Le istituzioni locali e il mondo associativo per la costruzione di una rete in materia di cooperazione, cultura di pace, integrazione multietnica, promozione dei diritti umani e della solidarietà fra i popoli.
“Leave a Sign of Democracy”: on December 2 the Council of Foreign Citizens of the Bologna Province will be elected
On Sunday, December 2, almost 43.000 non-EU citizens and all stateless persons of the Bologna Province finally can elect their own representative body. The Council of Foreign Citizens , composed of 30 representatives elected through universal suffrage, using a proportional method, will be composed of an Assembly, Presidential Office and President and will be able to express opinions and give proposals in all the areas of competence of the Council of the Province.
Moreover, its opinion on budget plan proposals, as well as spending related to policies for foreigners, will be obligatory. The President – or his/her delegate – will participate in the sessions of the Council of the Province, Council Commissions, Metropolitan Mayors Conference and the Assembly of the New District of Imola.
It took more than two years for a working group, composed of representatives of the Provincial Administration, foreign citizens’ associations, territorial communities and a group of experts and university professors, to design the Council. While waiting for a change in the national law guaranteeing the right to administrative vote to all residents, the Council of foreign citizens is an important breakthrough in democratic integration and recognition of rights of non-EU citizens.
Unlike about 5.000 foreigners from the EU countries living in Bologna, non-EU citizens do not have the right to administrative vote and thus, till now, they have not had a possibility to participate in political life of the province. Therefore the Council represents an opportunity for all members of the society to express themselves and to be represented democratically. In the centre of the project is the conviction that traditional approaches to “policies for immigrants” will be overcome. At last, the right of new citizens, living here most of their life, to express themselves on all the issues related to administrative, economic and social life of our community was recognised.
The territory of the Bologna Province is divided in three election districts: Bologna, Imola (and the relative administrative district) and all the rest municipalities of the province. The number of representatives from each district is determined by the number of foreigners residing there in order to guarantee maximum representation.
The Province, municipalities and civil society will actively provide information and logistic support for the project to succeed. For this purpose, a communication campaign is foreseen, which, besides using usual communication means (manifests, information brochures translated in various languages, etc.), includes activities of organisations, associations and individuals.
The information campaign will be held in two phases: the fist phase will be dedicated to dissemination of useful information to explain tasks and functions of the Council and the rules surrounding formation of electoral lists; at the second phase invitations to the elections will be sent and support for the election campaign will be provided.
Foreign citizens of our municipalities will be called to vote on Sunday, December 2, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m to leave a sign of democracy.
