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IMD Partner in Democracy A NNUAL R EPORT 2005 The IMD – an institute of political parties for political parties The Institute for Multiparty Democracy (IMD) is an institute of political parties for political parties. Its mandate is to encourage the process of democratisation in young democracies by providing support to political parties as the core pillars of multi- party democracy. IMD works in a strictly non-partisan and inclusive manner. Through this approach, the Institute endeavours to contribute to properly functioning, sustainable pluralistic political party systems. It also supports the activities of civil society groups which play a healthy role in multi-party democracies, even though they are not part of any formal party structure. IMD was set up by seven Dutch political parties in 2000 in response to requests for support from around the world. The IMD’s founding members are the Dutch Labour Party (PvdA), Liberal Party (VVD), Christian Democratic Party (CDA), Democratic Party (D66), Green Party (GroenLinks), Christian Union (ChristenUnie) and Reformed Party (SGP). Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy Korte Vijverberg 2 2513 AB The Hague The Netherlands Address per September 1, 2006: Passage 31 2511 AB The Hague The Netherlands T: +31 (0)70 311 5464 F: +31 (0)70 311 5465 E: [email protected] www.nimd.org IMD Partner in Democracy A NNUAL R EPORT 2005 Partners in Democracy Preface Without properly functioning political parties, resulted in a study for the European Parliament entitled democracies do not work well – a fact that is not yet No lasting Peace and Prosperity without Democracy & fully recognised within the international development Human Rights. This study contains a number of community. In 2005, we at the Institute for Multiparty recommendations for a more strategic and forthright Democracy (IMD) were encouraged by increasing approach to building democracy, concluding that interest in the role which political parties can play in democracy support should become a central pillar of ensuring that democracy delivers security and economic the EU’s external policies. development. Today, IMD maintains relations with 152 political As an institution of seven political parties, comprising parties in fifteen countries on five continents. governing and opposition parties, big and small parties, To consolidate these relationships, representatives of IMD has a distinct mandate: to facilitate the the political parties met in The Hague in June 2005. development of pluriform political systems, focusing The foundations of this partnership were expressed in particularly on the institutional development of political a jointly agreed IMD Partnership Charter, which forms parties in young democracies. a milestone in IMD’s young institutional life. The competition is intrinsic to multi-party democracy. Later in 2005, the first full external evaluation of IMD However, agreement on the rules of the political game, was conducted by the European Centre for Development combined with a shared responsibility to improve the Policy Management (ECDPM). Involving interviews way democratic systems function, is essential for multi- with stakeholders both here and in five of the countries party democracy to succeed and thrive. where programmes are running, this produced a positive assessment of our specific approach to We also recognise that the methods used to support democracy assistance and of our contribution to democracy are just as important as the results. After all, supporting multi-party political systems and political the essence of democracy is to resolve conflicts of parties. interest through dialogue and to settle disputes by non- violent means. Dialogue is the best way to drive forward In close consultation with the Dutch political parties, peaceful reform processes. To be effective, it should take the IMD Board accepted the specific recommendations place locally, focus on reform agendas, and build on the of this evaluation, which it will start to implement political will it generates. Through dialogue, trust can in 2006. Among other issues, this will deepen IMD’s grow – between the stakeholders and in the political knowledge base and help IMD to contribute to an process itself. And with trust, democracy can become international knowledge network that focuses on institutionalised. political systems and political party development. Political parties need to be invited to take the lead in As the external evaluation confirmed, the encouraging addressing gaps in democracy – an endeavour in which impact of our programmes provides us with important they should fully engage civil society organisations. incentives to plan our next multi-annual programme, which will run from 2007 to 2010. We therefore look Wherever