President Türk on present-day challenges facing democracy

Strasbourg, 6.7.2009  |  press release

The President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk, on behalf of Slovenia as the country holding the chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, attended the opening session of the 4th Council of Europe Summer University. In his address, Dr Türk pointed to the main challenges to democracy today. He opened by saying that in recent decades democracy has become the preferred form of governance, and that this process is likely to continue in the future. Democracy is an expression of deep aspirations of people to live in freedom, dignity and prosperity, stressed Dr Türk. He went on to add that democracy could not be imposed from abroad, but it can be assisted by international or regional organisations and movements for democracy.

Dr Türk highlighted the main challenges facing democracy in the areas of economic and social prosperity, participation and the rule of law, as well as peace and security. He stressed that a democratic society must be just and responsible, explaining that economic and social progress helps to sustain and consolidate democracy. Another key component of democracy is its participatory nature; in many societies, the participation of women in democratic processes needs to be strengthened. In Dr Türk’s words, promoting the rule of law, transparency and fight against corruption are amongst the basic elements of democratic governance and have to do with the equitable sharing of the fruits of development. In this regard, he highlighted in particular corruption, which must be rejected as a matter of culture in order for democracy to flourish to the full. As the third issue, Dr Türk highlighted the present-day threats to peace and security resulting from poverty, infectious diseases, environmental degradation, armed conflicts, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, terrorism and transnational organized crime. In this respect, he took a stance against the excessive restriction of human rights in the name of security. He stressed in particular the importance of democratic transformation in post-conflict situations, which is vital to ensure durable stability and peace.

Dr Türk also pointed to three specific challenges related to day-to-day functioning of democratic systems. First, he touched on the relation between democracy and the media, which sum up political messages in the form of sound bites, often in an entertaining way; this can make discussion of serious political issues more difficult. Then he pointed out the specific issue of different standards of the actual conduct of elections in individual countries; in this regard, he advocated the establishment of international legal instruments in this area. Such an approach may prove useful for the purpose of regional organizations, such as the Council of Europe or the OSCE, which will conduct election monitoring in countries of different political cultures, said Dr Türk. He highlighted the establishment of rules enabling a mature change of power, which can only be developed over a period of time, as the third challenge. He emphasised that constant, organised and non-violent political conflict between the government and the opposition is present in all democracies; this also applies to periods of crisis, when it is necessary to join forces to introduce huge reforms. And it is precisely this peaceful organization of political conflict, which is most promising and which makes democracy real, concluded Dr Türk.

On the margins of the 4th Council of Europe Summer University, President Türk also had a meeting with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Terry Davis, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Lluís Maria de Puig, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, and the President of the European Court of Human Rights, Jean-Paul Costa.