National Democratic Institute | NDI

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News and Views

Commentary from experts on the directions and challenges of democracy assistance programs.


September 5, 2012	Opening up the World's Legislative Bodies: The Global Game TechPresident In this piece for TechPresident, David Eaves writes about efforts around the world to monitor parliaments and legislative bodies, and to make parliamentary information more open and accessible. Eaves notes several parliamentary monitoring organizations (PMOs) that have had success, suggesting that “there is an appetite for better access to legislative bodies through open data.” However, he also says that legislative bodies themselves have a large impact on the success of citizen engagement and access information, and “sadly, legislative bodies have not always been interested in enabling innovation in this space.” Eaves addresses the launch of the Declaration on Parliamentary Openness by NDI and its partners, but questions the success of such a coalition of PMOs. He notes that though 70 PMOs signed the Declaration, no parliaments were included on the list. Eaves suggests that “such a global partnership of organizations seeking legislative transparency likely has the best hope of success among governments that already have a strong streak of transparency to them, such as Sweden and Norway,” or in newly developing democracies where “outdated and opaque processes have not become hallowed ‘traditions.’” Read More
August 22, 2012	Time to Assess Meles Legacy in Ethiopia Voice of America In a recent article in Voice of America, Scott Stearns summarizes Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s controversial 20 years in power. Stearns notes his achievements, which included helping end the communist “Red Terror” of Menigstu Haile Mariam, stabilizing security efforts in the Horn of Africa and, most notably, his success in fueling economic growth. While Meles will be remembered as a principal ally to the U.S. for his counterterrorism efforts, Stearns cites criticism from both the State Department and Amnesty International on his human rights record, including a current report that mentions Meles’ use of torture, abuse and mistreatment of detainees by security forces. “He did a lot to stabilize the country and the Horn of Africa,” said Chris Fomunyoh, NDI’s regional director for Central and West Africa, in an interview for the article. “But he’s also left a very questionable legacy in regard to human rights, respect for the media, freedom of the press, respect for the opposition and creating political space in Ethiopia.” Stearns explains, “reflections on the death of Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi are as mixed as his legacy.” Read More
August 22, 2012	US: Meles' Death Loss for Sudan Peace Process Voice of America In an article for Voice of America, Scott Stearns reports on how the death of Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi will affect Ethiopia internally as well as the Horn of Africa at large. Meles is most known for playing an integral role in stabilizing relations between South Sudan and Sudan, particularly by providing peacekeepers in the troubled Abyeh area. Despite Zenawi’s legacy as a stabilizing force in a volatile region, many believe that certain conditions within Ethiopia will improve because of this political transition. Citing Chris Fomunyoh, NDI’s regional director for Central and West Africa, Stearns says that Meles “never found the balance between the growth of commerce and the expansion of civil liberties.” A spokeswoman from the State Department said that many in Washington hope Ethiopia’s new leaders will improve human rights. Read More
August 21, 2012	Meles Zenawi, 1955-2012: Leader Left Indelible Mark on Ethiopia PBS NewsHour In a piece for PBS NewsHour, Ray Suarez writes about Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s recent death at age 57 and the pivotal role he played in the country’s development. Suarez noted that “the next few weeks of assessments and obituaries will determine how the past few years will be leveraged against the preceding 30.” In the article, Meles was described by former U.S. Agency for International Development director and senior diplomat Andrew Natsios as “one of the ablest leaders in Africa.” However, Chris Fomunyoh, NDI’s regional director for Central and West Africa noted in an interview for the piece that though Meles was “effective at curbing extremism in the Horn,” he also had a “mixed record” in the area of human rights, and was shrinking the political space with each year he extended his power. Fomunyoh said that under Meles, “Ethiopia became an anchor in the Horn of Africa,” and that “next Ethiopian leader should try to build on positive achievements of Meles, and at the same time be more forward-leaning, more open in terms of political engagement.” Read More
August 15, 2012	On Democracy in Spain New York Times On May 15, 2011, “tens of thousands of Spaniards started protesting government mismanagement and austerity measures” and, since then, these protestors (indignados) have rallied together to form a national network of local groups known as “15-M”—named for the day the protests began in 2011. 15-M focuses on a range of issues from blocking the execution of foreclosures to rallies at the branches of Spanish banks. Jonathan Blitzer, a journalist and translator based in Madrid, attended one of the local meetings which debated how activists should call out the guilty parties in the economic crisis (señalar a los culpables) in public. Responding to criticism that after a year of protests, the 15-M lacks a coherent agenda, Blitzer explained that “the problem instead may be that they have too many proposals,” listing their scores of demands from the “elimination of tax havens to increased development aid and the reform of draconian foreclosure laws.” Despite his criticism, Blitzer acknowledged that participants “are creating a holistic civic-mindedness, making ordinary citizens conversant in ideas for reform.” While it might be a “disgruntled” network of indignados, the 15-M is “an unsung success of participatory democracy” and enables Spaniards “to find their voices in a new age of unrelenting hardship.” Read More
