Topical Working Groups Session I
Panel 1 - Strengthening Political Party Systems
Chair: Genaro Arriagada
Panelists: Emma Bonino, Bi-khim Hsiao, Pande Lazarevski, Won-Soon Park, Gibson Sibanda

Chairman Arriagada

One of the most important issues in any discussion concerning democracy is political parties. Political parties are the principal elements in democracy, without them, there would be extreme political crisis. Complaints and resentment will destroy political parties and in the end, result in the reverse movement of democracy.

Objective: To understand the different impressions of political problems that democratic countries face.

Won-Soon Park

Korea has had a long history of social movements that started with the Japanese occupation. Since liberation, Korea has suffered much from dictatorships and freedom was lost under dictatorial rule. PSPD – With democratization and growth, the PSPD was very influential. The PSPD consisted of 100+ members that sought to protect the rights of citizens and monitor the government and parliament. The legislation opportunities and rights to legislation were in the hands of parliament who neglected to hear the voices of the public. Civic groups in Korea strongly influenced legislation with the goals of strengthening the code of ethics, strengthening the system that fights corruption, and a variety of other issues. After a four year struggle to legislate the law that would allow Korean NGO’s to succeed if they won, this was a monumental event. Corruption in Korea originates from the political sector and the main figures of politics are the main players in corruption. Parliamentary figures that were imprisoned because of corruption eventually were released and were able to attain their previous positions in parliament. In 2000, PSPD organized the Civic Group Alliance and announced political candidates and campaigned against the corrupt members of government. They were influential in redirecting votes away from corrupt politicians. Now the members of the Korean Parliament fear the rise of the people and their interests. Korea is a highly centralized country so it was very efficient to introduce reform to the constituents. The role of NGO’s and civic groups plays an immense role in civil society. Civic groups are the pillars in sustaining and strengthening political party systems in Korea.

Bi-khim Hsiao

Internal democracy within a party is crucial in the growth of democracy. Taiwanese party politics was under initially Martial Law, where no opposition was allowed. DPP members lost their lives in creating an opposition party. In 1996, the first fair presidential election was conducted. The DPP won in 2000 and made Chinese history by creating the first peaceful transition of power. Coming from an opposition and early “revolutionary” party, the DPP has been immensely challenged. Regimes need responsible opposition in promoting and sustaining democratic ideals. Taiwan has survived international and domestic pressures and is one of the most internally democratic parties in Southeast Asia. The dimensions of selecting leadership include the “family” element where a name means more than capabilities; this serves as a challenge to parties and democracy. In a democratic system, the nomination of leaders should be internal. Collective leadership ranks help in carrying parties forward. The process of policy making is often single issue oriented such as towards ethnic issues and this is yet another challenge that parties face. In Taiwan, the DPP has an overall objective to achieve democracy and promote democratic ideals. They have to present a lot more and have workable theories on social, political, and economic issues. The challenge of nominating candidates is yet another issue. There should be field candidates in the lower field areas and higher areas as well. The locals usually have no say in who will represent parties. The DPP creates fair standards in selecting candidates and leaders do not set the positions but instead share in the process of creating positions and providing political knowledge. The nomination process is very important as well. Many countries maintain different ways of distinguishing political status. The US uses voter registration to research political affiliations of the public. The promotion of diversity in one’s affiliation and public is very important. Diversity is needed in order to appeal to various constituents. The DPP has accepted more and more young people into the party thus widening the scope of votes that are likely to be received. This is important for democratic reasons and practical because it helps to broaden the voter spectrum, thus changing power dynamics through diversity. Therefore, all elements work together to insure the sustainability of a party.

