the world of parliamentsarchive.ipu.org/pdf/wop/1_en.pdf · 2004-05-03 · 2 the world of...

1The World of Parliaments - April 2001

Q : In an era of globalisation, is policy still madein Parliament?

Raymond Forni : Globalisation does not con-cern parliaments specifically; rather, itaffects all national institutions alike, exec-utive, parliamentary or judicial, as very fewquestions today are exclusively national.Yet even before the pace of globalisationbegan to pick up in recent years, Francewas grappling with this problem as part ofthe building of Europe, which it wasinvolved in from the start and which hasled it gradually to adjust the functioning ofits institutions.

I myself am firmly convinced that the roleand influence of parliaments are not goingto recede when decisions are taken at an international level becausethe people, acting through their elected representatives, can andmust be involved with creating legal standards and overseeing gov-ernments. The Nation remains the essential framework for dem-ocratic expression. Peoples exercise a choice in their own countriesby voting in free elections. More than the sovereignty of States,sovereignty above all belongs to the people.

In addition, globalisation helps to awaken fresh understand-ing. The speed at which information spreads, its transparencyand its proliferation all guarantee better knowledge of the eco-nomic, social or political changes taking place throughout theworld. World political opinion now exists and is becoming morestructured. It influences major decisions and generates its ownform of status quo.

In a world that is becoming more unified, national parliamentscannot merely “rubber stamp” standards adopted within a supra-national framework. As far as the building of Europe is con-cerned, this risk may be ruled out now that our assemblies

intervene in the phase prior to the draftingof EU texts and now that the most impor-tant questions may be settled in public sit-tings, after close scrutiny by each assembly’sdelegation to the European Union.

Moreover, the European Union is a goodexample of the crucial role of parliaments,because the founding treaties introduced aprocedure providing for joint decision-mak-ing between the European Parliament andthe Council with respect to all major com-mon policies.

Q : How can we increase awareness ofparliaments and their work?

R.F. : This is a major concern for our Assem-bly. Although individual MPs are always known to constituentsfor their work on the local level, citizens are still not sufficientlyfamiliar with all facetsof the day-to-day activ-ities of Parliament.

We should bear inmind the fact that theinfluence exerted byparliaments does notderive solely from theirpower but also andabove all from the val-ues they embody, fromthe role they play in thedrafting of legislation,from their capacity tosensitize and mobilizepublic opinion and from

The World of ParliamentsThe World of ParliamentsQuarterly Review of the Inter-Parliamentary Union

Special guest : Mr. Raymond Forni,

President of the French National Assembly

Mr. Raymond Forni, President of the French National Assembly

In this issue

IPU could become “parliamentary arm” of UN

Message of the President of IPU Council, Dr. Najma Heptulla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

IPU and WTO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5

Technical Cooperation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Parliamentary Developments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Historical focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Read in the press . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

April 2001N°1

(Cont’d page 2)

2 The World of Parliaments - April 2001

the trust generated by the steps they taketo improve the people’s welfare.

Accordingly, we have simultaneouslystrengthened oversight of the Executive andbeefed up Parliament’s systems for gather-ing information on societal problems ofdirect concern to citizens: the number offact-finding committees and informationmissions dealing with such extremelydiverse subjects as food security, safety atsea, money laundering, the state and man-agement of prisons or business tribunals,problems relating to town and countryplanning and so forth has risen sharply.

We have also given higher priority tolegislative texts sponsored by Parliamentthat focus on societal issues. To mentiontwo recent examples, both the laws on rela-tions in unmarried couples – what we callthe Civil Solidarity Pact - and the ongoingdebate on the legal system for passing ona family name to children originated insuch bills.

Lastly, we have developed a modern anddiversified communication policy. Eachyear, the National Children’s Parliamentcontributes to the civic education of futurecitizens. The organization of workshopson topical issues, the launching of a par-liamentary TV channel and the develop-ment of our Internet site, where each andevery one can follow the drafting of a law,consult records of public or committeedebates, access minutes of hearings andinformation reports or contact an MP ora political group all serve to heightenawareness of the wide-ranging activitiesperformed by Parliament.

Q : How can we strengthen the role ofparliaments on the international scene?

R.F. : First of all, there is a need to worktowards the establishment of internationalassemblies. The UN, WTO and the otherinternational organizations must open upmore to the people, to world public opin-ion, to international civil society. Thecooperation agreement which the Unionand the UN signed in 1986 was anextremely positive first step aimed at asso-ciating our parliaments with the UnitedNations. In the same spirit, the MPs pres-ent at the Seattle Conference adopted aresolution calling for the establishmentof a WTO Parliamentary Assembly. Isupport these initiatives, which in myview are an essential step in the rightdirection.

