Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy

The Dutch visit, which took place from 29 March to 01 April, is part of the ongoing support for the strengthening of democracy and strengthening of political parties in Bolivia as initiated in 2002 with all Bolivian political parties and movements. Meetings were held with all main parties in parliament, private sector and academics.

They also met with the president of the parliament, Edmundo Novillo, Minister of Foreign Affairs, David Choquehuanca, president of the electoral court, José Luis Exení, Monseñor Jésus Juárez and the representative of the Prefect of Cochabamba amongst others.

During these meetings Ms van Ardenne stressed the importance of effective dialogue and emphasized the urgent need for a switch from confrontation to dialogue and the strengthening of democratic values of peace, justice, transparency and trust.

To contribute to political dialogue, NIMD’s local counterpart, the Bolivian Foundation for Multiparty Democracy (FBDM) implements various activities. In April a comparative analysis of the current and new constitution will be presented and discussed. Earlier in March fBDM and the research institute ILDIS/FES presented a comparative analysis of the draft constitution and the autonomy statutes of four departments which was widely distributed at national level.

FBDM is constituted by all Bolivian political parties and movements with parliamentarian representation. Its mission is to strengthen multiparty democracy in Bolivia. Since it foundation in 2002, it facilitates a platform for interparty dialogue and supports the strengthening of political parties.

The comparative analysis of the current and new constitution will be presented on 16 April in La Paz. Free copies of this analysis will be available on request (fubodem@yahoo.es).