By Goran Fejić, Senior Adviser at International IDEA’s Strategy and Policy Unit

Rarely has an International IDEA event managed to connect so directly a major political concern of a Member State with an emerging global challenge to democracy. It was a courageous and farsighted move on the part of President Calderón to propose, at the very beginning of Mexico’s chairmanship of International IDEA’s Council, “Illicit Finance in Politics” as the theme of the 2009 Democracy Round Table.

Mexico suffers deeply from the penetration of politics by crime – a problem often highlighted by both national and international media. But instead of hiding or denying the problem, Mexico called for international solidarity and action. Through the voice of its President, whose closing speech marked the apex of the event, Mexico launched a resounding appeal to all nations to join forces in defence of democracy and bar the way of organized crime.  

The panel debates were boosted by the incisive and enlightening keynote speech by Misha Glenny whose research on organized crime is well-known across the world. There was a clear and unanimous perception that the problem is global and that the increased aggressiveness of illegal networks in penetrating and subduing political decision-making is indeed a major challenge to democracy around the world.

Mexico's President Calderón at the closing session of the Round Table
Photo ©: Kuno Schläfli

From West Africa to Latin America, from Eastern Europe to Asia, money generated by trafficking in drugs, arms and human beings finds it way into politics and buys shares of political power, thus distorting the will of citizens and eroding the very credibility of democracy.

Illicit money taints political parties, influences elections, corrupts local authorities and captures entire states in some cases. As emphasized by numerous Round Table panellists the phenomenon does not affect only countries that, traditionally, have been producers of illicit substances such as Colombia or Afghanistan, but stretches its tentacles to those used as hubs for the trans-shipment and re-packaging of those substances – which is the case today of several West African countries. It is increasingly evident that countries representing their most important “export markets” – essentially Europe and the United States – will not remain unaffected either.

Fragile and post conflict states are the privileged – or rather, unprivileged – targets of transnational criminal networks as their institutions are seen as weak and unable to offer resistance.

IDEA's Secretary-General Vidar Helgesen
Photo ©: Kuno Schläfli

Paradoxically, states in transition towards a more open and deeper democracy may also be more vulnerable: democratization is always about changing entrenched power structures and networks in society. While a consolidated democracy should provide for stability, transitional stages may be destabilizing and often violent.

Several speakers pointed out that globalized markets added a transnational dimension to illicit political finance, while the financial and economic crisis exacerbated its aggressiveness: when there is a shortage of licit finance, the illicit variety becomes more competitive.

Speakers from eminent Mexican institutions such as the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE), the Federal Electoral Tribunal (TEPJF) and the UNAM University outlined in some detail their own efforts, particularly through political and legal reform proposals, to prevent the penetration of illicit finance into the life of political parties and election campaigns. 

Participants also stressed the overwhelming complexity of addressing the problem effectively because it often has socio-economical and structural root causes. They appealed for a multi-pronged approach covering security and law enforcement, but also one which seeks to make democratic institutions more effective, particularly in delivering social and economic development, thus enabling political actors to respond to popular needs and to make society as a whole more resistant to the pressure of criminal networks.

Two key areas were stressed: the need for holistic approaches and the need for strengthened international cooperation, taking the latter to new levels (possibly by engaging the UN General Assembly and the Security Council). 

Panel discussion
Photo ©: Kuno Schläfli

International IDEA, with its 25 Member States from all continents and including developing and developed countries alike, each sharing a common commitment to democracy, is indeed the most appropriate forum to raise the often divisive and controversial issue of illicit finance and organized crime in politics, and to shift the discourse from mutual suspicion to joint action in defence of democracy.

From the Mexico Round Table, International IDEA took home a wealth of ideas and experiences. This precious material will help us make our own programmes more relevant and more responsive to the needs of those who seek our support and assistance. Particular benefit will accrue to the Institute’s work in the field of electoral processes, processes of political representation and participation as well as the implementation of our regional programmes in Latin America, Africa and the Arab world, and the in the Asia-Pacific region.