Yet the international activities ofnational parliaments also require revamp-ing. There is an urgent need for special-ized bodies that regularly oversee majormultilateral international negotiations,acquiring specific technical skills in theprocess. This is the case within the Euro-pean Union, where all parliaments have set

up specialized bodies for European affairsor commissioned members of existing bod-ies to follow the Union’s activities. We caninstitute more such bodies, for example onmultilateral trade negotiations.

And since our planet is called on to“network”, why not link these specializedbodies up with each other? Bringingtogether MPs from different countries whohave acquired such skills is an essentialfunction of parliamentary diplomacy. Itenables them to compare the way in whichpublic opinion in each country assesses thenegotiations and to compare their ownappreciations. Little by little, thisapproach will give rise to a global visionof problems that have themselves becomeglobal.

Globalization upsets the patterns under-lying our daily democratic life. In a way,everything is international now, and theinternational dimension affects policiesimplemented nationally. As a result, wemust rethink the very notion of represen-tative democracy. Because NGOs areoften at the vanguard of civil society,because many of our citizens feel that poli-cies today fail to represent their aspira-tions forcefully or truthfully enough, wemust find new ways of representing civilsociety.

Q : Can parliaments act as relays or mediatorsbetween decision-makers and civil society,both nationally and internationally?

R.F. : This question comes as a bit of a sur-prise, because acting as mediators is in myview the minimum expression of the nat-ural role of parliaments: ever since theycame into being, parliaments have not con-tented themselves with merely being con-sulted; if only through popular consent totaxation (which is often their origin, his-torically speaking), they have also beenassociated with the decisions taken andhave overseen their application.

Moreover, as we can see, internationalorganizations are increasingly feeling theneed to establish parliamentary bodies,deriving from national parliaments, along-side their ministerial ones, which emanatefrom governments. Up until the end of the90s, only States were fully-fledged partnersin international negotiations. Negotiatorsare now subject to manifold pressures, andit is not uncommon for them to hold foraattended by NGOs on the fringe of officialdiscussions.

I myself am firmly convinced that majorinternational decisions can no longer betaken without debate, preparation and amodicum of democratic practice. I believethat our parliaments must be associatedwith talks at a preliminary stage if they aresubsequently to adopt the texts resultingfrom them.

Q : The IPU plans to give a parliamentarydimension to international cooperation. Whatmeans can it employ to achieve this goal andin what fields can the IPU become a keyplayer?

R.F. : The determination of the FrenchNational Assembly to strengthen its activ-ities in the field of international coopera-tion can only benefit from the IPU’sinvolvement and dynamism in the samearea.

As I have already proposed, the Inter-Parliamentary Union could over the longrun become a true Parliamentary Assem-bly of the United Nations, be consulted bythe General Assembly, the Security Coun-cil and the Economic and Social Counciland make proposals to those bodies.Moreover, the IPU, in its efforts to ensurethat parliaments are represented in spe-cialized UN agencies, could over timebecome the “parliamentary arm” of theUN. Here, it has gained credibility byshowing that it could also help to achievemajor international breakthroughs: amongmany other examples I could mention, itplayed a pioneering role in efforts to bananti-personnel mines.

I would also like to pay a tribute to themany inter-parliamentary cooperation pro-grammes run by the IPU, particularly inthe furtherance of the rule of law. Indeed,there are many more parliamentary democ-racies today than a decade ago. The tran-sition from dictatorship to democracy isnot always easy. It is a moral obligationfor the young democracies to make surethat the first elections are democratic andproperly conducted; it is also in their inter-ests to do so. Subsequently, the establish-ment of parliamentary institutions may alsogive rise to all sorts of difficulties – juridi-cal, material or technical. An organizationas old and deeply rooted as the IPU is in aposition to provide the input required toensure that young democracies functionproperly. This is precisely what it has donewhenever such help has been sought fromit, and our Assembly actively supports itsefforts.

By focusing on fundamental rights ininternational relations, the IPU intendsto move away from an overly restrictiveconception of State prerogatives whichsometimes limits national diplomaticactivity and to ensure that the freedomof speech enjoyed by MPs serves thehumanist values and democratic princi-ples that are the very foundation ofnational parliaments.

The IPU is also at the heart of themajor issues facing the international com-munity, such as sustainable development,partnership for development, the fightagainst discrimination, gender equa-lity, and others. ■


Editorial

IPU launches a brand new quarterly review

At a time when the world economy is in the throes of globalisation, ispolitics still conducted in parliament? At a time when technologies havetaken a huge leap forward and information crosses every frontier, is the

most quintessentially democratic of our institutions still a privileged forum inwhich decisions are taken which govern the behaviour of States, or are thedecrees that shape the future of peoples' lives increasingly made elsewhere? Forits part, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) intends to become more assertiveon today's international scene and to plead the cause of greater participationby people and their direct representatives in the decisions which crucially affecttheir daily lives.

