Cultivating democratic culture a top priority, Citizens Commissioner says

Cultivating a democratic culture is "the most important priority" of his Office, Commissioner for the Citizen Panayiotis Palates has said, adding that "the aim is for Cypriot citizens to understand that through their participation in democratic processes they can influence and ultimately determine their own future."

In an interview with the Cyprus News Agency on 4 March Palates spoke of the importance of citizens' participation in public affairs and the need for the Cypriot citizen to understand his own significance for democracy and the State. He also presented the upcoming actions planned by his Office.

The Commissioner further stressed the role of education in the cultivation of a democratic culture, while he expressed his belief that in the June elections (European and municipal elections) young people will go to the polls and send their messages.

Referring to the role of the Commissioner, Palates said that the Office deals mainly with three pillars. As he explained, the first pillar has to do with supporting and providing assistance to voluntary organisations.

The second pillar, he said, is citizenship and how "we enhance social action and how we guide citizens to involve social action in their daily lives in order to combat social pathogenic phenomena such as racism and xenophobia."  The Citizens' Commissioner added that the third pillar has to do with democratic participation, noting that efforts are also being made following European guidelines to identify democratic deficits.

Asked what is the most important priority he has set for his office, Palates replied that it is "the cultivation of a democratic culture", noting that the aim is for Cypriot citizens to understand that “only through their participation in democratic processes - and I do not mean just on election day - can they influence and ultimately determine their own future.”  Democracy, he continued, needs all its citizens and this is a key principle of a democratic system.

Citizens delegate their power to politicians through their vote, he said, but in their daily lives they have to check them and the State is responsible for giving citizens the tools to scrutinise politicians and guide them in a framework of participatory democracy.

Invited to outline the actions that his office is planning to further involve citizens in public life, Palates said that an important action is the platform "Citizen's Voice", which will be implemented in March.

He explained that this is an advisory voting platform for non-binding referendums, under the supervision of his Office, through which questions will be asked which citizens will be able to freely answer.

The Commissioner revealed that the first vote will be on lowering the voting age and will be split between "whether you agree with lowering the voting age" and "whether you think it should be 17 or 16".

Palates noted that in cooperation with the Youth Board of Cyprus (ONEK) a similar platform, which will only concern the youth, "Expression", has been prepared, which will aim at the interactive communication of young people with the executive power and will include various applications, such as live streaming during which the President of the Republic himself, Ministers and Commissioners representing the executive power, on a specific day and time, will reply to young people’s questions in real time.

He also said that the Office of the Commissioner has launched a public consultation with all organisations involved in citizenship, democratic participation and especially with young people who have a real interest in the political system and how it works.

"We want to implement a grand plan under the motto 'Believe in Citizens'," Palates added noting that the Cypriot citizen should appreciate the Republic of Cyprus.

He added that the new generation is both educated and trained and has a very global perception of life, indicating that the Republic of Cyprus must find the mechanisms so that these people can be utilized, have a voice and offer to society what they can, without being isolated.

Palates noted that in this direction "we have prepared a very ambitious plan, with small actions and larger actions in a model of microcycles, in the context of which the Cypriot citizen will be given a voice."

He said that the flagship of this action will be the Structured Democratic Dialogue model, which will be implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth. The aim, he continued, is for this model to be implemented at least on a pilot basis to be tested from primary to secondary education and even universities.

Asked to assess whether there will be a turnout of young people at the polls in June, Palates said that "the whole society must go to the polls," expressing his belief that young people will participate. "By not turning up, you would essentially be giving someone else the right to decide something that concerns you," he added.

Invited to say whether actions are planned by his Office to convince voters, especially young people, to go to the polls ahead of the elections, Palates replied that actions are being planned, mainly of an informative nature, but also specific actions in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior, which is responsible for the electoral process. He noted that a communication campaign has already been launched to raise awareness and mobilise citizens to participate in the elections.

At the same time, he pointed out that his office is planning five large events, one for each district of Cyprus.

Palates noted that these meetings will include a briefing and the presentation of the tools offered by his Office in terms of direct communication with the government.

He also said that the possibility of making some podcasts where "we will give a platform to new candidates horizontally, especially for the European elections, which traditionally face the biggest problem in terms of voter turnout" will also be considered.

(Source: CNA)