FORUM FOR FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY IN KYIV
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10:19 am | October 21, 2009
Politics
2009 Forum for the Future of Democracy will take place from 21 to 23
October 2009 in Kyiv on "Electoral systems: strenghtening democracy
in the 21st century"
How to increase the legitimacy of elections, reinforce public
confidence and participation? How can electoral systems respond to
new societal changes such as globalisation and the growing use of new
technologies? What are the responsibilities of political parties in
electoral processes? How can the media contribute to ensuring fair
elections? What is the role of civil society for transparent and
inclusive elections?
The President of Ukraine, Victor Yushchenko, and the Council of
Europe’s newly elected Secretary General, Thorbjørn Jagland, will
open the Forum to discuss these questions in six workshops bringing
together personalities from politics (including from the Council of
Europe Parliamentary Assembly), civil society, media and academia
throughout Europe.
Samuel Žbogar, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia and Chair
of the Committee of Ministers, Göran Lindblad, Vice-President
of the Parliamentary Assembly and Ian Micallef, President a.i. of
the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities will contribute to
discussions. LluÃs Maria de Puig, President of the Parliamentary
Assembly will participate in the closing session.
The Code of Good Practice in electoral matters and the Code of
Good Practice in the Field of Political Parties of the Venice
Commission – which is the Council of Europe’s advisory body on
constitutional matters – will shape the debate. The President of
the Venice Commission, Jan Helgesen, will take part in a high-level
panel debate on "the Future of Elections" moderated by Andrey Kulikov
(ICTV Ukraine).
On the occasion of the Forum, Jean-Marie Heydt, President of the
Council of Europe Conference of INGOs will also present the recently
adopted Code of Good Practice on Civil Participation which underpins
the general principles, guidelines, tools and mechanisms for active
participation of non-governmental organisations in the decision-making
process.