International Day of Democracy, 15 September 2011
As
part of the festivities related to the International Day of Democracy in The
Hague (15 September), over 500 guests were allowed to take part in the Night of
Dictatorship on 14 September, but only after a strict dictatorial safety check. It was an evening filled with debates,
lectures, movies, theatre and personal stories about life in a dictatorial
regime. EPD guests from Zimbabwe shared
their experiences with electoral violence and electoral fraud. EPD guests from Egypt inspired the guests in
sessions on internet activism and the Arab Spring. Visitors could also take a
Master Class on how to defend a dictator. On the other hand, the Chairman of
the EPD Board defended fragile democratic systems over ‘benevolent
dictatorships'. 
The oppression and censorship, common to a dictatorship, were
clearly noticeable at the night of dictatorship. Fake ‘agents of the
Intelligence Service' disrupted lectures by harshly removing ‘dissidents'.
Alcohol was only available with the correct code word and even then, hidden in
a paper bag. The evening ended with an illegal after-party, for which
clandestine invitations were secretly distributed. Read more about The Night of Dictatorship
On
15 September, the international Day of Democracy started festively by renaming
the Hofplaats in The Hague into ‘Democracy Square' for one day and with a
symbolic cleaning of the Constitution Monument at Democracy Square
(Democratieplein in Dutch) by Speaker of the Dutch Parliament Gerdi Verbeet
together with kids from elementary schools.During
the day, Democracy Square served as a podium for all kinds of lectures and
activities: As such, Syrian activists started their journey with the
Democracy-caravan ‘from The Hague to Damascus' to keep the focus on the
protests in Syria and the brutal repression by the Syrian Government. In honour
of the imprisoned and molested Syrian cartoonist Ali Farzat, a workshop on
‘political cartoon drawing' was organised. Experts from Syria, Egypt, Tunisia,
Zimbabwe and Poland spoke on the transition process to democracy in their
countries. Peaceful protesters for democracy on squares around the world were
honoured by a video compilation.
EPD also organised an expert meeting on
democratic transitions in Zimbabwe in cooperation with Zimbabwe Watch. The delegation of EPD guests from
Zimbabwe was composed of Mr Gift Marunda, National Coordinator of the Select
Committee of Parliament for the New Constitution (COPAC); Mr Dominico Chidakuza,
Chief Law Officer for the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC); and Ms Getrude
Mhlanga, Programme Officer of the Zimbabwe-Europe Partnership for Democracy
(ZEPAD).
The Day of Democracy 2011 ended with
a networking event organised by EPD, the
Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy and Network Democracies. It
brought together over 40 experts from different backgrounds to brainstorm about
the opportunities and challenges of digitisation for democracy support. The
debate focused on the question of how the 2.0 revolution can lead to structural
and increased participation of citizens in the governance of their
countries. Amongst the participants were internet entrepreneurs, democracy
activists, democracy supporters and politicians from The Netherlands, Zimbabwe,
Egypt, Georgia and Ghana.
Read more about the networking dinner