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Why I'm Pitching For The Skopje Congress        printable version

25 Feb 2016: posted by the editor - Macedonia

By Grattan Puxon
Ninety years after an historic Moscow convention held by the All-Russian Romani Union of the early Soviet era, and marking the 45th jubilee of that London event which gave birth to the post-war civil rights struggle, the congress opening in Skopje shortly promises something no previous gathering of its kind has had on its agenda. The introduction of representative democracy.

Primarily for this reason I am actively working for the success of the 10th IRU Congress, taking place from 18 to 20 March. Its very location in the Macedonian capital, which includes the Roma-run 50,000 population township of Suto Orizari, signals its importance. Sutka is home to veteran activist Fajk Abdi, founder of the first Roma political party in Europe and a delegate to the 1st World Romani Congress back in 1971.  Elected MP by the township his presence will ensure the close ties this congress will enjoy with the community.

Neither does it go unnoticed that this politically vital assembly is happening exactly 160 years after thousands of slaves in Romania were finally freed of their chains. A long trek towards Roma emancipation had started.

Regrettably today in Romania, the country with the largest Romani population after Turkey, progress has been temporarily overshadowed by an investigation into suspected offences relating to EU funds intended for the poorest Roma communities. Two serving Roma MPs are implicated.

Whatever the outcome, this apparent scandal will strengthen the conviction, spreading among the younger generation, that accountability must be radically improved. That goes for all NGOS and the several international organizations currently aspiring to provide leadership.

In light of a proposal now in hand, each has to face the issue of legitimacy. Only too evidently, there has been a tendency to glean authority through through association with, and the approval of, European institutions and philanthropic foundations.

The grass-roots have been neglected or ignored.

A democratic mandate, expressed through the ballot box, would exponentially enhance the true legitimacy of leadership. That procedure has been a factor of political life in Sutka for decades. This congress proposes its extension to Roma around the world.

The rise and decline of the International Romani Union, fragmented and challenged by rivals, has in recent years mirrored these failings. However, there are those inside and outside the IRU, including congress organizer Zoran Dimov, who see that in an age of rapidly advancing technologies all the old problems of communication and information transference are easily solved. Indeed, plethora of websites offer an outlet for every aspiration and protest. There already exists a virtual Romanistan. I believe there are thousands out there who will favour the fully-fledged reform, as suggested by the proponents of the Democratic Transition.

The adoption of electronic voting (or any other mass balloting method) is the single principal tenant of this proposal, now occupying the minds of visionary activists.

They want to see the creation of constituencies, voting wards based on cities and regions, rather that such as might be defined by state-boundaries. When joined up, these globally scattered constituencies would constitute a recognizable Roma Nation Mandate, a people's voice giving legitimacy to an elected representative body. As enfranchisement advances and communities are laterally linked, institutions such as "8 April" Roma Nation Day and 2 August Commemoration of the Nazi Genocide, will better understood and organized.

Mass mobilizations might become the norm, as social media is utilized the way it has been during the Arab Spring  On the agenda in Skopje is a resolution calling for the endorsement of an Election Commission. This will be tasked with examining and reporting on the best way to introduce electronic voting for future delegate and leadership elections. It is intended to have a system in place for the next congress, scheduled for 2020.

The practical example of a system recently put into use in Britain is to be displayed and demonstrated.

Discussion of the balloting methods utilized by the Roma National Council and that soon to be adopted by the Roma League, in Serbia, will be the subject of that workshop.

However, paying homage here to new thinkers of another generation, the influence of contemporary ideas causes one to pitch for changes that go much further than simple electronic voting. Since facing the police assault on Dale Farm in 2011, I have come to acknowledge, belatedly, the need for an alternation in emphasis from confrontation to community self-help.

If we are to achieve a degree of self-determination and fullest emancipation, pushing the boundaries of collective rights, a wider dimension of participatory democracy through co-operation at every level, including the economic, is urgently required. Roma may be helped on this road by an upgrade in status in the European context from ethnic group to that of a co-existing nation, following the expected official recognition as a People of Indian Origin.

This is something which will be wildly celebrated in the streets of Sutka, where everything Indian, especially in the musical culture, has been nurtured since the township was built half a century ago. I hope to live long enough to witness that day on SutkaTV.

Tags: Skopje, Sutka, Roma

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