IAPC DEMOKRASIE MEDALJE

2022

IAPC Awards 2022 Democracy Medal to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and The People of Ukraine

40th award recognizes the heroism of President Zelenskyy and the millions of Ukrainian citizens who have mounted an extraordinary defence of their country and the principles of freedom and democracy

(Washington, D.C.) The International Association of Political Consultants (IAPC) announced today that it is awarding the prestigious 2022 Democracy Medal to the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy on behalf of the Ukrainian people.

The citation notes that this award is “in recognition of their crucial fight for democracy against the violent attack on their country by the authoritarian aggression of the Russian government”.

The medal is awarded annually by members of the IAPC, which is the global professional body representing election consultants, strategists, and pollsters. This is the second Democracy Medal being awarded to a President of Ukraine. The first was in 2005 to Viktor Yushchenko.

IAPC President Matt Klink said the timing of the medal’s awarding had been brought forward from late 2022, at the organization’s annual conference, to show the strongest possible support for the valiant defence of Ukraine and of democratic values by President Zelenskyy and the people of Ukraine.

“President Zelenskyy has rallied world attention to the brutal assault on a sovereign democratic nation with a popularly elected government by a dictatorship that is determined to strike at democracy itself,” Klink said. “Through appearances at the United Nations, the European Union, the U.S. Congress, the British, Canadian, Australian and other Parliaments, Zelenskyy has urged democratic countries to support Ukraine’s democratically elected government’s effort to defend itself.”

“The world has had a savage reminder of why democracy is something we must protect and cherish. Without it, nations revert to the rule of the gun rather than the will of the people,” Klink added.

IAPC Democracy Award Committee Chairperson, Feyi Akindoyeni said, “This is the second year in a row that the Medal has been awarded to those standing up to the Putin autocracy. Last year we recognised the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny."

“We hope through our award to draw attention to the heroism of Mr Zelenskyy and the millions of Ukrainian citizens who have mounted an extraordinary defence of their country and the principles of freedom and democracy,” Akindoyeni went on to say.

​

Klink concluded by saying, “We join with all civilised nations in condemning the brute violence and illegality of the Russian state in prosecuting this unlawful and unprovoked invasion, noting this war is opposed by many Russian citizens. We condemn the alleged war crimes and urge their prosecution. We encourage further support by the global community of Ukraine’s stand against tyranny. We express our hope for a peaceful resolution that restores the sovereignty of Ukraine and respects its people’s right to live in a free and democratic country with a government of their own choosing.”

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 40th time since 1982 that the Medal has been awarded. Recipients 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.

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.

2021

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.

​

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.

2020

2019

2018

• 2020 Die vroue van Wit -Rusland

• 2019  Ekrem İmamoğlu, burgemeester van Istanbul, Turkye

• 2018  Studente -aktiviste in Hong Kong, Joshua Wong, Nathan Law en Alex Chow, sambreelbeweging in Hong Kong

• 2017  Kemal Kilicdaroglu

• 2016  Komitee om joernalis te beskerm

• 2015  Leopoldo Lopez

• 2014  Ben Goddard

• 2013  Medewenners: premier Kamla Persad-Bissessar (Trinidad en Tobago); Eerste minister Portia Simpson-Miller (Jamaika)

• 2012  Presidente George HW Bush en Bill Clinton

• 2011  Die Arabiese Lente

• 2010  Morgan Tsvangirai, premier van Zimbabwe

• 2009  Dr. Mir Hossein Mousavi, Iraanse premier

• 2008  Datuk Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim, voormalige adjunk -premier van Maleisië

• 2007  Die mense van Indonesië

• 2006  Evelyn Dubrow, emeritus -direkteur IAPC

• 2005  Viktor Joesjtsjenko, president van die Oekraïne

• 2004  Dr Shirin Ebadi, stigter Nasionale Vereniging ter ondersteuning van kinderregte, Iran

• 2003  Joe Napolitan en Michel Bongrand, stigterslede van die IAPC

• 2002  Morgan Tsvangirai, voorsitter, Movement of Democratic Change, Zimbabwe

• 2001  Hugo Banzer, president van Bolivia

• 2000  George Mitchell, voormalige Amerikaanse senator

• 1999  Milo Djukanovic, president van die Republiek van Montenegro

• 1998  Martin Lee, voorsitter van die Demokratiese Party in Hong Kong

• 1997  Internasionale Stigting vir Verkiesingstelsels

• 1996  Yitzhak Rabin (postuum), premier van Israel

• 1995  Aung San Suu Kyi, nasionale toekenning vir demokrasie in Mayarmar

• 1994  Jimmy Carter, voormalige president van die VSA

• 1993  FW de Klerk, staatspresident, Republiek van Suid -Afrika en Nelson Mandela, president, African National Congress

• 1992  Hans-Dietrich Genscher, 18 jaar minister van buitelandse sake

• 1991  Boris Jeltsin, president van die Russiese Republiek

• 1990  Vaclav Havel, president van Tsjeggo -Slowakye

• 1989  Mikhail Gorbatsjof, president van die USSR

• 1988  Geen medalje toegeken nie

• 1987  Margaret Thatcher, premier van Groot -Brittanje

• 1986  Corazon Aquino, president van die Filippyne

• 1985  Willy Brandt, kanselier van Wes -Duitsland

• 1984  Raul Alfonsin, president van Argentinië

• 1983  Raoul Wallenberg, Sweedse diplomaat

• 1982  Lech Walesa, Poolse solidariteitsleier