Democracy Assistance Dialogue (DAD): Political Pluralism and Electoral Processes in the broader Middle East and North Africa

Wednesday, 20 July 2005
 
Arrival of participants
 
21.00 Welcome Dinner hosted by NPWJ at “Monastery of San Nicolò”
 
 
 
Thursday, 21 July 2005
 
9.00 – 9.30              Registration
 
9.30 – 10.30            Welcome Remarks

Diego Vecchiato, Director, International Relations, Regione Veneto
Horst Fischer, President, EIUC
Message  from Hon. Gianfranco Fini, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Italy, read by Sergio Scarantino, Minister Plenipotentiary
Emma Bonino, MEP, founder of No Peace Without Justice
 
 
11.00 – 13.00          Introduction and Presentation of Panels
 
Chair:                      Georg Ulrich, Secretary General, EIUC
 
General introduction:                Niccolò Figà-Talamanca, Program Director, NPWJ
 
Introduction to the Panels:
Saad Eddin Ibrahim, Director, Khaldun Centre for Developmental Studies, Egypt
Panel I: Standards, Status and Role of Political Parties

Riad Malki, Director General, Panorama, Palestine
Panel II:  Electoral systems and rules, passive and active electorate, electoral monitoring
 
Said Essoulami, Director, Centre for Media Freedom in the MENA, Morocco
Panel III: Access to the Media for political parties and civil society organisations

 
 
13.00 – 15.00          Lunch

 
15.00 – 19.00          Panel I: Standards, status and role of Political Parties
 
Chair and Introductory Remarks: Saad Dine El Otmani, Secretary-General, Parti de la Justice et du Développement, Morocco
 
Discussant:  Guy Haarscher, Professor, Université Libre de Bruxelles, EIUC
Rapporteur: Mohamed Al-Tayeb, Chair, Committee for Human Rights, Liberties & Civic Organizations, Shura Council, Yemen
Interventions by: Bahey El Din Hassan, Director, Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, Egypt
Rana Ahmed Ghanem Al-Dubai, Chief, Cultural Division Unionist Popular, Yemen
Ellen Khouri, Consultant and Trainer, Human Rights and Democratisation, Jordan
Farid Ghadry, President,  Reform Party, Syria
Mohammed Zahi Mogherbi, Professor, Department of Political Science, Garyounis University, Benghazi, Libya 
Moshen Marzouk, Algeria Project Director, Freedom House, Tunisia
Akhtam Naisse, President, Committees for the Defence of Democratic Liberties and Human Rights in Syria
David French, Chief Executive, Westminster Foundation for Democracy, United Kingdom
Daoud Barakat, Board Member, SHAML Palestinian Diaspora and Refugee Centre
Rend Rahim Francke, Executive Director, Iraq Foundation, Iraq
Mohamed Farid-Hassanein, Former Member of Parliament, Egypt
Elhabib Eddaqqaq, Professor of Law, Member, Political Office of Constitutional Union Party, Morocco
Gerard Philippe Latulippe, Resident Director, National Democratic Institute, Marocco
Salah Khalil, Businessman, Egypt
Al Sadig Al Saddig Abdelrahman Al-Mahdi, Former Prime Minister, Chairman, Umma Party, Sudan
Edward McMillan Scott, MEP, Vice-President of the European Parliament
 
19:30                       Dinner hosted by NPWJ at the “Villa Mabapa”
 
 
Friday, 22 July 2005
 
9.30 – 13.00            Panel II: Electoral systems and rules, passive and active electorate, electoral monitoringChair and Introductory Remarks: Abdul Karim Al-Eryani, Secretary-General, People’s General Congress, Yemen
 
Discussant: Koen De Feyter, Professor, E.MA Academic Coordinator, EIUC
 
Rapporteur: Amin Baktiar, Former Minister of Human Rights, Iraq
Interventions by:Rola Dashti, Chair, Kuwait Economic Society
Hoda El-Khatib, Lawyer, Professor at Saint Joseph University, Organisation for Civil Act, Lebanon
Barbara Ibrahim, Board Member, Khaldun Center for Developmental Studies, Egypt 
Abdellah El Oualladi, President, Organisation Marocaine des Droits Humains, Morocco
Rhizlaine Benachir, Vice Coordinator, Joussour-Forum des Femmes Marocaines, Morocco
Ahmad Nader Nadery, Commissioner, Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, Afghanistan
Emma Bonino, MEP, Head of the EU Election Observation Mission to Afghanistan, Italy
Amal Basha, Chair, Sisters Arab Forum for Human Rights, Yemen
Shahida Jamil, Barrister-at-law, Advocate, High Court of Sindh, Former Minister for Law, Justice and Human Rights, Pakistan
Hatoon al-Fassi, Professor, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia
Habib Jenhani, Professor, Human Rights and Science College, Tunisia
Mona Makram-Ebeid, Adjunct Professor, Political Science Department, American University in Cairo; President, Association for Advancement of Education, Egypt
Mohamed Abdul Malik Al-Mutawakil, Professor of Political Science, Sana'a University, Yemen
Jourchi Slaheddine, Vice-President, Tunisian League of Human Rights, Tunisia
Hassan Elsawaf, Businessman, Board Member, Khaldun Centre for Developmental Studies, Egypt
Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, President, Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, Bahrain
Mohamed Farid-Hassanein, former Egyptian MP, Egypt
Bahey Eldin Hassan, Director, Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), Egypt
Ziad Majed, Project coordinator, IDEA "Democracy in the Arab World Project", Lebanon 
Rend Rahim Francke, Executive Director, Iraq Foundation, Iraq
Noureddine Ben Braham, MP, Algerian Parliament, Algeria 
Sabiha Gundogar, Program Officer, TESEV's Foreign Policy Program, Turkey
Munira Fakhro, Associate Professor, University of Bahrain, Bahrain
Aktham Naisse, Lawyer, President of C.D.F, Committees for the Defense of Democratics and Human Rights in Syria, Syria
Ali Belhaj, President, Maroc 2020, Morocco
Amina Bouayach, Vice-president, Organisation Marocaine des Droits de l’Homme, Morocco
Antonio Spinelli, Senior Program Officer, Electoral Processes, International IDEA, Sweden
Walid Salem, Coordinator, Middle East Citizens Assembly (MECA), Palestine
Salah Khalil, Businessman, Egypt
 
13.00- 15.00            Lunch

 
15.00 – 19.00          Panel III: Access to the Media for political parties and civil society organisations
 
Chair and Introductory Remarks: Hisham Kassen, Vice-Chairman and CEO, Al Masri Al Youm – Daily Independent, Egypt


Discussant:               Gabor Halmai, Professor, EIUC
 
Rapporteur:              Moshen Marzouk, Algeria Project Director, Freedom House, Tunisia
 
Allal Mourad, Coordinator, Non-Governmental Platform for the EuroMed Civil Forum, Tunisia
Reza Eslami Soema, Assistant Professor, Unesco Chair for Human Rights, Peace and Democracy, Faculty of Law, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
Alireza Rabi, Chair, Middle East Citizen Assembly, Iran
Jourchi Slaheddine, Journalist, Vice-President, Tunisian League of Human Rights, Tunisia
Anna Barducci-Mahjar, Journalist, Il Foglio, Italy
Abdel Rahman Abu Arafeh, Director, The Arab Thought Forum, Palestine
Amina Bouayach, Vice-President, Organisation Marocaine des Droits de l’Homme, Morocco
Khaled Fouad Allam, Columnist, La Repubblica, Italy
Massimo Bordin, Director, Radio Radicale, Italy