No. 028-06-12-2018

Statement by the Head of the Delegation of the Russian Federation to the Bali Democracy Forum XI, Director of the Department for Humanitarian Cooperation and Human Rights of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Mr. R.Aliautdinov

Mr. Chairman, Vice Minister of the Foreign Affairs,

Excellences,

Distinguished delegates,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Let me start by expressing our gratitude for the Government of the Republic of Indonesia and its Foreign Ministry for inviting the Russian Federation to the 11^th Bali Democracy Forum which will deliberate this time a very pressing issue which is how to ensure that the democracy delivers development and prosperity for all citizens.

It is a great honor and pleasure for the Russian delegation to attend the Forum in Indonesia, the country which perfectly exemplifies the positive correlation between democratic regime type and economic and social progress.

 Development is a multi-dimensional concept aimed at improving the quality of life of people for whom freedom to choose and freedom from servitude or misrule are of paramount importance and for whom democracy is the best choice. Democracy, both intrinsically and instrumentally, is a potent force for development in different aspects of human life.

Intrinsically, by upholding the fundamental principles of liberty, equality and fraternity, it creates an enabling environment for individuals to live freely and autonomously. Instrumentally, it is an institutional guarantee that the policies and laws enacted by a government will keep in view the best interests of the people who have entrusted their fellows with the responsibilities to govern.

The positive correlation between democracy and development could be seen from following:

- Democracy promotes development because of key institutional accountability mechanisms, systems of checks and balances and rule of law which can protect against abuse of power. These features play an essential role in limiting the abuse of executive and state power, and through elections and other processes, provide a predictable, transparent, periodic system of rewards and punishments;

- Democracy provides a means for change, at least theoretically, to bring not only a change in regime but also change in policies perceived to be beneficial for the people, thus paving the way for evolution of policies, rules and systems;

- Democratic regimes are more inclined to resort to conflict resolution and conflict avoidance to build peace which is a precursor for development;

- Democracy, by virtue of its participatory nature, promotes social, economic and physical governance infrastructure which depends on collective decision making for management of resources;

- Research has shown that the longer a country is ruled democratically, the better it performs across a variety of governance and development indicators, including economic performance.

All the mentioned benefits of this mutually positive correlation between democracy and development are felt and fully enjoyed in my own country. Inclusive and accountable functioning of democratic intuitions and processes in the Russian Federation ensure steady development and further prosperity of the Russian society and all of its members.

Democracy and development preclude equal and fair cooperation without any kind of discrimination. One of the serious current threats to both democracy and development are unilateral coercive measures, unilateral economic and political sanctions which hinder human rights, including economic and social ones. We hope the subject might be of interest for the future sessions of the Bali Forum.

In conclusion, let me express the regrets of our delegation over the decision of some delegations to misuse the Forum deliberations for their own political purposes to the detriment of such an important discussion which is “Democracy for Prosperity”.