionate believer in the notion that the individual can make a difference. “The cry of freedom, the free action of a person is the most important,” he once said. “It is the first nail in the coffin of a system based on a lie.”

This explained, in part, his tireless efforts on behalf of courageous individuals, such as Aung San Suu Kyi and Oswaldo Payá of Cuba, who struggle against tremendous odds to advance peaceful democratic change. “I remember vividly what the support of the democratic world meant for me when I was persecuted and imprisoned,” President Havel told the Prague Post. “I feel obligated to repay this debt to those who are in a similar situation now.”

“We at NDI will always honor his legacy,” said Kenneth Wollack, president of the Institute.

Read more:

Published December 19, 2011

Václav Havel Receives the W. Averell Harriman Democracy Award

fgalleto — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 14:18:22 +0000

Author:

Kenneth Wollack

Publisher:

National Democratic Institute

Published Date:

02/20/2007

Resource Type:

Speech

Language:

English

Attachment	Size
Read the speech	155.56 KB

Legislative Oversight and Budgeting: A World Perspective

ggreene — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 22:45:30 +0000

Author:

John Johnson, Robert Nakamura, Rick Stapenhurst

Publisher:

World Bank Publications

Published Date:

09/12/2008

Resource Type:

Case Studies

Language:

English

Using case studies from numerous countries including the Czech Republic, Israel, Italy, Poland and South Africa, Legislative Oversight and Budgeting brings together scholars and practitioners to explore oversight from a variety of perspectives and legislative settings.

Note: The links below connect to the first and second sections of the document, broken into chapters listed consecutively for easier downloading.

English

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Part 1	71.4 KB
Part 2	149.78 KB

Václav Havel

ggreene — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 17:37:31 +0000

As the leader and conscience of Czechoslovakia’s “velvet revolution”, Vaclav Havel has become an inspiration to those throughout the world who share his values and ideals.

As a playwright, philosopher, political prisoner and human rights activist, Havel’s peaceful but persistent struggle for democratic society came to symbolize Eastern and Central Europe’s rebellion against repression. On New Year’s Day, 1990, President Havel addressed his nation with these words:

“People, your government has returned to you!”

In recognition of his courageous struggle in promoting democracy and human rights, NDI was proud to honor President Vaclav Havel as the recipient of the 1991 W. Averell Harriman Democracy Award and by extension, the millions of Eastern and Central Europeans who were inspired by his words and actions and who themselves continue the difficult struggle to build democratic societies.

Read more:

Václav Havel receives the W. Averell Harriman Democracy Award»

Václav Havel Receives the W. Averell Harriman Democracy Award

vrao — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 20:08:10 +0000

During a February 20 event sponsored by the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), former Czech Republic President Václav Havel was presented with the NED Democracy Medal. The occasion also provided an opportunity for NDI to present him with its Harriman Award for 2004. At the time of the NDI 20th anniversary Harriman dinner in 2004, President Havel was unable to travel to DC to accept his second Harriman award.

Remarks by NDI President Kenneth Wollack at the Library of Congress/National Endowment for Democracy event honoring President Václav Havel.

20 February 2007:

Sixteen years ago, in 1991, NDI recognized Václav Havel with its W. Averell Harriman Democracy Award, honoring him for his years as a dissident, political essayist and leading figure in the Velvet Revolution of 1989—the bloodless end to communism in Czechoslovakia.

In accepting the award on behalf of the then-President of the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic, Ambassador Rita Klimova commented on the difficulties of consolidating the new, democratic government. “The transition to a parliamentary democracy and to a market economy are proving to be much, much more difficult than we had anticipated in the good old days when we were dissidents and had only the police to fear,” she quipped. No longer facing arrest or harassment, President Havel went on to successful terms as the last president of Czechoslovakia and the first president of the Czech Republic.