Pande Lazarevski

Political parties form a cornerstone in the structure of democracy. They are necessary institutions that provide a means for structure and participation. Despite the vital role of parties, they are often challenged and face much adversity.If there are no parties in existence, the chances for democracy are limited. People need to understand that civil society can never be a substitute for political parties. Only through active support can a strong government exist. Political parties have to supply while the public demands. Parties often fail to be the source of ideas. and are the cause of much failure in the government. In the Balkans, parties don’t always help citizens or civic groups. If parties do not listen, the public may grow resentful, cynical, and defiant. In times of transition and gloom, parties become the vehicles for providing personal interests and this in turn reduces the efficiency of the party itself and of the government. Criticism, underdevelopment, and corruption all pose immense challenges in the strength of parties and the forward growth of democracy. Parties usually tend to be strong and democratic but never both. Parties must be a priority and must be restored. Clear political vision must be evident in order for a party to succeed. Problems confronting parties impact the public and democracy because they create a vacuum that results in more challenges. The role of democracy is a catalyst to democratic reform. Parties are a model and demonstration of democratic ideals; they provide a view of behavior and success. Parties either sink or swim together and need constant rejuvenation. Parties must be visible in their words and actions and must also include a focus on democratic values as well. Internal operation must be clean and diverse. Professional approaches must be taken as well in order to efficiently sustain a party. It is also necessary to keep open dialogue with the public and an awareness of public issues.

Emma Bonino

Political parties are not popular in Italy and political parties are universally discredited for many reasons. In the last ten years, NGO’s have grown increasingly popular. Many disillusions concerning political parties have arisen in the past ten years. Attention has moved towards creating a civil society and more civic groups, this has led to the growing resentment of the party system. NGO’s cannot be a substitute for political parties. Parties have lost credibility but they do deserve criticism not only because of corruption but because they have become so conservative and bureaucratic. They have created a vacuum. Democratizing the international system has been conducted through civil society. Parties deserve criticism but are by far a cornerstone in the foundation of politics and democracy. The process of losing credibility can be seen through actions- more talk, less action. No one dares to call themselves a political party anymore, instead they are coalitions, groups, etc. (Italy) Parties need reform but remain an immense tool in the arena of politics. The Transnational Radical Party insisted upon being called a party because they were nothing less. They were called a party in order to preserve the name and ideals behind what a party was expected to be. They maintained the dignity and ideals that a party consists of. Political parties are a tool in achieving an overarching goal in society and democracy and freedom are worldwide rights. The TRP implemented statutes that stated the primary goal as becoming a transnational party. One can be a member regardless of one’s background. An ideal system is one where parties and NGO’s share common goals with parties maintaining autonomy but fully participating in the election of leaders thus sharing basic common values. How can one manage to create a bridge between civil society and uncivil society? Firstly, funding is necessary and money can come from anywhere. The TRP maintains one simple rule; the party is open to receive money from everywhere. Whoever gives money must provide their name, surname, and address, as such corruption is not a temptation. Membership is absolutely important and it can be different according to income and other factors. Second, are the electoral system and its laws. The party must organize themselves according to the electoral system. This is an issue that needs reflection. Electoral laws are tailored to parties and it should be the other way around. Parties make the electoral laws and often tailor them for their own benefit when they should work accordingly alongside the laws.

Gibson Sibanda

During the Cold War, Africa was mostly a one party system due to colonial ideals and power structure. A wave of change occurred after the Cold War that led Africa towards the multiparty system. Different systems emerged out of the struggle for independence. Strong institutions were in place to support parties despite the winds of change. Zimbabwe was caught in one of the changes that took place, which was an eye-opening experience. After the ruling party won, the economy started to fall. Corruption and failure on the part of the government was far too common as a result of having a one party system. There was a crisis of governments with the decline of the economy. Opposition parties were formed from 1980 to independence and most did not have the opportunity to see an election and later ended up disbanding. When the economy started to decline in 1998, the government was looking for a new constitution and a movement for democratic change was formed. A new constitution was sought to consolidate the ruling party’s power. The ruling party saw it as their right to maintain power. Elections in 2000 revealed a great deal concerning the status of political parties in Africa at the time. Corruption led the tilt of votes and led to the persecution of opposing parties. Over 200 people would die. Millions of citizens sought to change politics through the opposition. Parties were composed of civic groups and NGO’s, and both sought to strengthen democracy. Just prior to the vote, the ruling party reduced the polling stations in the democratically strong regions to protect their likelihood of winning. The challenge of achieving political stability was an implication for the entire continent. Incumbent governments exploited elections and insured their success while maintaining international acceptance.Protecting democracy and human rights was just as great after the elections as before.Those who support democracy in Africa should reject outright the regimes that exploit the elections.Parties should be judged based on their continued commitment to human rights and social justice.Only then can multiparty systems be acceptable.There is a contradictory nature where the liberation movements entrench themselves on the argument that they fought for values even though they have put institutions in place of those very values.We need to move further and address liberation movements which have secluded the power in Africa and encourage the growth of democracy.

