Democracy Is Being Tested. Citizen Assemblies Can Help | Ketakandriana Rafitoson | TED

I’m from Madagascar, and on my way to Vancouver -- and I can swear it’s a pretty long trip -- I watched a movie on the plane. And I stumbled into a nice quote saying, “People are driven by misery to revolution.” And I told myself that would make a fantastic intro to my talk, because, you know, this is a story of misery, but also of resistance and revolution. Almost 80 percent of the Malagasy people live in extreme poverty, and they are in survival mode every day.

Madagascar is a really fantastic country. Very beautiful, very rich in terms of biodiversity, natural resources, land, people, culture. But at the same time, we are lacking the most basic things such as food, electricity, education, healthcare, roads, energy, everything. Politicians promise us the moon, but they just deliver dirty governance, corruption and misery. We don't have a fair and just society where people have a say on decisions made on their behalf. And we don't have democracy. This is a notion that remains blurred to many of our people. But it doesn't have to be this way, and this has to radically change. So for the last 20 years, I've been working for the democratization of my country in various instances. And of course, power holders don't like that. But it's OK. I'm not here to please anyone, frankly. The most important thing -- (Applause) The important thing is to keep preventing dictatorship from happening in my country and to keep fighting against corruption at all levels. So what I wanted to tell you about today is something that we launched

within our community. It's called citizen assemblies. The idea is just to gather ordinary people from all walks of life around the idea of learning about democracy, deliberating about important public questions and then taking actions together. And we do believe that citizen assemblies can be a powerful way for restoring democracy, not only in Madagascar, but elsewhere around the world. The first aim of those assemblies is to ensure that everyone understands what a true democracy looks and feels like, and then to give them practical tools in order to engage them into practical actions. Because, you know, there is so much confusion around the notion of democracy. If you walk around Madagascar, you will hear lots of definitions, things going from absolute freedom or no rules. And the confusion with anarchy is sometimes compelling. So we need to tell people how it is really, and we need to fill this knowledge gap about democracy. Because when people don’t have the right information in hand, they are more vulnerable to political propaganda, which in turn takes even more power out of their hands. So that's the idea. And here I would like to say that in those assemblies, we really go beyond lofty ideals of democracy, because what we want to trigger is a collective strategy for really improving people's lives. So those who join us are totally free to pick whatever issue matters to them

and any burning question. And we want to solve this together and make tangible impact. The philosophy is to educate, empower and then engage into democratic action. And that's exactly what we are doing through our citizens assemblies. So how does it work? Every week in various locations, flexible locations, we are convening a group of 10 to 20 ordinary people, regardless of their age, gender, level of education, social status or employment, whatever. And because of security reasons, we only rely to our former participants, and we ask them to bring new people each time for the next assembly on the same location. And the gathering style is really a mix between World Café deliberation and a caucus. And we always start with very basic questions such as what is democracy? And does my voice as a simple citizen matter? Newcomers sometimes feel skeptical and hopeless because they think that their fate lies only in the hands of the government. But very rapidly they shift their mind, and they start to open up. And then we discuss those practical issues, and we find solutions together. In these assemblies, when people bring their issues, we are also connecting them with safe whistleblowing platforms for reporting corruption. And this works. I'll give a practical example. In 2018, an investigation from the Malta Network exposed that a member of Parliament was planting illegally some crops in a protected area on the west coast of Madagascar. That area is named Menabe Antimena. So almost half of this dry forest, a very unique landscape, has been slashed and burned for the last decade, as you can see from the maps. This Member of Parliament then hired migrants to work illegally in this area, and he bribed local authorities for silencing them as he spread terror in the whole county. So this case was brought to our assembly, and people were discussing about it and decided to take action. So with the help of local civil society organizations, this assembly of small farmers, teachers, journalists, people from local churches, they gathered evidence, and they asked the prosecutor to act. Following that, the Member of Parliament, who was reputed to be untouchable, has been sentenced to prison and convicted of murder. Since -- (Applause)

