Exclusive Taking the First Step Toward True Democracy

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Seo Dong-young] Can true democracy be achieved where citizens make their own judgments and decisions, directly propose policies, and take responsibility for the results? Gyeonggi Province has launched a challenge to realize this.

The "First Gyeonggi Province Citizens' Policy Festival—My Gyeonggi" is being held for two days from Dec. 6 at the Suwon Convention Center in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Suwon, to expand citizen participation in provincial governance.

The policy festival was designed as a communication forum for realizing deliberative democracy with resident participation in provincial affairs as Gyeonggi Province enters its seventh popularly elected administration.

The opening ceremony on the first day was attended by approximately 500 people, including Governor Lee Jae-myung and Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly Speaker Song Han-jun.

In his opening remarks, Governor Lee stated, "It is important for citizens to make accurate decisions based on accurate information," and added, "True democracy is when a region or community solves its own problems and takes responsibility for the results."

The opening ceremony featured a vision proclamation for the policy festival. The vision consists of "three strategic pillars": ▲activating citizen-led networks ▲building a deliberative democracy ecosystem ▲expanding sustainable policy participation.

While the opening ceremony was held at 4 p.m., the policy festival began earlier at 11 a.m. with policy forums—the festival's main events. A total of 16 policy forums were held. On the first day, nine forums covered topics including climate change, social jobs, and rural-urban cooperation through expansion of public food services. On Dec. 7, seven forums will address shared housing for elderly communal living and support measures for childcare services.

Each forum generated vigorous discussions. At the forum titled "New Cities Need a Citizens' Public Square," representatives from civic organizations in areas included in the third new cities—Bucheon, Incheon, Ansan, Suwon, and Goyang—took the stage. They enumerated problems in third new city areas and pointed out that the relevant policies were implemented without reflecting citizen opinion. They subsequently stressed the need for a citizens' public deliberation process regarding the direction of new city development. Citizens attending the forum actively participated by raising their hands to ask panelists questions rather than merely observing.

Gyeonggi Province plans to collect opinions from each forum and transmit them to relevant departments. These departments will then organize and review the opinions and reflect them in provincial governance through improvements and budget establishment. How well the voices from this festival are incorporated into provincial policy remains a challenge for the first policy festival held since Governor Lee's inauguration.