Veranstaltungsberichte
Konrad Adenauer Stiftung - Regional Programme Australia and the Pacific (KAS Australia) was pleased to implement in Suva the second iteration of its workshops on democracy and political parties in the Pacific region.
Themed "Democracy and Political Parties in Fiji - Challenges and Opportunities", the workshops attracted representatives from the National Federation Party and the People's Alliance Party this year. Topics included the state of democracy, the two pillars of democracy: political parties and civic engagement and participation, and party development and party reform as well as pathways to action.
The discussion revealed some of the challenges that Fiji's democracy is faced with, including the coordination of the 3 governing parties (coalition government), the reconciliation of indigenous iTaukei and Indo-Fijians (ethnic diversity), and the balancing of Western law with customary law and indigenous rights and customs. The participants also performed a SWOT analysis of their respective parties, debated political strategies and party communication as well as party funding.
KAS Australia would like to thank cordially Dr Wilhelm Hofmeister from the University of Duesseldorf for running the workshops again this year.