There can be no true debate without the proper forum. The IPU knows thatit is vital to have a place in the media and among the public at large. With thisin mind, the Union is proposing to bring out a new publication entitled "TheWorld of Parliaments - the IPU Quarterly Review". The new quarterly will notonly seek to make the activities of the Inter-Parliamentary Union better known,but also serve as a vehicle for the proposals of its 141 member parliaments withrespect to international cooperation.

The objectives of the publication are presented in the lead article by Dr. NajmaHeptullah, President of the IPU Council and Deputy Chairman of the RajyaSabha. The World of Parliaments will, of course, discuss the challenges whichthe IPU intends to take up after the Conference of Presiding Officers, held lastyear at the United Nations in New York. Some of these challenges are elucidatedin the interviews given by the President of the French National Assembly,Raymond Forni, and by five of the parliamentarians who attended the recentpreparatory committee for the Parliamentary Meeting on International Tradewhich IPU is convening in Geneva on 8 and 9 June 2001. The importance ofthis event is also highlighted in an article by the Secretary General, Anders B.Johnsson. Last but not least, The World of Parliaments, which replaces the IPUBulletin, will keep abreast of major parliamentary developments in differentcountries.

Founded 112 years ago, the IPU has a rich experience of over a century ofworld history that is unrivalled among the world organisations. The first issuecontains an article on the 100th anniversary of the awarding of the Nobel PeacePrize to the pacifist MP Frédéric Passy, joint founder of the Union along withEnglish MP William Randal Cramer. Passy was awarded the prize in 1901 withHenri Dunant, the Swiss founder of the International Committee of the RedCross.

The World of Parliaments - the IPU Quarterly Review also describes IPUactivities to promote democracy throughout the world. Democracy, a commondenominator of peoples if ever there was one, continues to inspire both thinkersand practitioners in today's political world just as it did in yesterday's. ■

LB

MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT OF IPU COUNCIL

DR. NAJMA HEPTULLA

As a new century begins andaccess to information becomes

ever more vital to organisationsthroughout the world and to thepublic at large, the IPU has decidedto launch a new publication. Thepublication - a quarterly review - willoffer insights into the wide range ofactivities in which the Union isinvolved and highlights on parlia-mentary life. A screen version willbe available on the IPU Web sitewww.ipu.org for those who like tosurf the Net and on paper for thosewho prefer thumbing through a peri-odical at home, or on their travels.

The publication will not layclaim to be the voice of parliamentsbut will try to provide a forum forMPs of the world to express theirviews on issues of interest to all cit-izens. Moreover, it will enhance par-liaments' visibility in the press andamong the broader public.

Naturally, this new product willlook at major IPU activities in thefield of technical cooperation andassistance to parliaments, partner-ship between men and women inpolitics, and human rights. Therewill also be articles by specialists oncontemporary issues facing parlia-mentary democracies in a worldthat is in the throes of globalisation,as well as reviews of historicalevents.

The IPU enters the new millen-nium with the objective of makingdemocracy more participative,inclusive and interactive. It is hopedthat the new publication will con-tribute to achieving this aim. ■


The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)will organise the first ParliamentaryMeeting on International Trade, on 8and 9 June 2001, in Geneva. ThisMeeting will be chaired by the Presi-dent of the IPU Council, Dr. NajmaHeptulla and will hear a statement bythe Director General of the WorldTrade Organisation (WTO), Mr. MikeMoore, who will also take questionsfrom the participants.

The overall theme for the JuneMeeting is "For a free, just and equi-table multilateral trade system : Pro-viding a parliamentary dimension".The subjects to be debated will be

"Globalisation from trade perspective:the role and action of parliament as arelay between government and thepeople"; "WTO and the current inter-national trading system : the role ofparliaments in the field of legislation"and "Parliamentary oversight withrespect to future trade negotiations,particularly from the development per-spective".

MPs present at the PreparatoryCommittee which took place inGeneva 23 and 24 February 2001, giveus their opinion on the importance ofthe June Parliamentary Meeting.

Event :IPU and International Trade

It is important for MPs and the public to get to knowthe WTO better. Thanks to this meeting, members of par-liament and the wider public will gain a better understandingof what WTO does. The globalisation of the economy hasaroused fears, concerns and worries. These fears must beallayed. The other problem that must be tackled is the future.WTO is going to try and launch a new round of trade talks.We must ask ourselves how they should be approachedbest, so that both developing and developed countries standto benefit.

