Internal Organization of the Civic Forum
Annotation
Civic Forum suffered from an ongoing identity crisis because the movement's origins conflicted with the demands of leading popular opposition to the state. The dissident intellectuals guiding its early formation had advocated the idea of self-limiting resistance; they didn't want Civic Forum to become a top-down political organization, but rather a free, open society of citizens. After great success in the general strike and "round-table" negotiations, however, the Forum found itself the main contender for the party's power and had to revise its self-image accordingly. The November 28 statement "What we are" presented the first full elaboration on the movement's internal structure. The Prague-based Coordinating Committee became the organizational center of a horizontal network of Fora created and directed by local citizens. Their common platform was the November 26 program "What we want" (see document 513). This open system of equal organizations replicated the dissidents' ideals. It would prove harder to remain non-political, as foreshadowed in the "basic goals" of creating an environment for political pluralism and free elections. The trend towards politicization intensified a few weeks later when Forum leaders accepted governmental positions and the movement agreed to represent the democratic opposition in the founding elections for the post-communist state.
Text
Internal Organization of the Civic Forum,
28 November 1989
What We Are
The Civic Forum is a medium for the renewal of genuine civic positions and life,
forgotten more than forty years ago. The following text therefore does not contain any
statutes, it only wants to be a concise guideline for creating local civic forums.
The internal organization of Civic Forums:
1. The Civic Forum (further only CF) is a spontaneously created citizen movement,
which is united by the effort to find positive outcomes from the current crisis in our
society. No one is excluded from this movement who agrees with the program directives
of the CF, published on 26 November 1989 and who especially refuses the further
continuation of a political system consisting of one ruling party. We consider the basic
goal of the CF to be the complete opening of an environment for the creation of political
pluralism and for the organization of free elections in our country.
2. It is possible to create a local CF anywhere based on regions, professions or interests
by citizens, and not institutions. We recommend that membership in the CF be
established by signing the charter of the local CF organizations; we further recommend
that an informal coordinating group be established to which the citizens could turn, and
that its representatives be elected.
3. Relations between the Coordinating Center and the local CFs:
a) The CF Coordinating Center and the local CF constitute a unit joined solely by
the active civic attitude of its members. The Civic Forum does not have a
complicated hierarchy, only a horizontal net with every local Civic Forum,
connected to one coordinating center;
b) The Coordinating Center is just an informational and organizational center, and
it is in no way an administrative center; its task is to collect information from
local CFs, exchange it and inform [all local CFs] about past and future activities.
All local Civic Forums operate completely independently on the local level;
c) The Coordinating Center represents the Civic Forum in negotiations with
central state and international institutions, mostly on the basis of suggestions and
recommendations from the local CF.
4. The function of the informational center of the CF:
a) In order to secure informational links, it is necessary to submit in writing to the
Coordination Center these basic details about the local CF: business, region or
interest group where the CF was created, precise address, telephone number,
names of the representatives, number of members (rough estimate at least). These
data will be entered on file centrally;
b) Contact with the Coordinating Center—for a period of three weeks starting on
28 November 1989, the record-keeping, collection of information and consulting
services of the CF will be located at: Spalova galery, Narodni Trida 30, 110 00
Praha 1, tel. 268366, 265132, 267529. The new address and telephone line of the
Coordinating Center will be released promptly. The post office box of the CF:
632, posta 111 21, Praha 1, Politickych vez 4, Communications Professional
Training Center entrance. CF account 2346-021, SB S branch Praha 2, Praha 1,
Vaclavske namesti 42;
c) Transfer and exchange of information between individual local CFs and the
Coordinating Center will be ensured in the form of an informational bulletin,
which will be sent out by the Coordinating Center by means of mass
communications or exceptionally by telephone.
5. The orientation of the activity of the local CF: The point of the activity of the local CF
is the activation of civic behavior of its own free will and discussion in political and
everyday life. Therefore the Coordinating Center can not and does not want to hand down
any orders and restrictions, it solely provides suggestions and recommendations.
6. We believe that the local CFs should concern themselves very soon with these areas of
activity:
a) Local CFs should specify and define the opinions of citizens in the broad
democratic discussion. The discussion should lead to political differentiation,
which is an indispensable prerequisite for a pluralistic democratic political
system;
b) Local Civic Forums can pursue solutions to local problems, which are not
satisfactorily dealt with by the current social structures. Local CFs can thus
contribute to the creation of civic home rule or to the transformation of the
institutional bureaucratic apparatus into a democratic one;
c) Local CFs can prepare strikes, demonstrations and other activities supporting
their demands, even the demands of the whole Civic Forum if it should be
necessary. In this sense, the local CFs are a continuation of the strike committees
until all the demands of the CF have been met.
d) Local CFs should support all citizens in all areas where relations with the
current undemocratic structures results in violations of civic rights in the broadest
sense of the word. Local CFs are therefore the means for civic self-defense.
Supplement solely for consultative workers
Legally the local CF is a free coalition of citizens, it is not a legal subject and in
this way does not have any rights or responsibilities. The Civic Forum as a free coalition
of citizens has the same rights as an individual citizen. If the local CFs should deal with
money, it is useful to keep it in a safe and enter the contributions and withdrawals into the
account book and elect a treasurer and auditor. It is useful to provide monetary gifts over
3,000 Kcs in the form of a deposit book.
The Civic Forum
Prague, 28 November 1989
[Source: USD AV CR, KC OF Archive, file OF Documents—typescript copy A4, 3 p. Translated by Caroline Kovtun.]
Credits
The Civic Forum, "Internal Organization of the Civic Forum," 28 November 1989, trans. Caroline Kovtun, Cold War International History Project, Documents and Papers, CWIHP (accessed May 14, 2008).