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NDI E-news: North Africa, Liberia, Ecuador | May 2011

fgalleto — Thu, 26 May 2011 20:27:35 +0000

May 2011

Across North Africa, Citizens Find Their Voice

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On one wall of Tahrir Square in Benghazi, Libya, people leave pictures of those who died during the reign of Muammar Gaddafi, including during the uprising that began in February. Photo by Maroun Sfeir.

With the major changes taking place across North Africa, NDI is expanding its activities in Egypt and Tunisia, where citizen uprisings led to the overthrow of authoritarian rulers and events are unfolding quickly as citizens work to organize new democratic systems.

In Libya, where citizens are fighting for freedom, NDI sent a team to Benghazi earlier this month to assess what Libyans will need for a democratic transition. Les Campbell, NDI director of Middle East and North Africa programs, writes about his experiences in this first-person account. "There is such a hunger for information ... The isolation of this part of Libya was profound and what is going on now is a genuine awakening."

NDI has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Transitional National Council (TNC), outlining ways the Institute can support Libya's transition by working with both the TNC and civil society.

Young people protest against regional discrimination in Le Kef, a city in northwestern Tunisia.

In Tunisia, NDI is beginning a second round of focus group research to learn how political parties are viewed and what issues citizens are most concerned about. As Tunisia prepares for its first democratic elections in more than 20 years, set for July 24, the Institute will share the findings with political parties to help them draft platforms and campaign strategies that address the needs of Tunisians.

In April, NDI brought Polish Solidarity leader and former defense minister Janusz Onyszkiewicz and retired Indonesian general Agus Widjojo to Cairo for a series of consultations with Egyptian political leaders and civic activists on political transitions. Discussions focused on how opposition groups can prepare for elections on an accelerated timetable, overcome internal divisions and navigate a transition to democracy that is being directed by the military with limited public input. Most Egyptian political parties are focused on September's parliamentary elections. NDI has been helping them develop campaign strategies and skills, and work on new campaign techniques, such as door-to-door campaigning, that have traditionally been resisted by Egyptian activists. NDI has also been working with parties to organize candidate debates and with civic groups to discuss electoral reform.

Meanwhile, NDI and the government of Bulgaria signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at sharing that nation's experience in democratic transitions with countries in the Middle East and North Africa. "As a country that has spent the past two decades undergoing a massive and often difficult transformation from dictatorship to democracy, Bulgaria has much to share with those who are now struggling to instill those same changes in their societies," said Nikolay Mladenov, Bulgaria's foreign minister, at a signing ceremony at NDI. Already, Bulgarian political leaders have visited with new political parties in Tunisia to share lessons learned.

Arabic language publications

NDI offers a number of manuals and handbooks designed to help civil society organizations, political parties and governments through democratic transitions. The Institute's most recent manual,
Political Process Monitoring: Activist Tools and Techniques, helps citizen groups monitor electoral campaign conduct as well as scrutinize government performance. The Institute also offers 75 Arabic language publications on topics such as advocacy, women's participation, democratic governance and using technology for more effective communications.

'Small Small' Improvements to Liberian Bill Tracking Improve Transparency

Reporting from Monrovia, Liberia, Program Manager Brittany Danisch explains how small improvements to the legislature's bill tracking system have had a big impact. Listen to the audio or read the transcript»

Sudanese Civic Group Gives Mostly Positive Marks to South Kordofan Polling Process

Elections held in the Sudanese state of Southern Kordofan were generally well conducted despite a number of deficiencies, according to the Sudanese Group for Democracy and Elections (SuGDE), an NDI partner. SuGDE deployed 90 citizen observers for the gubernatorial and state legislative elections. Read more»

Serbia Debates Electoral Reform as Precursor to EU Membership

Serbia's election system — particularly the manner in which citizens vote for representatives in parliament — is seen as one factor keeping the country from membership in the European Union. NDI brought 80 members of academia, government and civil society together to create recommendations on amending the electoral law. Read more»

Former Congresswoman Emphasizes the Value of Oversight to Russian Duma

Constance Morella, former U.S. representative from Maryland, recently appeared before the Russian Duma to testify on behalf of a bill that would increase congressional oversight in Russia — an important legislative branch check on executive authority. Morella was invited to testify by Just Russia, a party NDI has been working with on issues of democratic governance. Read more»

Democracy is...Tolerance

"Voices from the Middle East: Democracy is Tolerance" is a new video using material submitted online through Democracy is..., a public-private partnership in which NDI is a partner. The program asks young people around the world to complete the phrase "Democracy is..." through videos, tweets and photos submitted online. The video combines entries from across the region with common themes of equality, diversity and tolerance.
Watch»

Join the conversation»

Parliamentarians, Business Leaders Work Together in Mauritania to Improve Economy

In Mauritania, parliamentarians joined forces openly with representatives of the business community for the first time in the country's history this month. The two groups agreed to submit an official report to the Mauritanian National Assembly detailing issues and recommendations, and to establish a commission promoting ongoing collaboration between government and the private sector. Read more»

Cleaner Hospitals is Subject for Legislator Training in Ecuador

The poor hospital hygiene that may have been responsible for a recent string of infant deaths in Ecuador became a case study for a legislative training program organized by NDI. The program simulated ways to seek and incorporate citizen input into legislation that would improve regulation of hospital conditions. Read more»

Macedonian Code of Conduct Asks 'What Mark Will We Leave?'

Macedonian political parties signed a code of conduct ahead of snap parliamentary elections, calling on parties to respect the electoral law and foster a tolerant campaign atmosphere free of violent or intimidating rhetoric, fraud, bribery and proxy voting. The code is the eighth NDI has sponsored, and adherence to the codes has increased over the last eight elections. Read more»

Electoral Fairs Bring Politics Out of the Box in Peru

In the weeks leading up to last month's Peruvian elections, NDI partnered with Transparencia, a leading civic group, to organize a series of candidate debates and electoral fairs that gave citizens from outside the capital the opportunity to interact personally with candidates. Read more»

Marching Ahead: A Profile Book of Women Constituent Assembly Members

The April 2008 elections in Nepal marked a historic and unprecedented step forward for that nation's women, who won one-third of the seats in the Constituent Assembly, the body tasked with drafting the new Nepali constitution. A new book, Marching Ahead: A Profile Book on Women Constituent Assembly Members, profiles 24 of these women, sharing their stories as inspirations and role models for the next generation of women leaders. Read more»

Serbia Debates Electoral Reform as Precursor to EU Membership

fgalleto — Mon, 02 May 2011 19:16:28 +0000

Serbia has made significant progress on its democracy agenda since the peaceful removal of Slobodan Milosevic in 2000, enhancing the political participation of ethnic minority groups and creating ways for young people and women to enter political life. However, Serbia’s election system — particularly the manner in which citizens vote for their representatives in parliament — is widely seen as holding it back from attaining the benchmarks required by Brussels for becoming a candidate for EU membership and consolidating its citizens’ hard-won democratic gains.

