The European Partnership for Democracy is organising a roundtable on the 9th December at 11 o’clock, bringing together members of its community of practice, representatives of the European institutions, member states and civil society organisations active in Myanmar.
Participants will discuss the challenges and opportunities for effective democracy support to Myanmar following the first free general elections in more than 25 years, which were held on 8 November 2015. The elections gave the opposition parties, led by the National League for Democracy, a clear mandate. However, the new political majority is facing multiple challenges. The constitution of the country does not meet modern democratic standards, as it foresees the nomination of one quarter of the Members of Parliament by the army, which thereby maintains a veto over constitutional change.
Furthermore, the quality of the democratic process is affected by continuing armed conflict as well as instances of discrimination of minorities and ethnically motivated violence. The development and reintegration of the economy is creating new opportunities as well as opening new social cleavages in society. While the new political landscape offers more space for reforms and enlarges the possible scope of democracy support, international engagement needs to remain sensitive and responsive to the particular situation in Myanmar.
Members of the EPD community of practice will present their experiences in democracy support and highlight challenges for the future:
- Ms Veronique Andrieux Araujo, Senior Program Officer, Club de Madrid, Madrid
- Mr Fabio Bargiacchi, Executive Director, European Centre for Electoral Support, Brussels
- Mr Sebastian Bloching, Head of Policy, EPD, Brussels
- Mr Tobias Flessenkemper, Managing Director, elbarlament.org, Berlin
- Ms Maaike van der Werf, Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy, The Hague
Representatives of the European Parliament, the European Commission and the European External Action Service will outline the priorities of the EU for democracy support in the coming period.
Participation in this event is open to a limited number of interested experts and organisations. Please contact Sebastian Bloching at [email protected]
