Parliamentarians at the heart of the democratisation process- a LEND Network workshop

In authoritarian regimes, the culture of dialogue and negotiation is usually oppressed. Later, during the process of democratic transition, this practice has to be developed and brought to perfection, and parliamentarians stand at the heart of this process- they are the new leaders of the national dialogue, and responsible for the political negotiations in the country. They must learn how to communicate in a peaceful way and assist reconciliation in the country, not an easy task after years of violent oppression.

With this in mind, the LEND Network initiated a special workshop for its parliamentarian members in Bratislava, Slovakia. Four special experts joined the group of parliamentarians: Matyas Eorsi, former Member of Parliament in Hungary; Dusan Ondrusek, from Partners for Democratic Change in Slovakia; Rasto Kuzel, media and elections monitoring specialist; and Zuzana Wienk, from Fairplay Slovakia for transparency.

The Network participants were presented with special tools to increase the openness of the government, communication among the members of parliament and between them and the public, and reconciliation efforts. Divided into small groups, they debated the implementation of the tools in the daily reality of the parliamentarian.

As always with events of the Community of Democracies, civil society plated also an important role. In a special meeting with Slovak civil society representatives, the parliamentarians heard what the public expects and needs from them in terms of leadership and dialogue.