On Jan. 31 the Serbian government submitted 2,483 answers to the European Union’s (EU) questionnaire to determine if Serbia is ready to become an official candidate for membership. An EU opinion on candidacy is expected later this year and, if positive, would accelerate Serbia’s democratic transition process as the country seeks to harmonize its political system to established EU standards on human rights, governmental transparency and other critical measures.

Serbia has made significant progress on its democracy agenda since the peaceful removal of Slobodan Milosevic in 2000, enhancing the political participation of ethnic minority groups and creating ways for young people and women to enter political life. However, Serbia’s election system — particularly the manner in which citizens vote for their representatives in parliament — is widely seen as holding it back from attaining the benchmarks required by Brussels and consolidating its citizens’ hard-won democratic gains.

The system gives political parties, not citizens, the power to decide which individuals are elected. Voters choose parties, not candidates. A party’s national percentage of the vote determines how many seats it will get, and parties can place whomever they wish in parliament. They don’t have to seat the individuals who were on the party’s candidate list, and there are no election districts so members of parliament (MPs) have no constituencies. The result is that a citizen in Serbia has no idea about, much less access to, an MP who formally represents him or her.

With a clear need for change, NDI launched a project to promote electoral reform through public discussion among parties, civic groups and parliamentary officials. Its focal point was a national conference — Returning Power to the People through Electoral Reform — held in March in Belgrade. Its goal was to increase the public’s interest in and knowledge of electoral reform issues. Topics included obstacles to reform, alternative electoral models, political party financing and corruption, and fair representation of women and minorities.

About 80 academics, members of parliament, representatives of government, political parties and civil society organizations discussed ways to bring Serbia into compliance with the recommendations of the Council of Europe’s advisory body on constitutional law — the Venice Commission. Speakers included Dimitrios Kypreos of Greece, ambassador of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe; Veljko Odalovic, secretary general of the National Assembly of Serbia; Thomas Gnocchi, head of the political section of the EU Delegation to Serbia; and Thomas Kelly, NDI’s resident senior director in Serbia.

A full day of discussion and debate led to conclusions and recommendations that will inform parliamentary deliberation on reforming the election code. Among them:

Electoral reforms that give people control over electing their representatives and diminish party control over MPs.
Support for a proposed Law on Financing of Political Activities, which will bring more transparency and establish an Anti-Corruption Agency as an independent oversight body to regulate public and private financing of political parties and election campaigns. Political party financing is presently monitored by political appointees, and information about party spending and contributions is not available to the public.
Protections for the representation of women, youth and ethnic minorities. One of every seven citizens is an ethnic minority and women make up 52 percent of the population. The draft law requires that 30 percent of a party’s candidate list must comprise the lesser-represented gender (LRG) within the outgoing parliament, and that 30 percent of a party’s actual seats in the new assembly must be reserved for the LRG. Similar provisions have not been proposed for ethnic minority groups.
The government has taken steps to address these issues in order to satisfy the Venice Commission recommendations. The parliament has established a working group on electoral reform, consisting of MPs from all party groups represented in the National Assembly, which is responsible for the development of amendments to existing law on the election of MPs and the development of rules of conduct for parliament. The group will present its findings to the Venice Commission and, should the commission approve the proposed amendments, the National Assembly will vote on them during the spring session.

NDI’s conference recommendations dovetail with the working group’s anticipated proposals, among them the introduction of an “open list” system that enables citizens to vote their preferences among candidates and requires parties to seat candidates ranked highest by voters.

NDI will follow up the conference with a report summarizing the discussion and recommendations. The report will serve as a starting point for public debate that NDI will sponsor through roundtables in Bor, Kragujevac, Nis and Novi Sad. The Institute has also launched an electoral reform website: http://www.izbornareforma.rs/category/english.

NDI has supported Serbia’s democratic transition from its Belgrade office since 1997. The Institute’s Serbia program is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Related:

Pictured above: Vladimir Goati (l) and Thomas Gnocchi at the conference.

Published May 2, 2011

NDI E-news: Democracies in Transition, African Elections | March 2011

fgalleto — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 22:25:16 +0000

March 2011

Emerging Democracies Learn from Transition Experiences of Other Countries

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Sergio Bitar, who helped found the Party for Democracy during Chile's democratic transition, recently returned from Cairo.

Democratic transitions take time and patience. Each country is different, seeking to adapt the principles common to all democracies to its unique character and circumstances.

But there are also lessons to be learned from the experiences of other nations that have made the shift from autocracy to democracy — a process that has just begun in Tunisia and Egypt, where citizens are deciding on new constitutions, leaders, political parties and other elements of their new societies.

In Tunisia, NDI recently brought experts from Bulgaria, Hungary and Portugal to meet with Tunisian political party leaders to share experiences from their countries' democratic transitions. Similarly, in Egypt, transition leaders and experts from Chile, Indonesia, Poland, Romania and Serbia are meeting with civil society and party leaders. They were able to discuss a range of issues including relations with the military, reconciliation processes, coalition building, and electoral and constitutional reform.

Krastyo Petkov, involved in the democratic transition in Bulgaria, with NDI Senior Program Officer Gabriella Borovsky in Tunis.

Against this backdrop, 50 experts from Europe and North America met in Brussels this month as part of an ongoing transatlantic dialogue on democracy support, co-chaired by by Jerzy Buzek, president of the European Parliament; Madeleine K. Albright, former U.S. secretary of state and chairman of NDI; Javier Solana, former EU high representative for the common foreign and security policy; and Vin Weber, former U.S. representative and board member of the National Endowment for Democracy. In a statement, the participants expressed their support for democratic reform movements and called on the transatlantic community to emphasize democracy assistance within the transatlantic relationship.

NDI also hosted a roundtable for rising democratic powers, including representatives from Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico and South Africa, on democracy support. These countries have valuable experience in democratic and economic development, but they are often not present in discussions on democracy support because they tend to be neither major donors nor recipients of development assistance.

As part of the two-day roundtable, Indonesia's ambassador to the U.S., Dino Patti Djalal, spoke about his country's transition to democracy and compared it to events unfolding in the Middle East and North Africa. "My advice to many of the countries undergoing democratic transitions is, don't let fear drive you," he said in a talk at NDI.