Chairman Arriagada’s Summary

The main theme here is to represent the five panelists and their ideas. It seems as though the same ideas are shared.Parties are immensely criticized and lack prestige but deserve criticism.Parties are necessary and essential.The real problem is, we don’t deny the lack of prestige.There are two terrible mistakes. The first, is when we have parties and no civil society and the second is when we have civil society and no parties.Another issue is the problem of corruption.The main source of corruption is how parties are financed. Finances are risky.Another issue is the problem of internal democracy.Hsiao put things in a passionate and true light.We have parties that promote democracy on the outside but internally, they do not.The problem of nomination is another point.Hsiao made a great point in discussing the political leadership in Southeast Asia, citing family politics as an example. Parties need clean air especially with respect to nominations.Other important factors are parties and electoral laws. The main responsibility is not on the party but on poor laws.Poor laws lead to fragmented political systems.Democracy cannot work with too many parties. Electoral laws cannot create a sound political party system but can collaborate in an immense way.Political parties sometimes make the electoral laws and tailor them for their own benefit; this is a disaster in democracy and results in the fragmentation of the party system and democracy. It is important to recover the dignity of political parties.Parties have destroyed their own prestige. Being a politician is often equated with being a criminal and it is up to parties and government to reclaim prestige and respect through positive changes. Political parties are movements toward democracy.These will be the main themes for the discussion tomorrow.

Viewer’s Comments

• Is there a lack of confidence in political systems all over the world?When analyzing the lack of credibility, widen the spectrum.Wider contexts should be taken into account. What can be done to pressure parties to really change?Discuss elements one by one, such as funding. How can parties mobilize effectively?
• It is important to discuss SYSTEMS.Also, fragmentations and their impact and the degrees of the colonization of the political party system should be discussed. The discussions today were focused more on political parties and individuals in the system. No one addressed the issue of the media and how it may affect the approval of political parties.With media comes funding.What can we do to strengthen the system?
• Florida as an example of poor election laws and questionable party lines.How fair can we be in applying models in the Asian, Middle East, and Latin American regions? Systems have to be developed along with social development.
• How can citizens work with parties to initiate change?When will parties really change? They are more or less the same and have remained the same for quite a while.
• Democracy is exclusively for political parties.There is a space for outside participation. How about allowing independent candidates who are not backed by parties?
• Discuss the concerns and challenges concerning multiparty systems tomorrow.

Panelist Comments

• Pande Lazarevski – Proportional representation would lead to fragmentation and decreasing efficiency and fairness.So, that’s the reason why countries have different models to follow.The constituency also chooses models too. Positive results can come from varying models. In emerging societies, changes impose a number of shocks to civil servants.Which models are influential depends on how effective a given system is.
• Bi-khim Hsiao – Some countries work well with several parties, but for some countries coalition governments don’t work.Some countries do not have cultural ideals that align well with democracy. International pressure is not enough. Native ideas and pressure are important and need more focus.
• Emma Bonino – There is no perfect model for any condition or country. After forty years of proportional systems in Italy, it is time for a change. What is needed in Afghanistan is a rethinking towards elections and government.You have to rebuild everything in order to attain democracy and work positively.A country needs a party and a government that will deliver.

