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Participants from one party noted that its bylaws prescribe elections for regional party chairs,
but that internal elections have not been organized due to insufficient resources:
The regional chairs, we nominate them, but in the party regulations it says they
need to be elected. They should have been elected. As our constitution says, the
region will help them, through a conference elect a central committee for the
region. And the central committee will elect a chairperson. The regional
committee exists, but not elected. Similar in the district. The districts also need
to do it but they did not…Maybe it is financial. To hold conference. The
difficulty is holding regional general conference. It would cost several tens of
thousands. Transportation, accommodation, etc. All the costs entailed with the
conference. All from the regions, small towns, all these places. It costs. They
believe the party should pay.
Internal Party Democracy
All parties indicated that efforts to advance internal party democracy were a priority. It appears
that the internal regulations of most parties require internal democratic processes, such as
congresses to select leaders and platforms, but that these are not always carried out – often for
lack of funds – and there is little internal accountability to hold leaders to such requirements.
A high ranking official of one party noted in an interview:
The things that make it possible inside the political party to be institutionalized
with its hierarchy, it is very important that there is democracy inside the political
party. The second is that there is information sharing inside the political party,
since the resource is so limited among the political parties, but they always base
on their decision on consensus, it is also necessary that the political party should
encourage public participation, and make it transparent and accountable, and it is
good the political party management to be from top to bottom.
In discussions to brainstorm how to achieve their goals, participants cited the need for the
parties to raise funds to carry out internal party events to select national, regional and district
committees. Participants also raised the need to vote internally on party platforms; this is
revisited in subsequent sections.
Effective Management, Leadership, and Internal Regulation
Leadership and effective management were highly prioritized by all political parties throughout
the strategy workshops. Of highest priority was “to advance the leadership capacity and
management capacity of party leaders,” which was highlighted in various forms by all three
parties. One party emphasized the need to develop and implement strategic plans, and another
highlighted the need to build trust between leadership and members through increased
transparency and communication. With reference to the latter, the ensuing discussion focused
on the need for accountable party financing.
Participant ideas for how their leaders can address these issues focused on having access to best
practices from political parties from other countries that have undergone similar circumstances
or faced similar resource constraints and political contexts. This was the one area that
participants from all workshops noted could be supported by international organizations.