Youth Academy Empowers Tomorrow's Political Leaders in Rwanda

People under the age of 25 comprise two-thirds of Rwanda's population, but they are largely excluded from political life. NDI's recently expanded Youth Political Leadership Academy helps young leaders acquire practical political skills needed to have a say in their country's future. Read more»

Film Urges Nigerians to "Activate the Power of their Thumb"

As Nigeria prepares for presidential, legislative and gubernatorial elections, a new short film, "My Vote Fit Change Naija," urges Nigerians to vote as a peaceful means to achieve change in their country. Produced by Youngstar Foundation and NDI, the film links voting to potential improvements in jobs, roads, electricity and health care, and stars a number of famous actors from the Nigerian film industry. Read more»

Election Monitors Note Minor Problems as Niger Peacefully Elects New President

Peaceful elections in Niger this month received praise from nonpartisan citizen election observers, despite a number of administrative problems surrounding the voting. NDI's partner, the Nigerien Association for the Defense of Human Rights, trained 2,025 observers who were stationed in all of Niger's eight regions on election day. Read more»

West African Election Observers Promote Credible Elections

In West Africa, some elections have led to successful transfers of power, while others have been marked by widespread fraud. Citizen election observation groups from 11 countries have formed the West Africa Election Observers Network (WAEON) to help ensure accountability, increase honesty and accuracy, and improve the credibility of elections in the region. Read more»

NDI Reports: Spring 2011

The new issue of NDI's newsletter, NDI Reports, explores how the mapping of election data can identify trends or anomalies in election results, examines recent advances and setbacks in women's political participation, and reports on a new global network for citizen election monitors.

Read the newsletter or browse the archives»

First Parhamovich Fellow Bringing More Young Women into Politics

Two years after her visit to the U.S., Ferdos Majeed, the Institute's first Parhamovich fellow, helped to launch the Young Women's Leadership School in Iraq. Read more»

Tijuana Civic Groups Use Opinion Research to Strengthen Police Reform Proposal

A recent study conducted by NDI's partner, the Citizen Coalition for Public Security, shows that while residents of Tijuana believe security improvements have been made, the perception of municipal police is still largely negative. The coalition is using the data to work with local elected officials on making improvements in public security. Read more»

Policymakers Share Strategies to Help Roma Minorities

A summit meeting held recently in Romania brought together officials from eight countries in Central and Eastern Europe who are responsible for policies to assist Roma minorities. Though there are an estimated 10 million Roma in Europe, they remain largely excluded from the political system due to discrimination, segregation and poverty. Read more»

NDI Celebrates 100th Annual International Women's Day

Hon. Nora Shimming-Chase (right) speaks with a participant at NDI's International Women's Day event in South Africa.

The 100th anniversary of International Women's Day, an annual observance of the achievements of women around the world, was celebrated this year with a recognition of past triumphs and calls to action for promoting women's equality. NDI marked the occasion with events in Colombia, Kosovo, South Africa and Washington, D.C.

At any given time, nearly 75 percent of NDI country programs have a dedicated component addressing women's political participation, a recognition of the words of NDI Chairman Madeleine K. Albright that "the political participation of women results in tangible gains for democracy, including greater responsiveness to citizen needs, increased cooperation across party and ethnic lines, and more sustainable peace."

NDI E-news: Colombia, Haiti, Ukraine, Bahrain | Feb. 2010

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 21:20:53 +0000

February 2010

Chocó Women Win 2009 Madeleine K. Albright Grant

The Departmental Network of Chocó Women of Colombia (Red Departmental de Mujeres Chocoanas) has been chosen by NDI to receive the 2009 Madeleine K. Albright Grant for its work to create greater roles for women in the region's civil and political life.

The network is an umbrella group of 52 civic organizations from 18 towns in the primarily Afro-Colombian department of Chocó in the western part of the country. It will receive $25,000 for a political training school and to create a network of women political leaders in Chocó. Both will further the organization’s mission: to help Chocoan women achieve greater equality between the sexes and encourage women’s political participation. Read more»

NDI established the Madeleine K. Albright Grant in 2005 to support organizations that create greater roles for women in political and civic life. Winners are selected from a competitive pool of applicants seeking to promote women's political participation. Past recipients include the Women’s League of Burma, the Indonesian Women’s Political Caucus (KPPI), the Mostar Women’s Citizen Initiative of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the 50/50 Group of Sierra Leone.

The Madeleine K. Albright Grant is made possible through the generosity of the Melvin and Bren Simon Foundation.

Initiative Committees Working to Distribute Aid and Information in Haiti

The 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti on Jan. 12 brought suffering and destruction to a country that was already facing major development challenges. The situation on the ground changes daily as Haitian and international relief efforts try to help the millions of citizens who now lack food, water, medical care and shelter.

In response, members of a Haitian network of community organizing groups, or Initiative Committees (ICs), are mobilizing to support national and international relief efforts. Developed over more than a decade with NDI support, the ICs are present in 179 municipalities across the country and involve 35,000 Haitians and 3,500 civic organizations, including 400 women's groups.

African Experts Lay Out Recommendations for Credible Elections

Election experts and practitioners from 25 African nations meeting in Ghana last November called for the ratification of the African Union's charter on elections and enforcement of its standards to achieve more peaceful and credible elections on the continent.

The gathering, organized by NDI and nine other organizations, issued a communiqué with recommendations for standards that could mitigate conflict and improve election processes.

Ghana was chosen as the site for the colloquium because of its successful 2008 elections, which were considered credible, despite heated political tensions and a razor-thin margin between the presidential candidates.

NDI Launches Website That Adds Transparency to Afghanistan Election Data

NDI has launched an innovative online mapping tool for analyzing election data from Afghanistan's flawed Aug. 20 presidential and provincial council elections. Designed to make the data more accessible and transparent, the site uses demographic, ethnographic, topographic and security information. The tool also identifies areas that had significant electoral irregularities.

Using a data browser that provides tools to manage a series of maps, filters and overlays, the site provides numerous ways to segment and visualize raw vote count data. Visitors can run customized queries with the results displayed as lists, charts and maps. The website uses all open source software and makes the data easily available for download in CSV format.

NDI Partner Groups Commend Ukrainian Elections, Offer Recommendations for Sunday's Runoff

After the Jan. 17 Ukrainian presidential election, two NDI partner groups that had observed the election issued statements hailing the vote as an improvement over the 2004 presidential poll but also citing shortcomings that they said should be addressed before the runoff on Feb. 7.

Both Opora and ENEMO highlighted procedural and organizational problems with the vote, including updates made to the voter lists on election day and uneven enforcement of provisions regarding mobile voting (voting from home). Both groups directed their recommendations to the Central Election Commission, which has jurisdiction over the issues.

Youth Leaders Declaration from Belgrade Summit Seeks Regional Cooperation and Peace

With the goals of increasing communication and fostering a network of politically active youth across Europe, NDI co-sponsored a three-day summit in Belgrade that brought together young people from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia to address issues of war crimes, rule of law, discrimination and xenophobia.

