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Second Nobel Laureate Signs Gdańsk Declaration
Nobel laureate, Oleksandra Matviichuk, Head of Ukraine’s Centre for Civil Liberties, has signed the Gdańsk Declaration agreed to by a meeting of more than 50 African, Baltic and European leaders in Gdańsk, Poland, last week.
The declaration which commits opposition leaders to working together to build open, accountable democracies was signed at the Rolling Back Authoritarianism conference held by The Brenthurst Foundation and the European Solidarity Centre.
African opposition leaders including Uganda’s Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, better known as Bobi Wine, Tanzania’s Zitto Kabwe and Tundu Lissu, South Africa’s John Steenhuisen and VF Hlabisa, Angola’s Adalberto Costa Júnior were among the declaration’s signatories. Zimbabwe’s Tendai Biti has also signed the declaration.
The declaration, which has 21 key points – mirroring the 21 points written by the striking Solidarity workers at the Gdańsk shipyard in the early 1980s, says leaders “Commit to breaking down racial, ethnic, geographical and religious divides in building just, free and fair societies.”
The declaration calls for African opposition leaders to stand united against abuses of elections which frequently lead to despots prolonging their stay in power and for better gender representation.
The declaration was also signed by Nobel laureate and leader of Poland’s Solidarity movement, Lech Walesa and former Ukrainian Prime Minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, who both addressed the meeting.
The declaration has now been signed by 58 leaders:
- Abbasali Haji, East Africa Capital, Tanzania
- Adalberto Costa Júnior, Leader, UNITA, Angola
- Alexander Kambili, Germany
- Alfonso de Prat Gay, Former Minister of the Economy, Argentina
- Amgad Faried Eltayeb Idris, CEO, Fikra Center for Studies and Development, Egypt
- Andriy Marasin, former Senior Assistant Defense Attaché, Ukraine
- Anwar El-Sadat, Leadee, Reform and Development Party, Egypt
- Arkadiusz Modrzejewski, Director of Institute of Political Science, University of Gdansk, Poland
- Artis Pabriks, Former Deputy Prime Minister, Latvia
- Atupele Muluzi, President, United Democratic Front, Malawi
- Robert Kyagulanyi “Bobi Wine”, Leader, National Unity Platform, Uganda
- Branko Brkic, Editor-in-Chief, Daily Maverick, South Africa
- Christopher Clapham, Professor Emeritus, Cambridge, UK
- Cynthia Appenteng, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Foundation, Liberia
- David Coltart, Founding Member Movement for Democratic Change, Zimbabwe
- Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Former President of Liberia and Nobel Laureate
- Geordin Hill-Lewis, Mayor of Cape Town, South Africa
- Gloria Uwishema Nsengiyumva, Human Rights activist, All for Rwanda, Rwanda
- Greg Mills, Director, The Brenthurst Foundation, South Africa
- Gregor Jaecke, Resident Representative, KAS, South Africa
- Gregory Nemyria, Deputy Chair, Foreign Relations Committee, Rada, Ukraine
- Holger Dix, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Germany
- Ian Khama, Former President, Botswana
- Illia Bozhok, Ukraine
- Ivone Soares, Member of Parliament, RENAMO, Mozambique
- Jawar Mohammed, Founder, Oromia Media Network, Ethiopia
- Jędrzej Czerep, Head, Polish Institute of International Affairs, Poland
- John Githongo, CEO, Inuka, Kenya
- John Steenhuisen, Leader, Democratic Alliance, South Africa
- Juan Carlos Pinzón, Former Defence Minister, Colombia
- Kate Almquist Knopf, Senior Advisor, WestExec Advisors, US
- Khemaies Jhinaoui, Former Foreign Affairs Minister, Tunisia
- Kizza Besigye, President, Forum for Democratic Change, Uganda
- Lech Wałęsa, Former President, Poland
- Leopoldo Lopèz, Opposition Leader, Venezuela
- Luis Franceschi, Assistant Secretary General, The Commonwealth, UK
- Luke Pato, Bishop, Anglican Church of Southern Africa, South Africa
- Lutero Simango, President Democratic Movement of Mozambique, Mozambique
- Marcos Peña, former Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers, Argentina
- McHenry Venaani, President, Popular Democratic Movement, Namibia
- Mpumelelo Mkhabela, Political Analyst, South Africa
- Moeketsi Majoro, former Prime Minister, Lesotho
- Oleksandra Matviichuk, Head of Centre for Civil Liberties, Nobel Laureate, Ukraine
- Olusegun Obasanjo, Former President, Nigeria
- Omer Ismail, Former Foreign Affairs Minister, Sudan
- Paula Cristina Roque, Political Affairs Analyst, Portugal
- Raila Odinga, Former Prime Minister, Kenya
- Ray Hartley, Research Director, The Brenthurst Foundation, South Africa
- Robin Auld, Artiste, south Africa
- Roelf Meyer, CEO, In Transformation, South Africa
- Roland Freudenstein, Vice-President, Globsec, Belgium
- Sanyaolu Ayowole Oluwajuwon, African Action Congress, Nigeria
- Tendai Biti, Former Zimbabwe Finance Minister, CCC, Zimbabwe
- Tundu Lissu, MP, CHADEMA, Tanzania
- Velenkosini Hlabisa, President, Inkatha Freedom Party, South Africa
- Venâncio Mondlane, MP, RENAMO, Mozambique
- Winnie Odinga, EAC Member of Parliament, Kenya
- Yulia Tymoshenko, former Prime Minister, Ukraine
- Zitto Kabwe, Leader, ACT-Wazalendo, Tanzania