Also quite clear in the decade and a half since that occasion, is that Václav Havel could have rested on his accomplishments and celebrity status, and retired gracefully from the world stage. I am certain that his doctors would have advised such a course of inaction. Instead, he took a cue from another Czech-born playwright, Tom Stoppard, who wrote in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead that “every exit is an entrance someplace else.”

For President Havel, that someplace else was a voice of conscience and a force of solidarity for those who today suffer and sacrifice for their democratic ideals, as he once did. He is still a passionate believer in the notion that the individual can make a difference. “The cry of freedom, the free action of a person is the most important,” he once said. “It is the first nail in the coffin of a system based on a lie.”

This explains, in part, his tireless efforts on behalf of courageous individuals, such as Oswaldo Payá of Cuba and Ang San Suu Kyi of Burma, who struggle against tremendous odds to advance peaceful democratic change. “I remember vividly what the support of the democratic world meant for me when I was persecuted and imprisoned,” President Havel told the Prague Post. “I feel obligated to repay this debt to those who are in a similar situation now.”

In that 1991 ceremony, NDI also presented the Democracy Award to then- AFL-CIO President Lane Kirkland, who also believed in the triumph of the human spirit, and more than most understood the value of timely and sustained international support to democratic forces in need.

NDI was to have given President Havel the Harriman Democracy Award for the second time in 2004. That was the year that NDI celebrated its 20-year anniversary and paid tribute to an era of democratic transformation by presenting the Award to recipients from each region of the world – seven in all. So this Award, Mr. President, is engraved with “2004.”

President Havel, this Award bestowed on you is as close to family as it gets. Mr. President, NDI’s Czech roots run deep. Our founding Vice Chair and current Chairman, Madeleine Albright, is on travel. Otherwise she would have been here herself to present the Award.

So, 16 years ago, we honored President Havel for one set of accomplishments and today, the homage is even deeper, richer and more profound.

We are proud to have given this Award to you in 1991, in 2004 and now today. Just 30 years after co-founding Charter 77, 24 years after enduring almost five years in prison and 17 years after the Velvet Revolution, NDI is honored that we can finally make the presentation in person and celebrate a lifetime of individual engagement, of personal courage, of public service and of making a difference.

NDI Reports: A Review of the Activities of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs

vrao — Mon, 21 Jul 2003 04:00:00 +0000

Author:

National Democratic Institute

Publisher:

National Democratic Institute

Published Date:

12/01/2008

Resource Type:

Newsletter

Language:

English

Attachment	Size
Spring 2011: Digital Mapping, Women's Participation, Domestic Monitoring	1.2 MB
December 2008: Making Democracy Deliver	2.37 MB
Summer 2008: Kosovo, Pakistan, Sudan	571.9 KB
Summer 2007: Youth, Women, Technology	801.33 KB
Summer 2006: Bosnia, Liberia, West Bank and Gaza	462.92 KB
Fall 2005: Kosovo, Iraq, Kuwait	865.42 KB
Spring 2005: Ukraine, Iraq, Afghanistan	813.77 KB
Spring 2004: Win With Women, Elections in Eurasia	615.17 KB
Fall 2003: Celebrating 20 Years	808.11 KB
Spring 2003: Women's Leadership in Yemen, Nepal, Senegal	468.06 KB
Fall 2002: Democracy in the Middle East, Cuba	547.6 KB
Spring 2002: Asian Political Parties, Afghanistan	528.32 KB
Winter 2001: Sept. 11, Nicaragua, Belarus	507.47 KB
Summer 2001: Election Monitors in Central & Eastern Europe	683 KB
Spring 2001: Mexico, Peru, Serbia	732.14 KB
Winter 2000: Zimbabwe, Croatia, Thailand	2.52 MB
Winter 1999: Indonesia, Nigeria, Azerbaijan	3.23 MB
Fall 1999: Nigeria, Indonesia, Morocco	1.29 MB
Winter 1998: Kenya, Poland, Northern Ireland	2.26 MB
Summer 1998: Hong Kong, Ukraine, Ghana	2.01 MB
Winter 1997: Nicaragua, South Africa, Ghana	2.93 MB
Summer 1996: Russia, International Leaders Forum	2.98 MB
Spring 1996: West Bank Gaza, Bosnia, Burundi	2.4 MB
Winter 1995: West Bank Gaza, Ukraine, Malawi	3.28 MB
Fall 1995: South Africa, Russia, Yemen	2.22 MB
Summer 1995: Haiti, Peru, Malawi	2.68 MB
Spring 1994: South Africa, Mexico, Ethiopia	3.43 MB
Summer 1993: Russia, Namibia, Nicaragua	3.52 MB
Spring 1993: Cambodia, South Africa, Yemen	3.71 MB
Spring 1992: Romania, South Africa, Bolivia	1.99 MB
Winter 1991: Zambia, Poland, the Baltics	2.05 MB
Summer 1991: Zambia, Mexico, Bangladesh	1.26 MB
Spring 1991: Namibia, Russia, Senegal	1.36 MB
Winter 1990: Poland, Namibia, Bangladesh	1.33 MB
Fall 1990: Former Soviet Republics, Haiti, Bulgaria	2.07 MB
Summer 1990: Eastern Europe, Dominican Republic, Haiti	2.7 MB
Spring 1990: Hungary, Nicaragua, Panama	1.3 MB
Winter 1989: Pakistan, Argentina, Chile	1.59 MB
Fall 1988: Chile, Pakistan, Nicaragua	1.26 MB
Summer 1988: Costa Rica, Panama, Chile	1.61 MB
Spring 1988: Tunisia, Chile, Paraguay	1.28 MB
Winter 1987: Haiti, Chile, Nicaragua	1.84 MB
Fall 1987: Haiti, Uruguay, Nicaragua	1.43 MB
Spring 1987: Argentina, Philippines, Haiti	1.22 MB
Spring 1986: Philippines, Brazil, Northern Ireland	2.26 MB
Summer 1986: Chile, South Korea, Northern Ireland	2.92 MB
Winter 1986: Mondale Assumes Chairmanship, Argentina, Haiti	3.96 MB
Summer 1985: Senegal, Northern Ireland, South America	1.15 MB

Czechoslovakia: Electoral Processes (Final Report)

vrao — Mon, 18 Mar 2002 05:00:00 +0000

Author:

National Democratic Institute

Publisher:

National Democratic Institute

Published Date:

01/08/1990

Resource Type:

Report

Language:

English

Attachment	Size
Read the report	641.58 KB

Dodd And Mccain To Co-lead Delegation To Czechoslovak Elections

vrao — Fri, 08 Mar 2002 05:00:00 +0000

Author:

National Democratic Institute

Publisher:

National Democratic Institute

Published Date:

06/01/1990

Resource Type:

Press Release

Language:

English

Attachment	Size
Read the release	390.87 KB

Eastern & Central Europe: NDI Program Summary, 1993

vrao — Wed, 20 Dec 2000 05:00:00 +0000

Author:

National Democratic Institute

Publisher:

National Democratic Institute

Published Date:

12/30/1993

Resource Type:

NDI Program Update

Language:

English

Attachment	Size
Read the update	1001.63 KB

The New Democratic Frontier: A Country by Country Report on Elections in Central and Eastern Europe

vrao — Wed, 20 Dec 2000 05:00:00 +0000

Author:

Larry Garber

Publisher:

National Democratic Institute

Published Date:

12/30/1992

Resource Type:

Report

Language:

English

Attachment	Size
Read the article	758.14 KB

Czechoslovakia: Statement by the International Observer Delegation To The 1990 Elections

vrao — Sun, 10 Jun 1990 05:00:00 +0000

Author:

National Democratic Institute

Publisher:

National Democratic Institute

Published Date:

06/10/1990

Resource Type:

Statement

Language:

English

Attachment	Size
Read the statement	110.1 KB