On the final day of the summit, the group released "The Belgrade Declaration," which pledged to strengthen their ties with their governments, promote new political values and use new technologies to improve communication and understanding.

Bahrain Women’s Union Calls for Action on Domestic Violence Law

The Bahrain Women's Union (BWU) launched an advocacy campaign last month calling for a law against domestic violence. The campaign kicked off with a march to demonstrate public support for addressing the issue, followed by a roundtable for MPs to discuss the cultural roots of domestic violence and ways to legislate against it. The Kingdom currently has no laws or government policies to address domestic violence, despite the fact that it has seen a sharp increase in domestic violence reports over the last four years.

Before the launch of the campaign, NDI worked with the activists to refine their advocacy plan and strategy for reaching key decision makers and allies.

The National Democratic Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working to support and strengthen democratic institutions worldwide by promoting citizen participation, openness and accountability in government.

NDI E-news: Sudan, Nepal, Liberia | April 2010

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 21:17:18 +0000

April 2010

Citizens Become Involved in Sudan Political Process

Members of SuGDE prepare to submit

accreditation forms for 2,500
election day observers.

Large numbers of Sudanese citizens took part in generally peaceful but deeply flawed elections this month, the nation's first polls in 24 years.

NDI supported the work of two civic networks, the Sudanese Group for Democracy and Elections (SuGDE) and the Sudanese Network for Democratic Elections (SuNDE), that joined forces to create the only coordinated Sudan-wide domestic nonpartisan election monitoring effort. With SuGDE covering the north and SuNDE the south, they received more than 13,500 reports from over 4,300 trained and accredited election observers who were deployed to over 2,000 polling stations across all of Sudan’s 25 states. Read more»

The observers found many failings in the election process and the five days of voting. "...the elections did not fulfill the Interim Constitution’s and Comprehensive Peace Agreement's aspirations for democratic transition and did not adequately meet the requirements of the National Elections Commission rules and regulations," the groups said in a joint statement. Particular problems included poor election administration, incidents of violence, harassment and intimidation, and lack of understanding of their roles by some parties, candidates and supporters.

The elections were an important milestone for Sudan and were required by the country's Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), signed in 2005, that ended the country's civil war. NDI has worked extensively in Sudan since 2002 with the goal of helping Sudanese citizens develop the tools needed to build a more democratic society.

In the runup to the election, the Institute worked closely with SuGDE, a coalition of eight nonpartisan civil society groups, and SuNDE, a coalition of over 75 community groups. Both networks were created for election observation and SuNDE was also engaged in voter education. Read more about the two groups' preparations for the elections»

SuNDE conducted a two-week voter education campaign in October, holding 375 events in 37 counties in all 10 states of southern Sudan. Events ranged from election briefings for key community leaders to presentations at town markets and community events. Topics included the importance of participating in the elections, what offices were up for election and voter registration procedures. Read more»

A major part of NDI's work in Sudan has been focus group research on problems Sudanese people face in their communities, their understanding of the political process and their vision of the future. Imagining the Election explores what citizens in southern Sudan and the Three Areas knew of and expected from the 2010 elections. Losing Hope looks at citizen perceptions about progress toward peace since the signing of the CPA. Read more»

NDI also produces and broadcasts an ongoing radio program, Let's Talk, an engaging radio drama that explores issues of good governance, civic participation and women's political participation.
Sudanese listen to the broadcasts on 265,000 wind-up, solar-powered radios distributed by the Institute, and take part in listening groups throughout Southern Sudan that bring people together to talk about the lessons in the programs. NDI collaborated with Betsy Levy Paluck, a Princeton University researcher, to conduct a field experiment that demonstrated that the Sudan program’s
design could increase listeners’ interest in politics and improve their civic participation. Learn about the results»

Get Your Tickets!

It's not too late to get your tickets for NDI's 25th anniversary dinner celebration on May 10. NDI will honor Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of Zimbabwe, above, with the W. Averell Harriman Democracy Award. The Network of Chocó Women of Colombia will receive the Madeleine K. Albright Grant.

Purchase a table or tickets»

Young Women Leaders Collaborate at North African Regional Conference

With women becoming increasingly prominent in North African politics, NDI brought together women leaders from across the region to discuss the importance of strengthening the role of women in political life. The group met in Casablanca, Morocco, to collaborate on strategies for shaping and strengthening women's political and civic engagement.

Liberian Legislature Building Budget Analysis Capability

The Liberian legislature, seeking to strengthen its oversight of the executive branch, is working to improve its budget analysis skills. The country’s democratic transition — following nearly two decades of conflict and civil war — is dependent on good governance, and a strong legislature is one key component. NDI is working with legislators to help them improve policymaking in a number of areas, including the national budget, anti-corruption efforts and human rights.

"Truth-O-Meter" Encourages Accountability in Serbia

Since the ouster of the Milosevic regime nearly 10 years ago, Serbians are standing up for the notion that government is there for the public good, not private gain. But until recently, there was still no public way to hold government officials and public servants accountable. Recently, a Serbian NGO, LiNet, launched the Truth-O-Meter, a website that analyzes politicians' statements based on truthfulness, consistency and whether they fulfill campaign promises or policy pledges. The effort was spearheaded by Vuka Crnjanski, who has worked with NDI as a political party and civil society trainer.

World Movement for Democracy Explores Political Parties, Technology

The unprecedented opportunities for citizen activism presented by new communications technologies, such as cell phones and social networks, was the subject of an NDI panel at the recent World Movement for Democracy (WMD) assembly in Jakarta, Indonesia. The WMD was initiated by the National Endowment for Democracy and exists to "strengthen democracy where it is weak, to reform and invigorate democracy even where it is longstanding, and to bolster pro-democracy groups in countries that have not yet entered into a process of democratic transition."

The Jakarta meeting, April 11 – 14, brought together over 600 participants from more than 100 countries. NDI also hosted a panel at the assembly on the role of party internationals in fostering democratic parties.

NDI Nepal Staff Member Looks for Lessons in DC to Benefit Women at Home

Ten years ago, Sushmita Subba Manandhar began working as an office assistant for NDI in her native Nepal. As she assisted with logistics at NDI events, she also listened to the discussions among ministers, politicians and activists, and the topics piqued her interest. Now, Manandhar is visiting Washington, D.C., as an Andi Parhamovitch fellow to study how women in the U.S. Congress get their voices heard and will take back what she learns to the Inter Party Women's Alliance in Nepal.

The fellowship honors Andi Parhamovich, an NDI employee who was killed in 2007 in Baghdad. The fellowship is awarded each year to a young woman who is deeply involved in building and consolidating democracy in her own country. It is designed to enhance the skills of young women so they can better organize for full political participation in their societies. Recipients come to NDI in Washington, D.C., for training and research.

