MEDAL DEMOKRACJI IAPC

International Association of Political Consultants Awards 2021 Democracy Medal to Russian Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny

Russian Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny has been announced as the winner of the prestigious 2021 Democracy Medal awarded by members of the International Association of Political Consultants (IAPC) which is the global peak professional body for democratic election strategists and pollsters.

IAPC president Mauricio De Vengoechea said Mr. Navalny’s award recognized him for fighting for democracy in Russia, often at great personal risk to his own life.

“Mr. Navalny has long been the most prominent voice calling attention to democratic abuses and corruption under the regime,” Mr. De Vengoechea said.

“His bravery has come at a high cost to him, including an attempt to poison him with a nerve agent and periods in jail. He remains imprisoned in Russia at this time following the latest in a series of impeding legal maneuvers against him by officials.

“Since becoming leader of the Russia of the Future Party in 2013, Mr. Navalny has been subjected to a range of tactics to prevent him from participating in election processes. Instead, he has sought to engage Russian citizens through social media activism that has attracted many followers.

“As a non-partisan organization that defends and celebrates free elections, IAPC believes Mr. Navalny, like all those who seek high office, should be able to put his case to voters in a free and fair election. The simple act of choosing your candidate is a foundational privilege of democracy. It should be defended and never taken for granted.

“The challenges to democratic principle and human liberty that we see in Mr. Navalny’s case are disturbing. By presenting this award to him, IAPC is articulating its support for the principle that all people everywhere have a right to free elections.”

IAPC is the global professional organization for people who work in democratic election campaigns and processes, often for head of states races across Europe, the Americas, the Asia-Pacific and Africa. It provides a forum for campaign strategists and pollsters to share and deepen professional knowledge around elections and to monitor trends in election practice globally.

Since 1982, IAPC has been a pioneer in awarding an organization or an individual who in the judgment of its membership has worked courageously to foster, promote and sustain the democratic process anywhere in the world through our Democracy Medal, the first international award of its kind.

This is the 39th time since 1982 that the Medal has been awarded. Nominees are proposed by members who then vote on the nominee shortlist. Awardees have included individual politicians and leaders, political organizations, and political movements that have contributed to free elections through their leadership and commitment to democratic ideals.

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Other 2021 nominees shortlisted for the Medal were Tsai Ing-wen, President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) for asserting only Taiwan's people can decide their future; journalist Maria Ressa, for breathtaking courage in challenging the Duterte government in the Philippines; and German Chancellor Angela Merkel for being an island of sanity in a growing sea of demagogue leaders.

Past winners include Hong Kong Umbrella Movement founder Joshua Wong, the Women of Belarus, Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, Polish Solidarity leader Lech Walesa, US Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, Philippines President Corazon Aquino, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, and the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Wręczenie Kobietom Białorusi Medalu Demokracja 2020, zaakceptowanego przez Swetłanę Tichanowską, Marię Kolesnikow i Weronikę Zepkalo

Wiadomość od laureata Medalu Demokracji 2019, Ekrema İmamoğlu, burmistrza Stambułu, Turcja​

Wiadomość od laureata Medalu Demokracji 2018, działaczki studenckiej z Hongkongu,  Joshua Wong, współzałożyciel Ruchu Parasolowego w Hongkongu

ZWYCIĘZCY MEDALÓW DEMOKRACJI

• 2020 Kobiety Białorusi

• 2019  Ekrem İmamoğlu, burmistrz Stambułu, Turcja

• 2018  Działacze studenckie z Hongkongu Joshua Wong, Nathan Law i Alex Chow, Ruch Parasolowy w Hongkongu

• 2017  Kemal Kilicdaroglu

• 2016  Komitet Ochrony Dziennikarzy

• 2015  Leopoldo Lopez

• 2014  Ben Goddard

• 2013  Laureaci: premier Kamla Persad-Bissessar (Trynidad i Tobago); Premier Portia Simpson-Miller (Jamajka)

• 2012  Prezydenci George HW Bush i Bill Clinton

• 2011  Arabska Wiosna

• 2010  Morgan Tsvangirai, premier Zimbabwe

• 2009  Dr Mir Hossein Mousavi, premier Iranu

• 2008  Datuk Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim, były wicepremier Malezji

• 2007  Mieszkańcy Indonezji

• 2006  Evelyn Dubrow, emerytowany dyrektor IAPC

• 2005  Wiktor Juszczenko, Prezydent Ukrainy

• 2004  Dr Shirin Ebadi, Założycielka Krajowego Stowarzyszenia Wspierania Praw Dziecka, Iran

• 2003  Joe Napolitan i Michel Bongrand, członkowie założyciele IAPC

• 2002  Morgan Tsvangirai, przewodniczący Ruchu Zmiany Demokratycznej, Zimbabwe

• 2001  Hugo Banzer, prezydent Boliwii

• 2000  George Mitchell, były senator USA

• 1999  Milo Djukanovic, Prezydent Republiki Czarnogóry

• 1998  Martin Lee, przewodniczący Partii Demokratycznej Hongkongu

• 1997  Międzynarodowa Fundacja Systemów Wyborczych

• 1996  Icchak Rabin (pośmiertnie), premier Izraela

• 1995  Aung San Suu Kyi, Krajowa Liga Demokracji w Mayarmar

• 1994  Jimmy Carter, były prezydent USA

• 1993  FW de Klerk, Prezydent RPA i Nelson Mandela, Prezydent Afrykańskiego Kongresu Narodowego

• 1992  Hans-Dietrich Genscher, 18-letni minister spraw zagranicznych

• 1991  Borys Jelcyn, Prezydent Republiki Rosyjskiej

• 1990  Vaclav Havel, Prezydent Czechosłowacji

• 1989  Michaił Gorbaczow, Prezydent ZSRR

• 1988  Nie przyznano medalu

• 1987  Margaret Thatcher, premier Wielkiej Brytanii

• 1986  Corazon Aquino, prezydent Filipin

• 1985  Willy Brandt, kanclerz RFN

• 1984  Raul Alfonsin, Prezydent Argentyny

• 1983  Raoul Wallenberg, szwedzki dyplomata

• 1982  Lech Wałęsa, lider polskiej Solidarności