Topical Working Groups Session II
November 11, 2002
Panel 1 – Strengthening Political Party Systems
Chair: Genaro Arriagada
Panelists: Emma Bonino, Bi-khim Hsiao, Pande Lazarevski, Won-Soon Park, Gibson Sibanda

Principle themes from the discussion:

• The public’s lack of confidence does not only reflect on political parties, but on political systems as a whole. In many places, parties are discredited. What measures can be taken to improve the situation?
• It is important to examine the institutionalization of political party systems – the level of fragmentation and polarization of the system, and the impact on governing.
• Political parties are resistant to change.
• Recognizing the need for party renewal and reform, what actions can be taken to encourage parties to change?
• How can internal democracy in parties be addressed with the support of leaders who often feel threatened?
• It is important to discuss the relationship between civil society and political parties. Both are essential components of a democratic society.
• It is also important to discuss the impact of electoral systems on political parties.
• The financing of political parties is a critical issue. How can parties – a crucial element of the democratic process – receive adequate funding while addressing the need for transparency and concerns about corruption.

Chairman Arriagada

Emma Bonino will be unable to attend today because she is attending another meeting.

Ivan Doherty speaking to Chairman Arriagada - It’s one thing to say that political parties should be democratic but it seems as though political parties and leaders are not engaged in organized events. Maybe this is something that we should be conscious of. We often come to events like these and political party leaders are rarely in attendance.

Ivan Doherty - There needs to be further discussion and recognition concerning participation and the role of political leaders and parties. On the transnational parties, as brought up by Bonino yesterday, there are issues that transcend parties and there are issues that must be faced as we’re all political practitioners. My recommendation is more participation of international organizations and involvement of party leaders. Internationally, we represent hundreds of nations and parties. Typically, leaders do not see events such as these as a priority but then again they are rarely invited thus leading to a lack of participation and involvement. This leads to the exclusion of party leaders and representatives.

Pande Lazarevski - If parties don’t have internal procedures what does it say about their party’s abilities and involvement? There needs to be internal and external procedures for success. How do we make sure that parties are operating internally and externally with the public?

Bi-khim Hsiao - When we are talking about parties and NGO’s, it’s difficult to define what parties are. A government can be corrupt and will be in the limelight but when an NGO is corrupt, the reaction is different and they are scrutinized in a different way. Parties and NGO’s may be disconnected because they are unique. In the future, maybe we should have open dialogues between both NGO’s and political parties at events similar to this. The parties in the European Parliament are very much transnational in promoting democracy.

Ivan Doherty - When you go to attend a party meeting or event, democracy is more of a goal and when you return to your own country issues are more domestic and less focused on the goals that were addressed in meetings.

Bi-khim Hsiao - It’s very hard because you’re dealing with international governments that are all different and at different levels of progress.

Gibson Sibanda - I think his point is very valid; we need to increase the participation of political party leaders in order to sustain democracy.

Chairman Arriagada - There are two proposals: political parties need to be engaged in more activity and we need to stimulate a more active form of thinking and method of confronting issues. We need more transparency and clarity.

Won-Soon Park - Political parties in Korea should report their spending to committees to keep open and transparent lines with various sectors in order to attain a more accountable and respectable position in society. Also, we have several meetings to make legislation drops to parliament. It used to be dismissed without serious consideration so we have a petition board to protect the rights of petitioners. Thus, making it a necessity to consider the ideas and issues of the public within parliament. As we discussed yesterday, there are measures that need to be taken, considering accountability.

Mr. Rich (Viewer Australia) - This issue of transparency in political parties is important so I thought I would bring you a glimpse of parties in Australia. It lies in public funding. It allows the authorities to look at the financing of political parties, it also gives power of institutional monitoring. I would suggest this as something that should be put into a recommendation. I know it is not popular with tax payers but in Australia, we learned that a leader had accepted public money as a cash machine and because of this; she was prosecuted for many things.

Bi-khim Hsiao - I agree and I think it’s a necessity. I think it’s in countries that have experienced one party systems that public funding is necessary. In Taiwan, the only way for the opposition to survive was to attain funding from outside sources that preferred to remain anonymous. This results in unknown sources of money, money that isn’t registered and suspicions of money laundering. For this reason, public funding is crucial. Opposition parties would be unable to attain the resources and funding that they need in order to survive if public funding were not instated.