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The National Democratic Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working to support and strengthen democratic institutions worldwide through citizen participation, openness and accountability in government.

NDI E-news: African Elections, Serbia, Cambodia | June 2010

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 21:11:19 +0000

June 2010

Delegations Praise, Suggest Improvements for African Elections

Keith Jennings, NDI's Southern and East Africa regional director, and Ambassador Nora Schimming-Chase of Namibia present the delegation's findings in Tanzania.

Elections do not begin and end on election day. Successful polls require months of pre-election preparations by candidates, civil society, election commissions and domestic and international observer groups. Successful elections also require transparent counting procedures, a timely and fair adjudication of electoral complaints and a peaceful transfer of power.

In the pre-election periods in Tanzania and Guinea, NDI fielded delegations that assessed conditions and made recommendations to improve transparency, participation and fairness in upcoming elections.

In Tanzania, elections slated for October 2010 will be a milestone in the country's democratic development. The NDI delegation released a statement praising Tanzania's electoral process for its innovation and reform, but pointing out several aspects of the process that need to be strengthened. The delegation focused especially on a July 31 referendum that could enable Zanzibar to form a government of national unity. It also focused on the Election Expenses Act, which could exacerbate the resource imbalance between the government and opposition parties, and the voter registration process, which it said still requires significant improvements. Read more»

In Guinea, where the military junta is preparing to hand over power to a civilian government after the country's June 27 presidential election, members of the NDI delegation were optimistic that the election would be conducted peacefully. Their optimism was merited when the voting proceeded in what was initially seen as a largely peaceful and fair election. In a communiqué released prior to the vote, the delegation said, "The electoral campaign is being held without clashes and major incidents." Areas cited as needing improvement were the election commission's communications with the public as well as Guinea's security forces' role in the electoral process. Read more»

These two elections, in addition to upcoming polls in Rwanda, Kenya and Niger, underscore the value of the guidelines, recommendations and a sample of best practices included in a new report from last year's Ghana colloquium on African elections. The gathering was attended by more than 100 participants from 25 African nations. The report is available in both English and French.

Citizen Hotline Launched Ahead of Ugandan Elections

In an effort to curb electoral irregularities in Uganda, DEMGroup and the Citizens Coalition for Electoral Democracy (CCEDU), both domestic election monitoring organizations, are using technology.

They have put in place a citizen hotline that Ugandans can use to call or text in concerns about the integrity of the electoral process. The comments are being collected, organized and checked out by DEMGroup and CCEDU monitors and digitally mapped on a public website to add transparency to the voting process.

The project is being conducted in partnership with NDI.

In Serbia, Five Pillars for Strengthening Parliament

As the political situation in Serbia has stabilized, attention has shifted to operation of its parliament and the lawmakers' responsibilities to constituents. Rebecca Shoot, a resident program officer in NDI's Belgrade office, discusses the Institute's work helping parliamentarians engage with the electorate.

NDI Brings Together Parliamentary Monitoring Groups in Jakarta

The efforts of civil society organizations to monitor and assess the work of legislatures was the subject of a recent meeting of representatives of parliamentary monitoring organizations (PMO) at the Sixth Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The findings of a project to identify and map PMOs around the world were presented at the conference, as was an introduction to the AGORA Portal for Parliamentary Development, an online resource for sharing parliamentary best practices.

Watch the Winning Videos!

You voted for your favorites, now see who won! The Democracy Video Challenge has announced its six winning filmmakers— from Ethiopia, Indonesia, Spain, Iran, Nepal and Colombia — who earned the most votes for their three-minute videos completing the phrase "democracy is..." The six will now visit New York, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, where they will meet with representatives from government, democracy and other nongovernmental organizations, and the film and television industries.

Watch the winning videos»

Congress Looks to Women as Agents of Change

Women's meaningful participation in politics affects both the range of policy issues considered and the types of solutions that are proposed. In places such as Timor-Leste, Croatia, and South Africa, an increase in the number of female lawmakers has resulted in more legislation related to domestic violence, inheritance and security.

NDI President Kenneth Wollack testified about these gains at a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing on "Women as Agents of Change: Advancing the Role of Women in Politics and Civil Society."

Read Wollack's testimony»

Constituents, Representatives Mix in Expanded Program in Cambodia

In Cambodia, members of the National Assembly have few chances to interact with constituents, and citizens rarely have an opportunity to express their views to their elected representatives in Phnom Penh. To address these challenges, NDI is expanding its constituency dialogue program as part of a five-year USAID-funded effort called Accountability in Governance and Politics. The dialogues are attended by 400 to 600 citizens and are similar to town hall meetings. Citizens can speak to and ask questions of their elected representatives.

Analysis: Signs of Optimism in the Balkans

Efforts in the Balkans to turn the page on a troubled past and look to democratic rule as a foundation for political stability are having an effect, according to Robert Benjamin, NDI's regional director for Central and Eastern Europe. In a recent talk, he discussed the outlook in the Western Balkans — Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia — and concluded that despite challenges the region is making real progress toward peace, stability and democracy.

"My optimistic message is that the region is stabilizing in ways we've never seen before," he said.

Read Benjamin's full remarks»

In Serbia, NDI Staff Supports Parliamentary Efforts to Strenghten Governance

fgalleto — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 15:22:50 +0000

After years of working in Serbia on political party development and elections, NDI has shifted its focus to aiding those who hold elective office, a reflection of the country's increased political stability. Rebecca Shoot, a resident program officer in NDI's Belgrade office, discusses the Institute's work with parliamentarians in Serbia's National Assembly.

What led NDI to focus on strengthening the Serbian parliament?

The 2008 elections were a turning point for Serbia in many ways. The elections confirmed Serbia's course as an emerging democracy that wanted to move toward membership in the European Union (EU). The Institute had worked on legislative and governance programs for some time, but, with the electoral landscape more settled, we were able to significantly ramp up parliamentary activity.

Describe the parliamentary development program. What are the components?

The parliamentary assistance program has five pillars. Each seeks to bolster the three professional functions of members of parliament (MPs): representative, legislative and oversight. These five pillars are: improving constituency relations, launching a parliamentary internship program, convening public hearings and other events to incorporate citizen input in the legislative process, augmenting the legislative skills of new or inexperienced MPs, and working with MPs to implement a Law on Parliament and to amend the Rules of Procedure.

The first pillar — the constituency relations program — is in some ways the heart of the program. In early 2009 we worked with the National Assembly to launch the first of five constituency offices.

"MPs are beginning to see the results and positive aspects of engaging directly with the electorate."

