NDI Delegation Assesses Pre-election Political Climate in Lebanon
An NDI delegation visited Lebanon from May 5-8 to assess preparations for the June 7 parliamentary elections. The mission’s goal was to provide an accurate and impartial assessment of the political climate leading up to the polls and to demonstrate the interest of the international community in the development of the democratic political process and governance in Lebanon. The delegation was led by NDI Chairman Madeleine Albright, former secretary of state, and Joseph Clark, former prime minister of Canada.
Read More »Serbian Citizens Find Answers with Assembly Liaison
An office intended to strengthen communication between Serbian citizens and members of parliament (MPs) is paying dividends less than a month after opening. A new initiative in Serbia, the nonpartisan office provides a place where constituents can speak individually with their MPs or with office staff well versed in government services. The office opened April 2 in the southern part of the country with a ceremony featuring MP Snezana Stojanovic-Plavsic and U.S. Ambassador Cameron Munter. Serbia is the latest of several Balkan countries to open constituency offices.
Read More »
The March 15 victory of Mauricio Funes, candidate of the former guerrilla movement Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional, FMLN), marked a new stage in the consolidation of Salvadoran democracy. The victory of President-elect Funes, by a clear margin with 51.3 percent of the vote, creates the first government since the 1992 peace agreement that ended El Salvador’s civil war that is not controlled by the Nationalist Republican Alliance party (Alianza Republicana Nacionalista, ARENA).
Sudanese living in the resource-rich border region between the north and south of the country have bleak views of their current situation and the future, according to focus group research released this month by the National Democratic Institute (NDI). The report, titled Losing Hope: Citizen Perceptions of Peace and Reconciliation in the Three Areas, summarizes findings from 62 focus groups conducted in Southern Kordofan, Abyei and Blue Nile in 2008. 