I must emphasise that the globalisation of trade cre-ates problems, especially for the developing countries.The gap is widening between the rich and the poor. Waysmust be found to narrow that gap so that everyone canbenefit from globalisation. Trade should also be devel-oped in all countries and MPs have a major role to playin that area.

Mr. Fangbo CaiVice-Chairman of the Foreign Affairs

Committe of the Standing Committee ofthe National People's Congress of China

The main objective of the Parliamentary meeting oninternational trade is to provide a parliamentary dimen-sion to trade negotiations. We realise from the lessonslearnt from Seattle that there is a problem of, at least, per-ception among civil society. The people are concernedabout globalisation and the benefits of trade liberalisa-tion and that was a major sticking point that lead to whatwe now realise was the failure of Seattle. In the two yearssince Seattle, there has still not been adequate movementforward. One of the problems still remains the perceptionamong civil society in various countries that there is some-thing wrong with the multilateral trade system, that it isnot transparent enough, that it is not representativeenough, but at the same time, on the other hand, it willbe difficult for the WTO, as an intergovernmental negoti-ating forum, to allow various civil society groups into thenegotiating process.

The negotiating process still has to be confined to gov-ernmental representatives. So from the parliamentary sidewe believe we can act as the go-between, as a bridge. Firstof all to convey popular concerns since we are elected rep-resentatives from the people, popular concern about trade,about globalisation, about liberalisation, the effects it hason the environment, on social well being, on various nationalcultures. We can convey these concerns to the WTO and,through the press, to the wider public. At the same time,we can then listen to WTO, to various trade experts aboutwhat are the real benefits of trade, where are trade nego-tiations going, what are the main issues. In turn, we canact as the go-between, to inform our own public in vari-ous countries of the wider picture of how causes and effectscan be balanced, in order to help to foster a multilateraltrade system that will be of benefit to all peoples in allcountries.

Mr. Kobsak ChutikulMP of Thailand

From left to right: Mr Mike Moore, Director general of WTO; Mr Anders B. Johnsson, Secretary General of IPU; Dr Najma Heptulla, President of IPU Council

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This parliamentary meeting on international trade is a new opportunity and challenge for the IPU, as well as for WTO. Forthe WTO this is the first serious effort to create a global network with parliamentarians and I think this might be a realistic wayof doing it with an existing organisation, namely the IPU, instead of creating a WTO assembly, like many organisation have done,for example the Council of Europe. I think this is a good point to utilise IPU. But for the IPU it is also a challenge, because IPUup to date has been has been an inter-parliamentary organisation. It organises its meetings between parliamentarians. Now itis a new challenge for it to address the question of intergovernmental organisations. That is why for the IPU itself, it should relymore on the resources existing in different parliaments, much more broadly than today. IPU should recruite participants with aspecific expertise, for instance international trade. Similarly, your cooperation with the United Nations, should obviously includepeople who have focused on international development issues and security, so that IPU can become the world organisation ofparliaments, and then reflect the parliaments’ views towards the institutions, in this case the WTO.

IPU is a very interesting body in international terms, because it is representing the people itself. Of course, we have NGOsspeaking on behalf of people, but the parliaments, in democracies, are the representative bodies, vis-à-vis the people, and ofcourse, the IPU, as an umbrella organisation of the parliaments reflects that particular position. The IPU should be a more sub-stance-oriented body, then it will really be an important potential institution for reflecting parliamentary views to a global audi-ence. That could also provide a response to civil society because parliaments are chosen by civil society. We are the legislatorsin our countries and we represent the people vis-à-vis the government, whose actions we oversee.

Mr. Kimmo KiljunenMP of Finland


The first global parliamentarymeeting on trade

Anders B. Johnsson, Secretary General of the Inter-ParliamentaryUnion explains the importance of the Parliamentary Meeting on

the International Trade organised by the IPU on 8 and 9 June 2001

The IPU has an important role to play. There are coun-ties today which sign trade treaties and do not even havea legislature to ratify them. The Executive does everythingand nobody else is entitled to speak or vote. So I wouldbegin by saying that it is interesting for these countries tosee how others act. For example, in the case of Mexico, theSenate decides whether or not to ratify a free trade treaty.On the practical side of trade, we need to promote laws thatwould generate more employment in each country.

We are proposing that the legislature should authorisea limited contribution by banks on their interest earnings sothat countries like my own, which are not viewed as entirelyrisk free, could spend that money on more social programmes.