Serbia is a single district electoral system, meaning that MPs are chosen from political party lists and represent all of Serbia, not a geographically-defined constituency. Therefore, there is little incentive for MPs to connect directly to constituents, and elections tend to focus on big-picture issues, such as foreign relations, rather than targeted public policies.

Through our program, 14 MPs have opened constituency offices around Serbia. They hold office hours on a monthly basis and conduct monthly public events. And now, the MPs are beginning to see the results and positive aspects of engaging directly with the electorate.

What benefits are the participating MPs seeing?

For example, one MP was recently visited by the dean of the University of Belgrade's Economics Faculty to the constituency office in the central Belgrade district of Savski Venac. The dean and his students had reservations about a new draft Law on Higher Education. The students disagreed with a provision that would require those who fail the oral or written component of an end-of-year exam to retake the entire course from the beginning, arguing that it would force many to prolong their studies unnecessarily. The MP advised the dean and students on how to lobby effectively for changes to the law.

The MP has since become actively involved in the legislation, and he has maintained a personal relationship with these young voters in his constituency who may now be motivated to participate in upcoming elections. The students are seeing their specific changes to the law being considered and are more engaged in the political process.

Each of the offices has its own character and faces unique challenges. We have one constituency office in Novi Pazar, in the Sandzak region of southwestern Serbia. The heavily Bosniak area is geographically isolated from Belgrade. While that office has more difficulty attracting constituents and resolving their complaints with Belgrade-based institutions, the rewards are even greater when you see a constituent getting his or her query answered when before there was simply no mechanism, no outlet for them whatsoever.

Slavica Dukic Dejanovic, president of National Assembly, cuts the ribbon at the opening for the constituency office in Zrenjanin.

We've just recently open the fifth constituency office in the municipality of Zrenjanin in Serbia's northern province of Vojvodina. The multiparty office – the largest to date – includes seven MPs from six political parties. The office is tri-lingual, with constituency office assistants fluent in Hungarian, Romanian and Serbian to serve Zrenjanin's diverse population.

You mentioned the second pillar, the internship program. What's the objective of that program?

We launched the parliamentary internship program on May 1. Twenty-four final year college students were selected to participate, all majoring in subjects relevant to the various committees with which they work.

There are two goals for the project. The first is to get young people involved and interested in the political process and provide them with work experience, as there is not a practice of professional internships in Serbia. Second, we hope the interns can support parliamentary staff. If MPs want to research comparative legislation on the law of employment, for example, they have extremely limited staff and resources at their disposal. The MP ends up doing most of the research on a personal computer and on personal time. Having student interns who have a little bit of background in the field will, we hope, increase MPs' ability to research, draft and oversee quality legislation.

Can you explain how NDI is working with the new and entering MPs?

We held an orientation session for incoming MPs in 2008 to introduce their roles and responsibilities, and acquaint them with the parliament's resources at their disposal. At the event, a group of young legislators representing multiple parties was especially engaged and realized the potential benefits of working together in the parliament. This informal club is one of the few groups within parliament doing multiparty work and the only one to advance the voices of young people, who are traditionally alienated from the political process.

"I think citizens in Serbia are ready to get past the big policy questions that don't immediately impact their lives and they are ready to see tangible, concrete movement on simple, basic concerns."

Right now, for example, NDI and the "young MPs" club have launched a series of regional roundtables on a law on the education system that is under review by the National Assembly. These forums are bringing school officials, students, local government representatives, representatives of relevant ministries and civil society groups together for a dialogue about how this law is being implemented in schools and what role educators and students can play in the process. This is the first time anything like this has been done, and it was really initiated by the young MPs club.

What are the issues that people in Serbia are concerned about, that these new skills and programs for parliament are meant to help with?

I think most citizens are ready to get past the big policy questions that don't immediately impact their lives — the Kosovo question, for example — and they are ready to see tangible, concrete movement on simple, basic concerns. People care about their pensions. They care about the privatization of public companies and myriad other issues.

MPs are beginning to pay attention to these issues, but citizen are still highly skeptical. The approval rating for the National Assembly as a whole is lower than for any single prominent politician or institution.

Reform is happening and I see a renewed commitment to reform on the part of the Speaker and the leadership in the assembly, but it's going to be a long, uphill climb to convince people that their assembly is actually delivering.

Pictured above: Rebecca Shoot

Published on June 24, 2010

Analysis: Signs of Optimism in the Balkans

fgalleto — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 15:01:24 +0000

The Western Balkans — Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia — face ethnic divisions and other political, economic and social problems that continue to challenge stability in the wake of the violent conflicts of the 1990s. But people in the region are seeking to turn the page on a troubled past and look to democratic rule as the foundation for political stability and integration into the European Union and NATO.

Robert Benjamin, NDI's regional director for Central and Eastern Europe, recently discussed political stability in the Western Balkans at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. While Benjamin points to remaining challenges, overall he believes the region is making real progress toward peace, stability and democracy.

Here are excerpts from his remarks.

"My optimistic message is that the region is stabilizing in ways we've not seen before.

"First, for as problematic and destabilizing as the region's core issues are — principally between Serbia and Kosovo on the latter's independence and on Bosnia — the threat of armed conflict has been measurably reduced and perhaps altogether removed. Governments have eschewed militaristic policies, the armed forces are among the most reformed institutions in the region, and the international structures on the ground — both governmental and military — have ensured peace.

"Second, at a political level, there are increasing signs of cooperation between capitals. Most notably, Belgrade and Zagreb are cooperating on a host of bilateral issues, and both are proving themselves generally constructive in their relations with next-door Bosnia. For their size and prominence, Serbia and Croatia in many respects drive the region; the health of their relations sets a tone that others take their cues from. Turkey's recent diplomatic overtures involving Belgrade and Sarajevo, concurrent with what appears to be a bid for stronger economic ties with Serbia, are also welcome. Albania and Serbia are growing closer, as witnessed by the recent visit to Belgrade — and importantly, south Serbia — by Albania's deputy prime minister. Macedonia's and Montenegro's respective diplomatic recognitions of Kosovo, done not without measurable political risk at home — have also contributed to stability.

"Third, the region was conferred a "European perspective" at the 2003 EU Thessaloniki Summit, and is on track to incorporate into the European Union. Most will find their way into NATO, as Croatia and Albania have already done. For Brussels and Washington, the Balkans represent the remaining piece of the European puzzle. And for the Balkans, EU accession and NATO membership provide the ultimate security blanket. So the mutual interest is there. This year's EU visa liberalization for three of the countries, with Bosnia possibly on deck, and NATO's consideration of Membership Action Plan (MAP) status for Bosnia, help people in the Balkans look forward, not to the past.

