“We will celebrate no matter who wins”

With Danish elections set for this week, a Palestinian journalist is visiting Danish colleagues to gain first-hand experience of how the Danish media is covering the elections

Although many Danes probably won’t celebrate if their party of choice loses in the elections, the director of Palestinian Wattan TV, Muamar Orabi makes a point of underlining the importance of democracy itself:

“Regardless of who wins, the big winner is the country and the people. They are winners because they are able to take part in free democratic elections”, said Orabi as he was gearing up to meet his Danish colleagues at Danish Broadcasting Corporation.

Covering elections

Palestine held its last elections in 2006, where the local media according to Muamar Orabi played a very negative role, with a biased attitude and affiliations with the political parties.

At Muamar Orabi’s TV-station Wattan TV the focus is on awareness-raising to boost voter turnout, while giving every candidate a platform to argue for their points of view:

– “We believe the media’s role is to raise awareness about the elections and educate voters on their choices. As an independent TV-station we give space to all the candidates regardless of their political views.”

The visit to Denmark is is part of the IMS Twinning programme, an opportunity for the two Arab journalists and their Danish counterparts to exchange experiences and benefit mutually from their professional perspectives. And also, as Muamar Orabi points out, “to celebrate democracy”:

– “I look forward to experiencing the Danish media’s coverage of the elections, how the electoral system works, and not least how people react to the outcome”, said Orabi. “After the elections, we will celebrate no matter who wins. We will celebrate democracy.”

As part of the IMS Twinning programme Danish journalists will also be followng their counterparts during upcoming elections in the Arab world in the fall 2011.