The Parliamentary Forum for Democracy Meets During the 10th Anniversary of the Community of Democracies

The second meeting of the Parliamentary Forum convened at the 10th anniversary of the Community of Democracies (CD) during the High Level Democracy Meeting in Krakow, Poland on July 4th, 2010.  Parliamentarians from around the world and other foreign dignitaries discussed their contribution to the Global Democracy Work Plan and proposed strategies ensure the future of the Community of Democracies.  During the meeting – entitled “Parliaments and the Promotion of Democracy in XXI Century: Do We Live in a Global Democracy Downturn?” – the PFD passed three country specific resolutions on Belarus, Cuba, and Ukraine, and one cumulative resolution on the 10th anniversary.  The meeting also served as an opportunity for new member countries to sign the Vilnius Declaration and to join the activities of the Forum.

The PFD called on the Belarusian government to improve its relations with civil society activists, make improvements to the country’s electoral process ahead of the country’s next presidential election, respect election law procedures and the rights of opposition candidates, and to repeal any legislation or other intimidating acts which restrict media and internet freedom.
 
Regarding Cuba, the PFD condemned the Cuban government’s treatment of dissidents and political prisoners, honored the struggle of Cuban pro-democracy freedom fighters like martyr Orlando Zapata Tamayo, called for the release of all political prisoners, and called on CD member countries to take concrete steps towards expressing solidarity with the Cuban dissident community.

The PFD also called on Ukraine to improve their political situation following their turbulent January 2010 election.  The resolution on Ukraine encouraged the government to uphold democratic principles and to respect the rule of law, called on the government to eliminate corruption and to respect the rights of civil society and opposition groups, and called on CD member countries to monitor the status of democracy processes in the Ukraine.

The cumulative resolution on the 10th anniversary of the CD acknowledged the efforts of the Permanent Secretariat and the leadership of Lithuania.  The resolution also reconfirmed the CD’s commitment to work towards contributing to people’s welfare and human rights and congratulated the establishment of the Young Leaders Forum. 

The PFD made nine points of recommendation to the Global Democracy Work Plan, including: three recommendations on how to strengthen the role of parliaments in ensuring democratic worldwide; three recommendations on concrete actions to be undertaken by CD member country parliaments in helping new and transitioning democracies; and three recommendations for concrete actions to be taken by CD member country government and parliaments in the field of strengthening parliamentary institutions.