In Geneva, we also discussed the fact that in Africa andLatin America there are people who earn less than a dollara day. These people need greater job opportunities so thatthey can earn more, and in this way stimulate national andinternational trade.

In the parliamentary meeting in June, we could alsotalk about how to improve legislation in order to facilitatetrade among countries. The point is for these ideas to beshifted from the theoretical realm to practice. Our duty aslegislators includes facilitating trade.

Mr. Ricardo Alaniz PosadaMP of Mexico

The IPU could be the primary basis for the internationaldemocratic structure of world governance. We could beginwith the WTO and then go on to other international organ-isations. In practical terms, this can mean that the IPU candecide to bring together groups of MPs, each of whom spe-cialises in monitoring a given organization. For example,one group could specialise in monitoring the WTO, anothercould follow the IMF, the World Bank, etc. This would ensurethat international organisations have partners for dialoguerepresenting democratically elected MPs. If the IPU opts forthis approach, it would allow us to contribute everything wehave already done, thereby enabling us to establish a dia-logue based on a different point of view than governments.

Mrs. Béatrice MarreMP of France

We MPs are the representatives of civil society. Ever sinceits founding, the WTO, a structure different from the GATT,enacts new rules aimed at regulating world trade. And thisposes problems, as can be seen from the events in Seattle orPorto Alegre. The IPU’s initiative to organize a meeting oninternational trade to take a look at what is not working ispraiseworthy indeed. As a forum for parliamentarians whorepresent the peoples, the IPU and parliamentarians can reflecton this topic together. We can work out a position and sub-mit it to the WTO. Before the arrival of the present DirectorGeneral (editor’s note: Mike Moore, a former MP), there wasno possibility of discussing with the WTO. Today, the WTO’sprovisions permit a dialogue. Thus, we have an opportunityto give our point of view. This approach should give us a bet-ter grasp of certain aspects that the WTO does not see, for itdoes not have the ability to solve everything. We hope thatthe WTO will take our future suggestions into consideration.

Mr. Bernard OkindjaMP of Gabon

At last year's millennium summit theHeads of State and governmentdeclared The central challenge we

face today is to ensure that globalisationbecomes a positive force for all the world’speople. We are committed to making theright to development a reality for every-one, and to freeing the entire human racefrom want.

In order to meet those ambitious goals,the Millennium Declaration prescribes anopen, equitable, rule-based, predictable andnon-discriminatory multilateral trading sys-tem. Participation is also required by dif-ferent institutional players, includingparliaments.

The IPU has long argued on similar lines,most recently at the meeting it organised incooperation with the Thai National Assem-bly last year on the occasion of the tenthsession of the United Nations Conferenceon Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

What, then, is the role of parliamentsin international trade? Over the last twelvemonths the IPU has worked closely withrepresentatives of parliaments, govern-ments and the World Trade Organizationin preparing a first parliamentary event toseek the answer to this question.

The result is the Parliamentary Meetingwhich the IPU is convening in Geneva on8 and 9 June this year. The theme is to be:For a free, fair and equitable multilateraltrading system: Providing a parliamentarydimension.

The event will bring together parlia-mentarians who specialise in internationaltrade issues in their respective parliament.It will provide them with an opportunityto examine globalisation from a trade per-spective and to discuss the legislative andoversight role of parliaments in relation toWTO, the current multilateral trading sys-tem and future trade negotiations.

The parliamentary committee that wasset up to prepare the event met in Genevain late February and finalised the arrange-ments for the meeting. It set up the agendathat will examine the parliamentary per-spective on three core issues: globalisationand trade, the current trading system andfuture trade negotiations.

In every country, parliament and itsmembers have a constitutional responsi-

bility to represent the people. It is theirrole to give voice to their concerns andaspirations for a better life. This is no lesstrue on issues relating to globalisation andtrade which directly affect the lives of peo-ple everywhere. The meeting will there-fore start with a discussion about people’sday-to-day concerns relating to trade andthe role that parliaments can play toaddress them.

A second session will focus on one ofthe two major roles of parliament and itsmembers, namely to legislate. Much tradetakes place within a multilateral rules-basedsystem that needs to be translated intonational laws and regulations. This ses-sion will serve to exchange views on cur-rent trade issues that require legislativeaction, such as a review of the implemen-tation of the Uruguay Round Agreements,on-going negotiations in agriculture orservices, accession of new WTO members,an ever growing number of dispute settle-ment cases and the rise in bilateral andregional trade negotiations and agreements.

