Citizens want transparency and engagement in peace talks
Greater transparency, ways to sustain progress in negotiations, and meaningful citizen participation were among the proposals developed by participants at the pilot bicommunal citizens’ assembly held at Ledra Palace on 24 October. Participants discussed how the peace-process methodology could be updated to support the leaders in reaching a mutually agreed settlement.
The event brought together 13+13 participants from both communities and from different age-groups and towns. It formed part of the EU funded Updated Cyprus Peace Process Design (“C-Up”) project, funded by the European Union under the Financial Aid Programme for the Turkish Cypriot community and led by the Cyprus Peace and Dialogue Center (CPDC), in partnership with the Interdisciplinary Centre for Law, Alternative and Innovative Methods (ICLAIM).
Citizens’ assemblies take place when a broad, representative cross-section of voters who are given the time, space and resources to think about difficult policy questions and make recommendations to their political leaders. In advance of the assemblies, the political leaders will have made commitments about what they intend to do with those proposals. For example, political leaders might commit in advance to taking the proposals to referendum (as in some key Ireland cases), discussing the proposals in the legislature, or otherwise responding in writing what they will do with the proposals.
At the pilot citizens’ assembly in Nicosia on 24 October, participants were first given expert input about citizens’ assemblies, including from Art O’Leary, Chief Executive Officer of Ireland’s independent Electoral Commission, who has run six assemblies and visited 85 countries to share lessons learned. They were also given background on key aspects of the Cyprus negotiations process – how they are run.
Simultaneous interpretation ensured that everyone heard the information in their own language and could ask questions in their own language.
The participants were then placed into four groups and given time to deliberate on two questions. The two questions touched on how to update the design of the peace process (the peace process methodology) to support the political leaders in finding a negotiated settlement.
The two questions were as follows.
“How to update the peace process to help the leaders reach a mutually agreed settlement?”
“How should citizens be engaged in the process?”
Transparency and ways to sustain progress
Common themes emerged in the discussions on the first question, including greater transparency about the negotiations process and ways to sustain progress towards comprehensive settlement.
Proposals emerging from the group discussions included joint briefings by the leaders, clearer information on areas of agreement and disagreement, and exploring a more gradual or phased approach to negotiations.
Some but not all groups suggested introducing accountability in the form of incentives to the leaders that might take the form of “carrot and stick”, “consequences” or only “penalties”.
Multiple ways to engage citizens
On the second question the four groups made many proposals for how to engage citizens and ensure that the leaders hear their proposals. Proposals that came from more than one group included regional citizens’ assemblies and using new technology for online assemblies, especially with youth.
Other proposals included creating a single online platform providing public information on the negotiations; role for citizens in supporting progress to take the final mile; mini online polls to test public opinion; and encouraging disparate groups across Cyprus to present proposals jointly to the leaders.
“This was the first bicommunal, in-person pilot citizens’ assembly in Cyprus on an issue related to the Cyprus problem. This pilot experience will inform future work on designing citizens’ assemblies that can support the leaders in reaching a mutually acceptable settlement of the Cyprus problem,” said CPDC founder and C-Up facilitator Dr. Meltem Onurkan-Samani.
She added: “We would like to acknowledge both the EU funding of the project and the Irish Embassy’s support in enabling Mr O’Leary to contribute as an external expert at the assembly. His insights and experience have been invaluable.”
ICLAIM representative and C-Up facilitator Dr. Katerina Antoniou said: “We were very encouraged by how quickly participants from both communities engaged constructively with one another, even when they disagreed on highly sensitive issues. This pilot offers encouraging evidence of the potential of citizens’ assemblies to help people explore difficult questions and identify common ground.”
About Cyprus Peace and Dialogue Centre (CPDC): CPDC is a bi-communal organisation of Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots dedicated to building a sustainable and just peace. Guided by the vision of a solution acceptable by all, CPDC fosters dialogue, trust, and cooperation across communities.
Facebook: Cyprus Peace and Dialogue Centre
Sakarya Str 7, Nicosia, 99010
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contact@cypdc.org & cpdc.communication@gmail.com
