Parliamentary Electoral Dialogue Spaces

This programmatic option describes parliamentary electoral dialogues, which can bring together a country’s key parliamentary and political leaders as well as electoral commissions, security forces and young leaders. Such dialogue sessions primarily focus on electoral violence prevention (hate speech, codes of conduct for political parties, etc.)

Parliament & civic participation

ACTIVITY

DESCRIPTION

Democratic processes should be grounded in continuous dialogue between the electorate and its representatives. Elections serve as a means to channel potential conflicts in a non-violent manner. Electoral processes may thereby either contribute to creating legitimate governments or be the catalysts of conflict, when people feel left out.

Democracy, compared to other political philosophies, is based on the principle and practice of solving differences first and foremost through dialogue. Parliaments are well-positioned spaces where a plurality of views are represented, heard and shared. Dialogues may be organized between various different actors:

  • Between different political parties, inside and outside parliament
  • Between parliament and citizens
    • The parliamentary institution, seeking opinions from civil society during the legislative process
    • Individual parliamentarians, as the link between people and the institution, maintaining a permanent dialogue with the citizens they represent, explaining the decisions taken in parliament and gathering views that will help to inform decision-making.
  • Between a multitude of actors in the widest sense, bringing together different stakeholders that have a role to play in the prevention of electoral violence or around a specific theme.

Dialogues need to be inclusive of different points of view. A lack of inclusive dialogue may generate frustration and, over time, rejection and potentially rebellion. ‘Dialogue’ and ‘inclusiveness’ are part of the essence of a culture of democracy.[1]

Electoral violence is a form of political violence, designed to influence an electoral outcome, and thus the distribution of political power. In order to effectively work on the prevention of electoral violence, it is important to start with education and awareness-raising as well as opening spaces for creating effective and quality public participation. Building public knowledge about electoral democracy through parliamentary education centres and services may strengthen trust in electoral democracy. This initiative would be complementary to the programmatic option on strengthening parliamentary education centres.

The following steps are proposed:

  1. Developing tools and modalities that engage the public and encourage meaningful exchange informing dialogues.
  2. Peer-to-peer knowledge-exchange meetings between MPs (national–local, national–international).
  3. Organization of a set of dialogues on themes pertaining to particular regions/the country as a whole (election reform, prevention of electoral violence, legislative framework, etc.).
  4. Ensuring the follow-up on the recommendations and possible institutionalization of such dialogues.
  5. Securing experts’ presentations to inform discussion.

Peer-to-peer meetings feeding into dialogue for MPs, staff and independent bodies on early warning and prevention of violence, with technical experts clarifying context, may be effective. Outreach to the general population to consult their views on topics of dialogue and exchange may further be considered. Citizens need to be consulted in an open and inclusive manner.

The following methods may be employed:

  1. Dialogue sessions in the form of public hearings: This is the more formal modality, but it may be more effective. It may follow a series of consultation sessions (for example: hate speech may be addressed among youth; through a community format or dialogue; or among MPs ,a representative group of MPs, staff, academicians, experts and civil society and the conclusions and recommendations may be presented at a public hearing before the responsible committee.)
  2. Roundtable dialogues
  3. Mediation
  4. Parliamentary diplomacy
  5. Jean Monet dialogue with the European Parliament MEPs

Furthermore, in some contexts, parliament may pass an act to facilitate the culture of dialogue as is the case of the National Assembly of Zambia that passed the National Dialogue (Constitution, Electoral Process, Public Order and Political Parties) Act 2019 to “provide for a national dialogue process to facilitate the Constitution refinement process and regulation of political parties, public order
and electoral process reforms; establish the National Dialogue Forum and provide for its functions; and provide for matters connected with, or incidental to, the foregoing.”

[1] IPU 2012, Dialogue and Inclusiveness, International Day of Democracy

IMPLEMENTATION CONSIDERATIONS

1.

What are important considerations prior to initiating the activity?

