Challenges for modern democracies discussed at the first “Democracy Forum” organized in Cyprus
Aiming to foster the debate between political decision-makers, the social partners and civil society about the great challenges that modern democracies face, Cyprus hosted the “Democracy Forum” for the first time on Friday.
The Forum held in Nicosia, was organized by the Office of the Citizen’s Commissioner in collaboration with the House of Representatives. European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Maria Gabriel was the keynote speaker. The Forum was addressed by the President of the Republic of Cyprus, the President of the Parliament and the Commissioner for Citizens. The Forum is based on the initiative of the European Council, to build a platform for the promotion of ideas and innovative solutions to key challenges facing democracy and its institutions around the world, and seeks to adopt democratic processes promoted by the citizens themselves.
The President of the Republic Nicos Anastasiades, in his address delivered to the forum by the Minister of Agriculture Costas Kadis, said that the Government works consistently and decisively to build a society focused on the citizens, a society in which citizens will not be mere recipients of decisions, but active co-creators of those decisions.
He added that the government believes that encouraging active citizenship, that is activating citizens to participate in the public affairs and to effectively intervene in the decision-making centers, is the core of democracy, playing a key role in addressing the challenges that arise. He added that supporting a dynamic civil society, as well as strengthening democratic participation, have been at the heart of the Government’s goals since taking office.
“Relying on the five basic principles of good governance, namely transparency, participation, accountability, efficiency and coherence, we have strengthened the views and actions of civil society through a series of decisions, while enhancing its role,” he added.
House President Annita Demetriou said that the parliament actively supports, both the process of two-way communication between the state and the citizen and the transformation of the proposals into acts and projects, in the context of strengthening active citizenship and participatory democracy, pluralism and transparency, with the aim of highlighting the problems of civil society and consequently solving them.
“As President of the House of Representatives, the leading exponent of the democratic will of the people, I declare that we clearly have an obligation to constantly strive to bridge any gap between citizens and institutions,” she said.
At the same time, she said that young men and women should be more actively involved in the public affairs and present their point of view, energy and dynamics, in order to contribute to the co-formation of a new reality.
European Commissioner Maria Gabriel called on young people to promote their vision and ideas to the decision-making centers thus helping to form a better future, as the EU has decided to designate 2022 as the European Year of Youth.
She said that the idea behind the European Youth Year is for young people to share their vision and ideas and to take part in activities across Europe. She added that the Russian invasion of Ukraine further emphasized the need to uphold the European values of democracy and rule of law, and noted the importance in participating in the elections.
She also called on young people to make their voices heard and to express themselves passionately on the issues that concern them, by participating in the “Voice your Vision” platform created by the European Commission for this purpose.
On his part, Citizen Commissioner Panagiotis Sentonas said that the war in Ukraine was a harsh and painful reminder that neither democracy nor peace are given, adding that “we must do everything in our power to safeguard and strengthen democracy”.
He added that modern democracy faces multiple challenges, given the rapidly changing digital world, extreme polarization, misinformation and the spread of fake news, hate speech, populism and the negative impact of the pandemic.
At the same time, he said that his office, through its action plan, focuses on strengthening participatory governance but also on promoting active citizenship.
Source: Cyprus News Agency