"Fourth, even the most longstanding and intractable problems the region confronts — conflict between Serbia and Kosovo over the latter's independence, Bosnia's inability to cohere a functional system of government, and Macedonia's persistent name conflict with Greece — are playing out in an environment where they don't represent the existential threats they might have once did. For all of its vituperation, Belgrade insists that it will pursue its Kosovo policy through peaceful recourse to international law. Bosnia's situation, though politically dire, is not hitting up to the level of renewed conflict, and Athens and Skopje are circling around potential formulas concerning a workable solution to the name conflict, although, to be sure, domestic politics in either country do not necessarily favor a quick resolution.

"Finally, buttressing all of this is public opinion in the region. People don't want to go back. They want to get on with things. In poll after poll, jobs and the economy, not interethnic relations or territorial issues, top the list by a wide margin.

"Lest I sound too sanguine, and at the risk of contradicting myself, let me dent this optimistic scenario by mentioning some challenges and complications — although I still retain my core optimism."

Read the full text»

Published on June 4, 2010

"Truth-O-Meter" Encourages Accountability in Serbia

fgalleto — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 13:51:33 +0000

In Serbia, a new website called the Istinomer, or Truth-O-Meter, rates politicians' statements based on truthfulness, consistency and whether they fulfill campaign promises or policy pledges. The team behind the Truth-O-Meter, which includes a former NDI trainer and two investigative journalists, researches and analyzes statements they find or that are submitted by the public. They publish a rating of the statement on a five point scale, along with the facts supporting their judgment.

The idea came to Vuka Crnjanski when she heard a government official say of a group illegally charging tolls on Serbia's highways: "It's OK to steal a little. This group just went too far."

"Such a statement should have gotten the minister in serious trouble," said Crnjanski, who had worked with NDI as a political party and civil society trainer and was formerly senior figure in Serbia's Liberal Democratic Party. "However, there was virtually no reaction to the statement from any political parties, government officials, NGOs or the media."

She was longing for accountability, and she wasn't alone. Having rid themselves of the Milosevic regime nearly 10 years ago, the citizens of Serbia are standing up for the notion that government is there for the public good, not private gain. But there was still no public way to hold government officials and public servants accountable for their policies, statements and actions.

The result is a website called the Istinomer, or Truth-O-Meter, a Serbian language website that analyzes politicians' statements based on truthfulness, consistency and whether they fulfill campaign promises or policy pledges. The team behind the Truth-O-Meter, which includes Crnjanski and two investigative journalists, researches and analyzes statements they find or that are submitted by the public. They publish a rating of the statement on a five point scale, along with the facts supporting their judgment. Since starting the site, the Truth-O-Meter team has evaluated statements dealing with everything from government restructuring to promises of EU integration. Crnjanski and her team see this is as the first step in creating a political culture in which people demand that government serve the public interest.

Crnjanski faced two main challenges in launching the website: funding and credibility. She didn't have any funding and wanted to be sure the end product wasn't perceived as biased for or against any parties or individuals. The first problem was solved when a Belgrade company offered to create the site for free. As for the credibility, Crnjanski assembled an advisory board comprised of professionals perceived as nonpartisan and trustworthy, including the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Information, the editor and chief of a private media agency and the director of the national archives for print media. Crnjanski partnered with NDI and the International Republican Institute for strategic advice.

To celebrate the site's launch, the Istinomer team held an outdoor event in Belgrade, with large reproductions of the Truth-O-Meters as they appear on the site. Passersby placed cutouts of politicians' faces where they thought they belonged on the truthfulness scale. The event attracted several hundred people and national media and had people around the country visiting the site. That day, the site received more than 3,000 visitors.

Since its launch in December, the Truth-O-Meter has been visited more than 100,000 times and continues to gain in popularity. While the website maintains a national focus, the group hopes to launch local versions to hold politicians accountable at the state and local levels. Groups in neighboring Bosnia and Kosovo have approached Crnjanski for advice on creating Truth-O-Meters in their countries.

Pictured above: People place photos of politicians where they think they belong on the Truth-O-Meter at the site's launch event in Belgrade.

Published April 19, 2010

Women Social Democrats of Southeastern Europe Reach across Borders for Shared Goals

fgalleto — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:53:48 +0000

As the countries of southeastern Europe struggle to move beyond a legacy of violent conflict and consolidate their democratic institutions, women leaders play an essential role. Frequently, women serve as the vanguard of political change, willing to break with established traditions and accepted wisdom to advocate for reforms. However, women politicians in the region have little place at their parties’ decision-making tables and are frequently absent when policy is developed. To foster cooperation among like-minded women leaders in the region, NDI, from Oct. 9 to 12, convened women from Social Democratic parties for a conference on the role of women's party organizations and Social Democratic approaches to policy topics.

Forty women legislators and leaders of political party women's forums gathered to discuss their common challenges. They stressed the importance of creating a regional network to develop policy solutions, carrying out joint projects and strategies, training women party activists, and moving issues of importance to women to the top of parties’ policy agendas. The event brought together representatives of 14 Social Democratic parties from Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia, and connected them with western European counterparts, including policy experts from Germany and Sweden.

With funding from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the event was co-organized by NDI, the European Forum for Solidarity and Democracy, the German Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, the Olof Palme International Center of the Swedish Social Democratic Party, and Socialist International Women. The Democratic Party hosted the conference in Serbia, following on Social Democratic regional party forums held in Croatia and Serbia in the last year.

Panel sessions focused on the most acute political, economic and social problems facing women from European democracies in transition, including addressing the effects of the current economic crisis, bolstering their position in the labor market, providing labor protections for working women, identifying the role of women's forums in party structures, responding to women's security concerns, and including women's policy platform issues in party agendas.

At the gathering, women legislators and senior party officials strategized on how to increase women's leadership in policy development and legislative advocacy and identify advancement opportunities for the next generation of women political leaders. They agreed to create a coordination body to spearhead establishment of a regional network that would help with these tasks.

"I support the idea to establish a network of women of Social Democratic parties, because we all need to learn from each other's experiences," said Gorica Majovic of the Democratic Party of Serbia. "We all have similar legislative frameworks. Why not use this opportunity to create a sub-network of women parliamentarians from Social Democratic parties?"

After the conference, participants from the Socialist Movement for Integration in Albania and the Democratic Party in Serbia collaborated on several bilateral projects to encourage women entrepreneurship. The Institute also sponsored a consultative visit by Sonja Lokar, a leading Social Democratic voice in Slovenia, to work with the women's wing of the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) on creating a development plan to coincide with the group’s 10th anniversary.

NDI's regional party development program aims to help parties develop policy agendas and connect with like-minded parties in the Balkans and Western Europe. The program has been funded by the NED since 2005. In 2010, NDI will continue to organize similar gatherings of in southeastern Europe to encourage cross-border exchange.