The third working session directlyrelates to the parliamentary “oversight”function. Government is accountable toparliament and the latter monitors andseeks to influence government policy andaction. This role is crucial for parliamentand its members to be able to truly repre-sent the people and takes on special impor-tance in relation to new trade negotiations.This session therefore offers opportunitiesto discuss parliament’s role in building thenecessary consensus for promoting free andfair trade that is a positive force for all theworld’s people.

This meeting offers members of par-liament who work on trade issues withan unrivalled opportunity to exchangeviews and experiences with colleagues inother parliaments and with governmenttrade representatives. It is a salient exam-ple of IPU’s action to provide a parlia-mentary dimension to internationalcooperation. Indeed, it is part of theOrganisation’s follow-up to the Confer-ence of Presiding Officers of Nations Par-liaments which paved the way forparliaments to bring a unique contribu-tion to the work of the multilateral inter-governmental institutions. ■


Technical Cooperation and Assistance to Parliaments

The Programme for the Study and Promotion of Rep-resentative Institutions (Reprinst), is one of the opera-tional tools whereby the IPU undertakes multifacetedaction to foster democracy. Since 1973, Reprinst hasdevoted a substantial part of its resources to strength-ening the capacity of national parliaments. In thisregard, the Union is playing a key role as designer,implementer and co-ordinator of assistance to parlia-ments relying on several donors for financial and othersupport. The IPU's most important partner is the UnitedNations Development Programme (UNDP), as this UNagency currently finances over 70% of projects of assis-tance to parliaments implemented and/or supervised bythe IPU. The European Commission, the NorwegianAgency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) andthe Swedish International Development CooperationAgency (SIDA) are the other major donors of IPU.

The IPU helps parliaments, especially emerging democ-racies and developing countries, in building up theircapacity to discharge more effectively their constitu-tional responsibilities, including oversight of govern-ment action. The following is a list of the IPU's mainprojects in different fields:

Building new parliaments

East TimorThe IPU is planning an exploratory mission to Dili to dis-cuss with the authorities of the interim legislature, theNational Council, possible assistance in the run-up toand following the legislative elections billed for August2001.

The GambiaThe IPU and the Parliament of The Gambia have beguntalks on implementing a second phase of the projectlaunched in 1995. The first phase of the project helped putin place the structures of and equip the Parliament follow-ing its reinstatement in 1997. The second phase is aimedat helping the Parliament consolidate its structures, stream-line its working procedures and train staff and MPs.

TajikistanAgainst the background of the peace agreement signed in1997 that brought to an end the civil war that had begunafter independence in 1992, the IPU, acting at the requestof the parliamentary authorities and UNDP, provided advi-sory services that enabled the Parliament to review its rulesof procedure. Assistance was also provided for the print-ing of the new rules.

Assistance to parliaments facing conflict or post-conflict situationsBurundi Since 1998, the IPU has extended assistance to the NationalAssembly to enable it to play a key role in the implemen-tation of the Arusha process. The NA is called upon to playan even greater role in the peace agreement signed in Arushain August 2000. IPU assistance has included repair workon buildings, computers, photocopiers, and other techni-cal facilities. A car pool of five vehicles is at the disposal ofthe National Assembly to enable parliamentarians to travelto their constituencies to preach the message of peace. Sem-inars have also been organised for MPs and staff on therole and functioning of a parliament, particularly in thecontext of the country’s reconstruction. Support has alsobeen provided to documentation services, including the pur-chase of books for the library and training for library staff.

Rwanda The reconstruction of a democratic Rwanda, after the geno-cide that claimed over a million lives, is one of the priori-ties of the IPU. In this context, the IPU and the NationalAssembly have signed two agreements on projects of assis-tance to the parliamentary Human Rights Commission andthe Forum of Women Parliamentarians. These projects aim


at strengthening the capacity of the NA to defend and pro-mote human rights and to ensure that Rwandan womencan contribute effectively to the drafting of the new Rwan-dan Constitution.

Training

CambodiaThis project is intended for both Houses of the CambodianParliament and emphasises the professional developmentof both MPs and staff of the two Houses. Activities includeseminars and study visits abroad for staff. Advisory sup-port is also foreseen to help the Parliament rationalise itsworking methods and procedures.

Equatorial GuineaThis project has been initiated in collaboration with theEuropean Commission and is aimed at strengthening thecapacities of the House of Representatives. The focus is on the training of parliamentary staff, to enable them toprovide effective support to MPs in the fulfilment of theirduties. Also planned are awareness-building activities onthe role of Parliament in the context of the Constitution ofEquatorial Guinea.