possible, our programme is implemented in forward to deepening relationships with our partners strategic cooperation with political foundations in other around the world. countries and with multilateral organisations such as the UNDP, OAS and OSCE/ODIHR. The great value we By contributing to increasingly stable and secure attach to such collaboration – and our desire to political systems and institutionalised political parties, encourage the European Union to play a more active we hope to make the links between democracy and role in supporting democracy around the world – development more tangible. Professor Jos van Kemenade IMD President The Hague, May 2006 IMD ANNUAL R EPORT 2005 3 Contents 36 18 44 12 38 Page 3 Preface Page 11 Chapter Three: Country and Regional Programmes Page 6 Chapter One: Introducing IMD Africa 12 Ghana 6 Main activities 14 Kenya 7 Government contacts 34 16 Malawi 7 External evaluation 18 Mali 20 Mozambique Page 8 Chapter Two: 22 South Africa Relationships with partners 24 Tanzania 26 Zambia 8 International relations 28 Zimbabwe 8 Democracy and human rights 30 East and Southern Africa 9 Strengthening support in the Netherlands Regional Programme (ESARP) 10 Communication policy 32 West Africa Regional Programme (WARP) Latin America 34 Bolivia 36 Guatemala 38 Surinam Asia 40 Indonesia 4 IMD ANNUAL R EPORT 2005 46 14 Page 43 Chapter Four: Multilateral Programmes 40 24 44 Nicaragua 46 Georgia 16 48 Andean Region 26 20 28 Page 50 Appendix 1 About the IMD 22 Page 52 Appendix 2 Statement of revenue and expenditure IMD ANNUAL R EPORT 2005 5 Chapter One Introducing IMD Main activities systems, transparency, relations between the government The IMD’s mandate is to support democratisation in and opposition parties, and ways in which the role of relatively young democracies by providing support to underrepresented categories of the population (notably political parties, the pillars of multi-party democracy. women, young people and the disabled) can be Our work is organised in country and regional teams. strengthened. A special unit was added in 2004 to allow cooperation with multilateral organisations. The IMD Board consists The programmes in Latin America and Indonesia are of eight members: seven representatives of the main progressing well. The initiatives taken by the IMD- political parties in the Netherlands plus an independent supported inter-party foundation in Bolivia have helped Chairman, Professor Jos van Kemenade. produce a climate in which a peaceful transfer of power could take place, with the election of the country’s first Most of the IMD’s work is done by dedicated country president who represents the indigenous population. teams consisting of two political-party coordinators, a policy officer and a country representative or The Indonesia programme made huge strides with coordinator. These teams meet monthly. They are led the formal establishment of an IMD-assisted, locally by the coordinators for the three largest parties (CDA, owned institute – Komunitas Indonesia untuk PvdA and VVD), with a supporting role being played Demokrasi (KID) – which succeeded in introducing by the smaller parties (GL, D66, CU and SGP). an innovative programme that aims to build bridges between political parties and civil society in five In 2005 we continued to support inter-party political regions of the country. dialogue around the world. Centres for Multi-party Democracy – or organisations with similar names - have Support for the development of political parties now been established in most of the countries where continued in 2005. Strategic planning by political IMD supports programmes. Proposals and requests parties – with the assistance of IMD – has proved from a wide range of non-programme countries to be helpful in clarifying long-term institutional continued to reach IMD, indicating a substantial development goals and identify necessary reforms within demand for the kind of cooperation IMD offers. parties. A new regional programme in East and Southern No programme countries were added in 2005. Africa, which is jointly facilitated by IMD and the However, the IMD Board agreed to explore ways in South Africa-based Centre for Policy Studies, which assisting democratisation in Afghanistan and has helped intensify exchanges between politicians Burundi could help these two conflict-ridden countries representing 36 political parties throughout the region. in their transition towards stability. A Regional Political Party Forum was set up and Our methodology and some of the results we have conferences were held on issues such as electoral achieved so far are documented in the booklet Support 6 IMD ANNUAL R EPORT 2005 for Political Parties and Party Systems – the IMD Cooperation, Ms Agnes van Ardenne, to brief approach,
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