Government minister hopes for a bigger role of direct democracy in Italy
Riccardo Fraccaro has been a regular participant at the Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy. But for the first time he now takes part in his new role as Italian government minister.
A member of the Five Star movement, he is the first minister for direct democracy worldwide and took up his post last June.
In this video message he talks about international reactions to his appointment.
“How can we make our cities more global and democratic at the same time?” is the theme of the 2018 Global Forum on Modern Direct DemocracyExternal link, attended by an estimated 400 participants from around the world in Rome between September 26-29.
In a series of plenary sessions and workshops, scientists, politicians, representatives of government administrations, NGOs and civil society will discuss and exchange ideas about boosting citizens’ participation in local politics and the role cities play in promoting democracy at a global level.
The forum is expected to adopt a declaration, a Magna Carta for the International League of Democratic Cities. The charter aims to boost cooperation, helping each other to increase democracy and efficiency.
swissinfo.ch is a platform in ten languages with a special dossier called #DearDemocracy dedicated to direct democracy issues.
As media partner of the Forum, swissinfo.ch journalists will report on the conference and write blog entries as well as posting contributions on Facebook and TwitterExternal link using the hashtag #globfor18.
Our readers are welcome to join in the discussion by sending their contributions and comments.
Translated from Italian by Terence MacNamee
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