GabonThe project of assistance to the two Houses of the Parliament(National Assembly and Senate) concerns the staff responsi-ble for transcribing parliamentary proceedings. The IPU con-cluded an agreement with the Speakers of both Houses ofParliament for the training of twelve staff. Training is alsoexpected to be extended to other areas of the Parliament'swork

Information and new technologies

KyrgyzstanThe activities undertaken under this project are intended tostrengthen the Parliament's law-drafting capacity andimprove Members' understanding of major issues on whichthey have to legislate. In this regard, advisory services havebeen provided through experienced parliamentary experts.Efforts have also been devoted to introducing a modern doc-umentation service that makes optimum use of the oppor-tunity offered by information technologies including theInternet. The project also includes information seminarsfor Members of Parliament. A three-day workshop was runin early November 2000 on the role of the World TradeOrganization (WTO). This event, organised in cooperationwith UNITAR, was also attended by MPs from Kazakhstan.

Viet NamUnder this project, the IPU has provided assistance in set-ting up a computer network in the National Assembly anddeveloping databases relevant to its work.

Good governance

YemenIPU’s assistance to the Parliament of Yemen is provided aspart of the Programme for Institutional Reform and Gov-ernance for Yemen, funded by UNDP. The agreement,signed by the IPU and the Parliament of Yemen, providesamong other things for IPU advisory services on constitu-tional issues, especially the streamlining of relations betweenthe Executive and the Legislative and the organisation ofseminars for MPs and parliamentary staff on the role andworking methods of Parliament and the improvement of

the English-language skills of MPs and parliamentary staff.

KEY PLAYERS ON THE POLITICAL STAGE

At the beginning of the third millennium, womenare asserting themselves as key players on the

political scene. The results of the forty or so electionsheld in the year 2000 show that the number of womenwinning seats in parliament is steadily rising through-out the world. However, despite this encouragingtrend, women have not passed the 15% mark over-all. At the beginning of 2001, the average figures forwomen in the world’s parliaments were 14.2% for thelower Chamber and 13.2% for the Senate. Takingboth houses together, women MPs account for 14.1%of total membership.

In 2000, developing countries recorded largerincreases in the proportion of women in national par-liaments (e.g. + 10% in Peru, + 9.9% in Tajikistan, + 9.1% in Dominica, + 5.8% in Tanzania), than cer-tain Western countries (e.g. in Canada, no change, + 0.7% in the United States). Worldwide, Croatiatops the list with a gain of 12.7%. Among the otherEuropean countries, Spain recorded an increase of6.7% and elected Women presidents to both cham-bers of its parliament: a “first” in Europe and for theWestern countries as a whole.

As of 1 January 2001, 25 chambers of national par-liaments in 20 countries out of a total of 243 chambersin 179 States (64 States have a bicameral parliament)were headed by a woman. In addition to Spain, fourdeveloping countries - Antigua and Barbuda, Belize,Jamaica and South Africa - have women at the helm inboth houses of parliament. Moreover, women presideover two regional parliamentary assemblies, the Euro-pean Parliament and Latin American Parliament.

However, women lost ground in El Salvador, Zim-babwe and other countries where previously they werein a relatively strong position.

With an average of 38.8% women MPs, the Nordiccountries are moving steadily towards parity in parlia-ment. By way of contrast, legislative assemblies in theArab countries are still firmly controlled by men (barely3.9% women on average). In other regions, womenaccount for between 12.1% (sub-Saharan Africa) and15.3% (the Americas) and - with a 3 point gain overfive years - have definitely improved their showing.

Though laudable enough, the trend falls far short ofthe criteria for democracy as understood by the IPU.In its 1997 Declaration on Democracy, the IPU – theCouncil of which is chaired by a woman, Dr. NajmaHeptulla, Deputy Chairperson of the Council of Statesof India – states that “The achievement of democracypresupposes a genuine partnership between men andwomen in the conduct of the affairs of society in whichthey work in equality and complementarity, drawingmutual enrichment from their differences”.

WOMEN IN PARLIAMENTS

Calendar of forthcoming legislative elections

Peru: 09 April 2001 Italy: 13 May 2001Senegal: 29 April 2001 Cyprus: 27 May 2001Philippines: 11 May 2001 Bangladesh: 12 June 2001

The outcome of the elections can be found on the IPU web site(http://www.ipu.org), Parline Database and Women in Parliaments.


BahrainOn 14-15 February 2001, in a referendum, the first onesince independence from Great Britain in 1971, an over-whelming majority (98.4 per cent) of Bahrain's votersapproved the National Action Charter. This Charter insti-tutes constitutional changes and economic and social reformsand provides for a partially elected parliament, a constitu-tional monarchy and an independent judiciary. Other sig-nificant reforms include voting rights for all citizens, menand women, above the age of 21, the right of women to runfor office and the establishment of a body to investigate pub-lic complaints. The new Charter also establishes that all cit-izens are equal regardless of religion, sex or class.

