Confronting election-related crises through political dialogue

The Office of International IDEA to the EU is co-organizing with the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, a Panel Discussion with title, "Confronting election-related crises through political dialogue", on the occasion of the presentation of the publication, " Dialogues on Voluntary Codes of Conduct for Political Parties in Elections: A Facilitator’s Guide".  The event will take place in Brussels on Wednesday, 07 March 2018.

In recent years, political party dialogue has been used effectively to prevent crises during hotly contested elections and popular consultations. Negotiated agreements on fair play, often in the form of voluntary codes of conduct, contributed to preventing simmering tensions from escalating during electoral processes, and to establishing a culture of democratic dialogue. The above-mentioned publication covers examples from Peru (2005-2015), Ghana (2012), Tunisia (2014), Myanmar (2015) and Georgia (2016).

The panelists will address related issues such as:

•  the actual potential of political dialogue mechanisms to confront current electoral crises;
• the role of facilitators and mediators in the design of the negotiation, in supporting an agreement and supporting the implementation of the commitments;
•  the impact of the growing relevance of social movements and new forms of citizen engagement to promote peaceful elections and democratic dialogue; and
•  the role of traditional social structures and ethnic affiliation and their impact on the political dialogue.

The keynote addresses will be delivered by Members of the European Parliament and Chief EU Election Observers, Mr Michael Gahler and Ms Ana Gomes, respectively. Representatives of the European External Action Service, Egmont Royal Institute for International Relations, European Peace Liaison Office,  UNDP, European Parliament, and the European Institute for Peace will participate as panelists.  Ms. Fernanda Faria, an Independant Consultant and ECDPM Programme Associate, will moderate the discussions.