Since, he escaped from prison and threatened our journalists, but nonetheless he has been sentenced and convicted for additional criminal charges. This story shows the power of citizen assemblies, because those ordinary people felt the power of getting together and daring to act together. That's it. So in order to enhance the dynamic of the citizen assemblies, we launched the learning initiative aiming at nonviolent action or Lina, a Malagasy word meaning keen to learn. And this work builds on the teaching of American political scientist Gene Sharp, and it aims to really teach people about tactics and methods of nonviolent civil resistance. So with the help of the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict, we crafted a curriculum and we converted it into a film for non-literate audiences and to a guidebook for citizens, grassroots organizations and civil society organizations. And through these tools, we are teaching people how to organize peaceful protests, how to face police violence, and how, importantly, to build, nurture and sustain a movement. And when the time comes for action, we encourage people to really do this with their own means. Because we don’t have any kind of funding, and the idea is really to trigger a revolution from the inside. We have a medical doctor who is ready to assist in case of injury. We have a lawyer ready to assist if someone gets arrested. And we have people bringing us colorful pens and markers for drawing nice placards for the protests. These are neighbors. These are friends, ordinary people, just, you know, from various profiles, but brought together by the idea and dream of a better democracy and a more just society.

I do believe that the power of citizen assembly brought a positive shift in Madagascar because despite the shrinking civic space and despite the fearful reprisal, people are protesting more and more. We witnessed that during the pandemic, when nurses and doctors dared to go on strike for claiming their extra wages. I know that may sound very common to you, but for us that was something. It’s very unusual, and that happened. We also saw teachers resisting political instrumentalization during the last elections, and we saw women breaking the silence around the rape culture and the impunity surrounding it. And more of our communities dare to really claim their lands and report land grabbing perpetrated by greedy politicians. So that's a sparkling and the magic of citizen assemblies. Of course -- (Applause)

This work is very draining. This is very frustrating. Because it takes time to build this people power. We would like the revolution to happen now, but we have to be patient, OK? But nonetheless, sometimes we feel really frustrated, and we are about to give up, I tell you. But witnessing the small, tiny victories that people are achieving, that keeps us going because they are chipping away at injustice. And we all know today that democracy is backsliding around the world. But we need a remedy. The combination of citizen assemblies and civil resistance can make that difference. This year is a special year. Democracy will be tested more than ever before around the world, as almost half of the population is going to vote in various kinds of elections in 70 countries. Let's seize this momentum to build a global movement of citizens empowered, you know, to take back the power, we need that now. And I would like people to feel that they have the power within their hands. I want them to feel that their voice matters. And I want them to stand with a mission, breaking injustice and breaking the status quo. It's high time that we restore democracy back. And it is us, the citizens of this world, who can make that happen. And now is the time. So, you know, it all starts with a conversation. And I really hope that you will remember this one that we had today. Let us bring the power back to the people. Thank you. (Cheers and applause)

Helen Walters: Thank you so much, Ketakandriana. I just had a few quick questions. So you referred to this being a draining experience. It's also, I just want to be clear, it's pretty dangerous. So how do you, like, talk to us about that and talk to us about your personal commitment. KR: I mean, we are constantly attacked, you know, because of our anti-corruption commitment, because we are also outspoken about things happening in Madagascar. But I will say that it's very fair because we are ready to go for it. We know that there is a price to pay when you are reporting bad things. I think it's the same all over the world, so we are ready for that. But the thing is, you know, I have maybe a network, I have some colleagues who can protect me. But what about ordinary people in rural areas who don't have anyone to protect them? This is unfair and unjust, and that's why we need to break this system. HW: So you also referred to -- (Applause) You also referred to using small wins as ways to charge and boost yourself. Can you give us an example of a recent small win that has given you strength? KR: Oh yeah, of course. So we have this unit of investigative journalism, and we are conducting a lot of investigations, and there is one on sexual corruption happening in schools and universities in Madagascar, that we are really proud of because we exposed that. And it is now raising awareness among our community. Because some people in Madagascar do consider that this is a traditional thing, that we don’t have to complain about that. But it’s not the case. So raising this awareness drives people to sue the perpetrators of sexual corruption to court. So that's a win. We're happy about that. HW: Ketakandriana, thank you so much. KR: Thank you so much for having me. (Applause)