Pictured above: Women leaders from southeastern Europe gathered with peers in Serbia to brainstorm solutions to common challenges.

Published November 24, 2009

NDI E-news: HIV/AIDS, Sudan, the Balkans | May 2009

fgalleto — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:35:26 +0000

May 2009

African Legislators Work to Combat Stigma of HIV/AIDS

Efforts to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa have been impeded by the stigma, denial and misinformation that surround the disease. Among those with a platform to speak out and help break this cycle are legislators and journalists in affected countries who can improve awareness about HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support. But a survey by NDI and the Southern African Development Community Parliamentary Forum found that legislators were “not taking full advantage of their constitutionally mandated powers to address the HIV/AIDS crisis.”

To speak to that problem, NDI recently brought together legislators and journalists in Lusaka, Zambia, as part of an ongoing program by the Institute focusing on the role of parliamentarians as advocates for constituents affected by HIV/AIDS. The impact and lessons of that gathering were detailed in an article in the Times of Zambia.

A broader look at NDI’s HIV/AIDS program in Africa, which began in 2001, is provided in an interview with Brionne Dawson, NDI’s resident senior program officer in South Africa.

Latest Iran Election Bulletin Spotlights Nuclear Issue

Despite the political disunity in Iran affecting both reformists and conservatives, there is one uniting issue – the country’s nuclear program. NDI’s Iran Election Bulletin, published in partnership with the Century Foundation, examines how the nuclear issue has affected Iranian politics leading up to the June 12 presidential election.

NDI Specializes in Arabic-Language Materials at Lebanon Publications Center

NDI is one of the world’s largest publishers of Arabic-language materials on democracy support. A catalogue of publications is available on the Institute’s web site, NDI.org, and provides information on how to order them. From its publications center in Beirut, NDI translates, publishes and distributes materials on behalf of the Institute and other organizations.

Focus Group Reports Show Increasing Pessimism Among Sudanese

Sudan’s Three Areas – Southern Kordofan, Abyei and Blue Nile – with their ethnic diversity, resource wealth and border disputes represent a microcosm of the country. Their problems are those that have plagued the nation for decades and contributed to its seemingly endless internal conflict.

Sudan’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed in 2005 faces its toughest test in those regions. A new NDI report, based on extensive opinion research conducted throughout the Three Areas, found that participants have bleak views of their current situation and the future. The report, titled Losing Hope: Citizen Perceptions of Peace and Reconciliation in the Three Areas, summarizes findings from 62 focus groups conducted in 2008.

Balkan Constituency Offices Provide Direct Link Between Lawmakers and the Public

Serbia is the latest of several Balkan countries to open constituency offices, which often provide citizens with their first opportunity to meet and talk with their elected members of parliament. Similar offices, where constituents can seek solutions to their individual problems, have been opened in Kosovo and Macedonia.

Serbia’s First Multi-Party Constituency Office Opening in Novi Pazar| July 7, 2009

rrunyan — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:50:44 +0000

EMportal| Link to story »

Serbian National Assembly Members, Munir Poturak, SDP, Kenan Hajdarević, LDP, and Šerif Hamzagić, G17 plus, opened the first parliamentary constituency office in Novi Pazar on Tuesday, July 7 in Novi Pazar.

The focus of the office is to increase transparency in government and to restore a direct, two-way communication between citizens and MPs. The office will serve to strengthen the connection between citizens and Members of Parliament.

Link to story »

Serbia: MP Office for Communication with Citizens | May 27, 2009

rrunyan — Thu, 28 May 2009 18:31:37 +0000

Radio Serbia | Link to story »

In the Savski Venac municipality the office for communication of MPs with the citizens has been opened. At issue is the first such institution in Belgrade, and fifth in Serbia.

The project of opening MPs’ office was supported by the USAID agency and National Democratic Institute, in cooperation with the cabinet of the Parliament Speaker and MP groups. By the end of this year, 10 offices should be opened in Serbia.

Link to story »

Serbian Parliamentary Constituency Office opening in Leskovac | April 1, 2009

ggreene — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 21:56:34 +0000

EMportal | Link to story »

Serbian National Assembly Member Snezana Stojanovic-Plavsic, U.S. Ambassador to Serbia Cameron Munter, Deputy Speaker of Parliament Nikola Novakovic, Minister for National Investment Plan, Verica Kalanovic, and Leskovac Mayor Slobodan Kocic are opening the first people-focused parliamentary constituency office in Serbia on Thursday, April 2, 2009 in Leskovac. … The project to open Constituency Offices is supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and its implementer the National Democratic Institute, which is working in partnership with the Speaker’s Office and the Secretary General of the National Assembly of Serbia and parliamentary groups.

Link to story »

Serbian Citizens Find Answers with Assembly Liaison

ggreene — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 21:35:55 +0000

An office intended to strengthen communication between Serbian citizens and members of parliament (MPs) is paying dividends less than a month after opening. A new initiative in Serbia, the nonpartisan office provides a place where constituents can speak individually with their MPs or with office staff well versed in government services. The office opened April 2 in the southern part of the country with a ceremony featuring MP Snezana Stojanovic-Plavsic and U.S. Ambassador Cameron Munter. Serbia is the latest of several Balkan countries to open constituency offices.

In just the first few weeks, six cases have been resolved. They varied from a Serbian citizen seeking a lawyer to another looking for help in starting a businesses.

Nearly 10 years after the fall of President Slobodan Milosevic, who was charged with war crimes, Serbia’s economy is in crisis and its prospects for joining the European Union are unclear. At this critical juncture, such connections between elected representatives and their constituents help to demonstrate how democracy can improve their lives.

The office opened April 2 in Leskovac with a ceremony featuring MP Snezana Stojanovic-Plavsic and U.S. Ambassador Cameron Munter. The opening also included the deputy speaker of parliament and the mayor of Leskovac – a town of about 160,000 situated 175 miles south of the capital, Belgrade.

Serbia is the latest of several Balkan countries that have opened constituency offices, which, in many cases, provide citizens with their first opportunity to meet and talk with their elected representatives. Similar programs are under way in other countries of the Western Balkans.

The Serbian office is part of a pilot project supported by NDI with funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development. There are plans for two more constituent offices to open in Serbia in the coming months. NDI has been working in Serbia since 1998, assisting civil society organizations, pro-reform political parties and the parliament in their efforts to build democratic institutions.

Pictured above: U.S. Ambassador Cameron Munter and MP Snezana Stojanovic-Plavsic of G17+
open Serbia’s first constituency office, in the town of Leskovac.

–

Published on May 1, 2009

NDI - Serbia

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Serbian Citizens Find Answers with Assembly Liaison