July 27, 2012	Turning Burma’s Small Steps into Bigger Ones Washington Post In a recent Washington Post oped, Karel Schwarzenberg, acting deputy prime minister and foreign minister of the Czech Republic, explains how the trials of the Czech Republic’s democratic transition serve as a valuable lesson for the Burmese people. Reminiscing on former Czech President Vaclav Hazel’s relationship with Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, Schwarzenberg shows how the two were inspired and influenced by each other to bring democratic reform to their countries. During Schwarzenberg’s recent trip to Burma, President Thein Sein and other leaders explained the strides that they are making in democratization. The Burmese government has concluded cease-fire agreements with “most of the country’s ethnic nationalities.” While these agreements show signs of change, Schwarzenbger notes that “it is difficult to change a decades-old military mind set” and that violations of these agreements persist. He compares Burmese frustration about continuing instability to his own disappointment with the lack of development in the Czech Republic after his return from a 40-year exile, and asserts that “it will take time before the idea of freedom, the rule of law and democracy trickle down to the last commander in the most remote district of Burma.” Schwarzenberg writes about the Czech Republic’s commitment “to accompanying Burma on its path to democracy and peace,” and concludes by suggesting that the outside world must be cautious about pressing for “radical steps” and remember that for Burma to prosper it “needs genuine national reconciliation.” Read More
July 24, 2012	Oswaldo Payá, A Brave Cuban Who Saw a Bright Future for His Country Washington Post The Washington Post commemorates the life of Cuban political activist Oswaldo Payá, who died July 22 in a car accident in Cuba’s eastern Granma province. Oswaldo Payá will always be remembered as an influential and inspiring figure who “showed people that they did not have to remain silent in Fidel Castro’s prison of crumbling communism.” Payá was best known for the Varela Project, in which Payá and other dissidents obtained 10,000 signatures for a petition “seeking a national referendum to guarantee freedom of expression and association, amnesty for political prisoners and free elections.” Under the Cuban constitution, this number of signatures should have forced the National Assembly to permit a referendum, but, in response, Castro launched a vicious crackdown. While Payá was not arrested, Castro smashed what Payá called “the Cuban Spring.” Despite the repressions and struggles that he faced, Payá was relentless and was later nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize by former Czech President Vaclav Havel. Payá’s contributions to Cuba are invaluable and “while his dreams have yet to be fulfilled, they will be, and when they do, it will be in no small measure because he had the courage to take those first steps. “ Read More
July 18, 2012	We Need More Women in Legislatures Worldwide, Period Georgetown Public Policy Review Responding to a Foreign Policy article by Joshua Foust and Melinda Haring, "Who Cares How Many Women Are in Parliament?," Rosemarie Clouston disputes the co-authors claim that women’s political participation is not as important as NGO’s and aid organizations make it out to be. Writing in the Georgetown Policy Review, Clouston explains that, “the true test is not whether female parliamentarians are more prevalent in democracies than autocracies, but whether they are creating better countries in which women can live.” Clouston cites a study by Esther Duflo that shows the powerful effects of women in parliament. Duflo’s study found that in situations where Indian women were put in charge of local governing councils, these bodies prioritized their agenda and choose to invest more heavily in public services. The study also indicates that in areas with female council heads, teenage girls had, “greater career aspirations for themselves than girls living in areas with counsels headed by men.” Clouston asserts that it may be difficult to always record the concrete effects of women’s political participation, but its importance cannot be written off. Read More
July 10, 2012	Libya's Election The New York Times Highlighting the accomplishments of the Libyan people in the past year, this New York Times editorial also addresses ongoing issues Libyans continue to face. Nearly 65 percent of registered Libyan voters cast ballots to elect a 200 seat interim National Assembly. With more than 3,000 potential candidates, unofficial results suggest that a coalition led by Mahmoud Jibril, the former interim prime minister, had won. These preliminary results promise great hope for the Libyan people because Jibril, who shies away from being labeled secular or liberal, has shown intentions of being inclusive and offered to form a grand coalition with representation from all political parties. Despite these developments, the Libyans face many obstacles in their future, and have many questions to resolve over taxation, oil revenues, public services, the role of Sharia law and how to manage disparate militias. Read More
July 9, 2012	Libya’s All Important Post-Election Steps Washington Post The editorial board of the Washington Post reflects on Libya’s parliamentary elections in which 65 percent of Libyans cast ballots for an interim National Assembly. The initial results of the election were encouraging. Reports suggested that the centrist alliance led by former interim Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril won a plurality. While Jibril shies away from being labeled secularist or liberal, he appears committed to democratic principles and proposed to form a coalition in which his opponents are welcome. Libya will face many obstacles and challenges ahead as they address the question of Islamic law, regional and ethnic clashes, and militia-controlled regions of the country that refuse to answer to a central authority. Given these conditions and challenges, it’s imperative that “new government can succeed in imposing its authority across the country.” Read More