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Topic Discussion II
Building Public Trust
Elections & Legislatures
Room 3
(22 of 23 pages)
The second point I want to make is the concept of building pluralism. Any system
with political pluralism, political parties that are represented, some constitutional institutions would require
overcoming the idea of single party and also overcoming the restriction of political thought and to overcome the
process of fragmenting political platforms also, on the other hand. As for the function of the Parliament, I believe
that we can achieve a lot if we understand that in democracy, a government is elected according to the view of
the majority. The Parliament would be elected by the whole people and we assume that there is a representation
of the majorities and minorities. Thus, it should reflect the opinion of the whole population in it. This is the
difference between electing a parliament and electing a government and thus citizens should be concerned for a
greater representation of themselves.
Legislation should be adopted along these lines. Again, democracy of information in many of our countries, we find
that information is at the worst level of equal distribution after the distribution of income. We want to establish
laws that would allow for access to information and dissemination of information to all the population and the
right of the population to be informed of government documents. This is democracy.
In the case of good governance and good management of information, we will not find articles in the media that
would distort the facts before the population. Then again, we focus on the excellence of the legal system and judicial
system and it should be responsive to the needs of the population and to the social needs of all.
Fourthly, we should develop independent parliamentary committees, independent from the government, that would allow
for dialogues and negotiations and legal issues that are based on a meeting of parliamentary points of view within
a program and based on the public interest and this should not reflect merely the opinions of individual politicians
but opinions of the public.
Finally, Mr. Chairman, I want to stress defining citizenship as a main condition of democracy and the practice
of democracy under suitable conditions. I want to go further into this point and say that our countries, if they
wish to develop, to achieve a sustainable democracy and an ongoing democracy, we would have to progress to reach
a level where we can practice full effective citizenship that goes beyond the narrow legal concept of citizenship
to become a broader and more human, holistic political concept. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chair: Now, Mr. Zepotta of Guatemala.
Adrien Zepotta: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So that I won't go beyond the time allotted me, I would like to
present a general outcome that is in line with what has been discussed here.
I believe that it is clear that these emerging democracies fall under a certain political paradigm that is not
global but still it is undergoing a certain crisis for these emerging democracies should be distinguished by a
system or a structure for criticism. We should not be mere passive parties in a political paradigm but we should
be effective participants and taking into consideration all the concepts that were brought up here and I believe
that in the final document that will be issued from this forum, we should stress that emerging democracies should
not be passive. They should be active and interactive. Thank you.
Chair: Thank you very much. Now before concluding, I will try to summarize what has been said at this table,
so that it could be helpful for the secretariat.
I think firstly, there is a question of poverty alleviation and the question of the economic situation being pointed
out quite repeatedly. The economic situation affects quite a lot to the result of the elections and confidence
of people and this illusionment on the part of the voters. That is not only limited to the emerging democracies
but to the developed countries as well. Economic situation affects quite a lot the results of the elections. So
we have to start with the economic situation and then the fighting against poverty. Poverty alleviation should
be very closely linked to the necessity -- to the instittution of the election system.
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