Nusa Dua (Antara Bali) - Leaders from various countries are scheduled to attend the fifth Bali Democracy Forum here on Thursday.
Four heads of state have been confirmed to attend the meeting, according to the director of information and media of the ministry of foreign affairs, Priatna here on Wednesday.
They are President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia, President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, President Lee Myun Bak of South Korea and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, he said.
Five prime ministers who would come to the event are Prime Minister Julia Gillard of Australia, Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao of Timor Leste, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra of Thailand and Prime Minister Peter O'Neill of Papua New Guninea, he said.
Two deputy prime ministers that would be present at the meeting are from Singapore and Sri Lanka, he added.
"Total delegates that would be at the meeting are around 1,300," he said.
Priatna said the event would be covered by 370 journalists and 127 of them are from foreign media such as Al Jazeera showing that Bali Democracy Forum is increasingly relevant for development of democracy.
The event is scheduled to be officially opened by President Yudhoyono on Thursday, followed by general discussions by 11 ministers and deputy ministers presided by Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa.
Interactive sessions are scheduled to be held on Friday on how global democratic governments could affect peace and international security, human rights and economy.(*/DWA/T007)