Gibson Sibanda - What is happening in most African countries – the ruling party creates circumstances in which smaller parties are unable to succeed or progress. When you have a dictatorship, the government uses all the resources and it makes it impossible for smaller, opposition parties to have a place in politics. I think the issue of engagement and public funding should really be focused on in order to enhance democracy and prevent the ruling dictatorships from exploiting party systems.

Mr. Salah Aziz (Viewer USA) - If the political party does not practice democratic ideals, how can we believe that their overall goal is democracy? It’s also important to look at the models of political parties. If we look at the power of different parties, we see that they maintain much power and oppress other parties and cannot fathom losing power. Parties lose their power and feel resentful of the transition of power. Political parties use power as a source of wealth. I think these are important to the issue of political party systems.

Mr. Rich (Viewer Australia) - Democracy within political parties is crucial and that seems to be an overall them in this discussion. In electoral campaigns, there is no room for democracy because of the fact that people have their own goals and issues to be concerned with. The word democracy when discussing parties may not be the right word to use. Strong parties depend on honesty and diligence.

Ivan Doherty - Political party laws simply regulate the registration of the parties but do not regulate the activities of the parties.

Chairman Arriagada - You can have parties that are not democratic, that are totalitarian, but parties need to be internally sound. I’m thinking mostly in Latin America, maybe Africa, the political invention of democracy is pertinent.

Pande Lazarevski - Political measures on all sides are important. Something that affects democracy is capacity. Capacity for policy making, communicating ideas, and working with civil society. I’m speaking of Eastern Europe where there is a lack of capacity to do much. If political parties are unable to deliver the message of democracy and are unable to deliver a service that they’re supposed to, they are ruining people’s faith in politics. In an era of globalization, there is no one solution but capacity is needed to access situations and make some change or have an influence.

Chairman Arriagada - One of the most important things in the development of political parties is the activity of the political parties. I think that perhaps that if some foundation is linked to the most important political parties, if they decided to work with parties that are linked to other links, there would be more active participation and engagement.

Won-Soon Park - Yesterday, someone addressed the issue of the media. It is very important for the media to broadcast parliamentary decisions and events. It can arouse the political involvement of citizens. It is important for civic groups to engage in political processes because it gives them the opportunity to express their own opinions and ideas.

Mr. Rich (Viewer Australia) - What do you do if you work in a country where the political system does not produce parties that address varying issues? In Asia, so few parties are problematic and stand more for power than issues and common goals. If there are ways to assist, is there some good to be done?

Mr. Salah Aziz (Viewer USA) - Political parties face the same problems, they lack cooperation. Parties must act with strong respect and became involved with other countries and parties in order to be successful.

Chairman Arriagada - It’s the combination of strengthening party systems and then strategic systems that have their own specific agendas that will be beneficial. The issue then is the combination. In many cases, it’s about strengthening the capacity of parties. It’s the combined effort.

Ivan Doherty - Strengthening political parties in order to prepare them for working for democracy while in power. What are the models which we should adopt? We must give space to different sectors in order to reform situations.

Afghanistan - Coalitions help to cure some weaknesses, at least in Afghanistan. There are ethnic political parties in Afghanistan and these parties and groups should come together to form a coalition and be close to one another, some have already.

Sam Rainsy

I represent the opposition in Cambodia. My party was the first opposition party and it was very difficult to launch the party because of communist rule. I formed the first party newspaper and it was very hard to obtain the resources needed. We organized the first strike and demonstration and have done everything from scratch. We are now the second party and have 15% of seats in parliament. Thirty years of authoritarian rule has resulted in the suppression of human rights, poverty, and the exploitation of many people. The ruling party has controlled everything and used the state resources as a means of propaganda and exploitation. They control the state budget and use it as if it is the party budget. We must insure that the state is a separate entity from the party system.

Gibson Sibanda - As I stated yesterday, most of the political parties emerging out of the colonial rule, have formed themselves into a union of some kind and they manage to keep other parties from participation. Trying to bring opposition together in Africa is very difficult but we have progressed slowly. Engagement is occurring and we are gaining some solid ground. We are finding that liberation movements are entrenching themselves in power and the opposition is trying to break that power and find a place in the overall scheme of things. It is very essential that democratic parties engage in all democratic areas.