Strasbourg, 05/10/2012 (Agence Europe) - The plan for a World Democracy has been a long time in the making. It is designed to be the Davos Forum for democracy in the city, Strasbourg, that houses the European Court of Human Rights. After lengthy talks and travel, the new-type Davos forum opened on Friday 5 October at the Council of Europe, which, along with the city of Strasbourg and the Alsace region, is backing the forum.
On Monday morning, the United Nations' Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, will make the opening speech before handing over to the president of Tunisia, Moncef Marzouki, the Yemeni Nobel Peace Prize winner for 2011, Tawakkul Karman, and the German finance minsiter, Wolfgang Schäuble. More than a thousand people from a hundred countries are expected to come to Strasbourg to see how democracies can respond to citizens' expectations while respecting values and traditions. They will pool ideas at workshops, round tables and conferences on themes like democracy as a universal value, democracy and new social networks, democracy and globalisation. Thorbjorn Jagland, Council of Europe secretary general, former Norwegian head of state and current chair of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee, said it was a question of seeking democratic answers to the economic, social and political challenges facing contemporary society, contrasting classic conceptions with the new realities. Politicians, academics, bloggers, the general public and civil society activists will meet in Strasbourg from Monday to Thursday at the first Forum, which organisers hope will be repeated every year. In parallel, the 'Off' programme across the city will offer the public conferences, debates, exhibitions, reports and a concert. Social networks are calling for a counter-forum, calling for false democracy to be occupied, but the Strasbourg events are the first tangible signs of success, say the organisers of the official version. (VL/transl.fl)