We are permanently missing chances, now for 20 years, to build traditions of political culture and dialogue. Instead of an improvement of the state of affairs with the insults, defamations, personal labeling and violence in the politics, we are facing more severe challenges each following year
Current situation
The level of the political culture and dialogue represents an image of the political system and its level of development. We are permanently missing chances, now for 20 years, to build traditions of political culture and dialogue. Instead of an improvement of the state of affairs with the insults, defamations, personal labeling and violence in the politics, we are facing more severe challenges each following year. In the media space, there are very few broadcast programs (Studio 2 is an excellent example) working on the development of the political dialogue. The culture of pre-election debates has been replaced by pure propaganda. The dialogue, instead of being directly conducted, is run on a daily basis with press releases and press conferences. The institutions do not foster the dialogue and we could recall the culmination of the situation in 2008 with a physical attack in the Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia and a bloody parliamentary elections’ day.
The effect on the young people and the voters is enormous and negative. How could they learn the process of living in democratic conditions if their reality and educational system do not offer nothing that they can consider and contemplate as positive example of democratic political communication.
The consequences of the current situation
Improvisation of the political dialogue, Personal labeling and defamation as a norm of political communication, regular use of violence as a tool for political and social communication, hostility as a stage of relations among the different social groups of opponents on some issues. In addition, divisions and segregation the population on various bases is enhanced, creation of new taboos and keeping the old ones unresolved.
Solutions
Introduction of serious civic education which will elaborate and study, inter alia, the basic notions and concepts of freedom (individual and collective), tolerance of different positions, democracy, critical thinking, non-violence as a concept of living and breaking the taboos. No taboo topic should exist, the civic moral of the young people should be constructed from the early age and it should not be dependent on the existence of a religious education or any other factor.
Radical change of the political practice is inevitable. The education itself, remains nonsense if in practice, it is completely normal to label the political opponents, ignore their political discourse and communicate with them only through the “Truth centers” of the political parties. Also, if the essence of the political dialogue is the ad hominem approach, meaning that all the political discussions focus on the names and personal features of the prime minister and the opposition leader instead on their policies, then it has nothing to do with a political dialogue.
The role of the media in the process of increasing the dialogue on appropriate productive level is a crucial one. The dialogue is the sublime source of ideas and expression of their political clash. It is not all about the press conferences, press releases and interviews with pre-determined questions.
It is unthinkable and unallowable in the democratic countries that two parliamentary election cycles passed without a political public facing of the major political leaders in front of their voters. The media are the ones that should organize regular political debates and discussions in order “to put pressure” on the political parties, especially the ruling ones, to meet their duties, to face their political opponents in front of the audience, as with the neglecting and avoiding they practically avoid to have dialogue with one big part of the population represented by the political opponents. Consequently, the violence and the propaganda usually take the floor of the dialogue when being avoided. The media are pivotal in the process of fostering of the practice and awareness for dialogue and accountability through the media. Even if the process starts with an empty chair of some political representative, it could not last for a long period of time in that form.
The civic activism (individual and collective ones) is inevitable element of the process of reviving the political and social dialogue. The citizens unwilling or unable to assemble in the political parties could pursue their interest, completely legitimately and legally, through the civil society organizations or structures. The political parties are obliged to accept the civil society organizations as they are (not as they would like them to be), as relevant partners in the political dialogue without tendency for labeling them with totalitarian vocabulary pertinent to Lukashenka or Milosevic, but rather communicating with their arguments and positions. On the other side, the citizens should realize the civic activism as a normal and regular manner of articulating their opinion in a fearless way without a duty to explain their NGO membership and activism to anybody inasmuch as to involve into dialogue with all the public authority levels.
Enforced institutions and rule of law- the dialogue must be primarily present and highly appreciated in the institutions of its natural source and fostering – The Parliament, the law-shaping and policy-making of the Government, Municipal councils, Student parliament, political parties, civil society associations etc. The institutions must be fostered, the dialogue must become a regular practice, and a the principle of law enforcement and equal treatment by the law must not be compromised.
(Bojan Maricik is a project coordinator in FOSIM)
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