  • Consider context-specific programmatic options: Tailor the programmatic activities to suit the unique political, social and economic context of each local area. Flexibility in combining various options (ideally as many as possible) allows for a more responsive approach, though it requires funding.
  • Prioritize trust and established relationships: Recognize the critical role of trust and established relationships within local communities and between stakeholders. Building and maintaining these connections should be a priority, as they facilitate open communication and collaboration, which are vital for the successful prevention of electoral violence. Often underestimated, these relationships can significantly influence the efficacy of the initiative and foster a supportive environment for dialogue and action.
  • Establish relations with other parliaments around the world for peer-to-peer knowledge-sharing on electoral dialogues.
  • Identify MPs who are drivers of change and experienced in organizing dialogues.
  • Consider moving the venue outside the parliament and to the local level as well.

2.

Who is best placed to implement the activity?

  • International assistance providers with experience working with political actors and institutions, particularly in parliamentary digitalization and participation, may be well placed to support such efforts, providing advisory support based on best practices in various contexts.
  • Electoral and parliamentary interventions that ideally comprise both parliamentary and electoral support are best suited to integrate activities that foster meaningful participation through digital platforms.

3.

How to ensure context specificity and sensitivity?

  • Consider lessons learned from previous flagship projects as well as projects in other countries (example: EP electoral dialogues).
  • Build/Strengthen the capacity of the parliament team that will run this initiative, working closely with them to align the initiative to local needs and opportunities.
  • Parliamentary staff may be of great support for delivery and roll-out. Practically all organizational aspects around MPs are most likely to go through the staff. Also, should the events and dialogues take place in the parliament building, it may not be organized without the staff.

4.

How to involve youth?

  • Mainstream parliamentary indicators (IPU & UNDP): Integrate youth engagement metrics into parliamentary performance indicators to assess how effectively parliaments are involving young people in decision-making processes. This can help ensure that youth perspectives are prioritized and evaluated systematically.
  • Engage young MPs in both the design and roll-out of parliamentary dialogue efforts while maintaining the intergenerational oversight principle whereby it is the responsibility of both the younger and older MPs to engage the youth and speak to issues that are important to youth.
  • Tailored outreach and communication: Recognize that youth engagement often necessitates diverse communication strategies. Utilize various platforms – such as social media, podcasts and interactive online forums – to reach young people where they are. Additionally, experiment with different formats, such as workshops, creative campaigns and gamified content, to engage them more effectively.

5.

How to ensure gender sensitivity/inclusive programming?

  • Mainstream parliamentary indicators (IPU/UNDP): Include gender-sensitive indicators in the evaluation frameworks for project results and resources frameworks, ensuring that the needs of women and gender minorities are systematically considered.
  • Actively involve the women’s parliamentary network as well as women’s rights groups and LGBTQI+ movements in the design and implementation of parliamentary education.

6.

How to communicate about these activities?

  • Consider the organization of orientation sessions for new MPs around the relevance of electoral dialogues and their participation.
  • Social media advertising: Boost the activity through paid advertisement via social media boosting.
  • Leveraging social media: Use social media platforms to promote activities and share updates in real time. Consider targeted campaigns that engage specific demographics and utilize engaging visuals and stories to capture attention.

7.

How to coordinate with other actors/which other stakeholders to involve?

  • Trainings and presentations: Conduct joint trainings with other stakeholders, educational institutions and community groups to build parliament’s and/or MPs’ capacity to engage in dialogue.
  • Collaborative events and conferences: Partner with various organizations to co-host events that promote dialogue and collaboration among different actors. This can enhance visibility and foster a collective approach to addressing electoral violence.

How to ensure sustainability?

  • Seek possibilities for integrating the roll-out of such dialogues into parliamentary sub-legal acts, such as rules of procedure or similar legislation.

COST CENTRES

  • Depending on the foreseen level of digitalization/context, the following aspects need to be accounted for when budgeting:
    • Experts to present different positions on the theme being discussed
    • Training of the parliamentary staff
    • Travel costs for MPs in peer-to-peer trainings
    • Information campaigns and social media boosting
    • Printing
    • Events and travel to local level because not all can afford to travel to the capital (venue, travel, catering, renting of equipment if needed for presentations)
    • Developing a mechanism to systematize and follow up on recommendations
    • Other activities specified under entry points that need to be programmed

LIMITATIONS AND CHALLENGES

  • Given the unpredictable nature of how parliament functions, build agile management and regularly update risks and indicators.
  • Dialogues may be relevant solely for the sake of exchange, but oftentimes recommendations may be drafted that would require follow-up. One may consider developing a mechanism to systematize and follow up on recommendations.

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