The referendum was the culmination of a liberalisationprocess that Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Issa -Khalifa launchedafter he came to power in 1999 following the death of hisfather.

The new Charter is expected to take effect by 2004.

BulgariaOn 21 March 2001, the Parliament took partial accountof a veto by President Petar Stoyanov and amended the lawrecently passed on political parties. Legislators struck fromthe law a provision that would have required parties thatobtained less than 1 per cent in the 1997 elections to re-register and prove they have at least 500 members. Mr Stoy-anov had sent the law back to the Parliament forreconsideration, stating that it was curbing political plu-ralism. The lawmakers overrode the President’s other objec-tion relating to anonymous donations, which the law allowsfor. They limited the amount of a single anonymous dona-tion to 25 percent of the subsidy parties received from theState. Subsidies are based on the electoral performance ofparties in the last elections.

ChadIn February 2001, the Parliament approved by 92 votesand 28 abstentions a law postponing general elections byone year and thereby also extended the term of the Parlia-ment for the same period until April 2002. The ruling Patri-otic Salvation Movement justified the vote on the groundsof the lack of funds available for legislative elections in thecurrent year. A presidential election is due to be held on 20May and 1 July 2001.

ComorosIn February 2001, a unity agreement signed by the politi-cal leaders of the three islands, Grande Comore, Mohéliand Anjouan, formally reinstated the Comoros as one fed-erated entity after three years of conflict. In 1997, the islands

of Anjouan and Mohéli declared their independence fromthe Comoros and a subsequent attempt by the governmentto re-establish control over the rebellious islands by forcefailed.

Under the new agreement, the islands will adopt a new con-stitution which will go to a referendum by the end of June2001. Grande Comore military ruler Colonel AzaliAssoumani will head the transitional administration whichwill oversee the establishment of an electoral commission.The current regimes in Mohéli and Anjouan will remain inplace until the referendum.

CroatiaAfter a walkout by deputies from the opposition CroatianDemocratic Community (HDZ), on 14 March 2001, theHouse of Representatives approved several proposed con-stitutional changes, including one to abolish the House ofCounties. The HDZ had demanded that the measure alsobe submitted to this House, where the HDZ has a majority.

Fiji On 1 March 2001, the Court of Appeal declared the mili-tary-backed interim government of Prime Minister Laise-nia Qarase illegal. Mr Qarase was installed last year afterthe failed coup d'Etat in which Mr George Speight, an eth-nic Fijian businessman had taken the nation's first ethnicIndian prime minister and several members of the Parlia-ment hostage.

HaitiOn 3 March 2001, President Jean-Bertrand Aristideappointed a new Electoral Council. The previous electoralauthority had been accused of rigging legislative electionsin favour of Mr Aristide's party, the Lavalas Family. Pres-ident Aristide said that the new Electoral Council wouldorganize runoffs for 10 Senate seats that were won by can-didates of his party, but gave no date for the voting. Themain opposition parties boycotted the presidential electionin November 2000, alleging that legislative elections in May2000 had been rigged to give 10 Senate victories to Lavalascandidates. The new nine-member Electoral Councilincludes two Aristide supporters and no members of the15-party opposition alliance

IsraelOn 7 March 2001, the Knesset adopted a new version ofthe Basic Law on Government, by a vote of 72 to 37 andthree abstentions. The new law phases out direct electionof the Prime Minister and restores the system that Israel hadused until the 1996 elections, i.e. voters cast a ballot for oneparty and the Knesset seats are distributed proportionally

Parliamentary Developments


to the votes. The previous law was widely blamed for theinstability of the last two Israeli governments.

The new law also establishes that a no confidence motionagainst the government will need at least 61 votes in theKnesset (out of a total of 120) to pass, rather than a sim-ple majority. Furthermore, in order to replace a govern-ment, the opposition will have to present an alternativegovernment and prove it has the 61-seat majority neededto win confidence.

LesothoElections scheduled for May 2001 were postponed untilearly 2002. This postponement was due partly to a dis-agreement between the two chambers of the Parliamentover the number of members in the National Assembly.While the House wanted a mix of 80 candidates elected bysimple majority and 40 elected by proportional represen-tation, the Senate preferred an 80-50 mix. The dissent endedwhen the Senate agreed that the National Assembly wouldconsist of 120 members.

Sierra LeoneParliament approved, by a unanimous vote, a bill post-poning the presidential and legislative elections for sixmonths. Under the Constitution, President Ahmad TejanKabbah's term of office should have ended on 28 March2001, while that of the Parliament was due to expire on 1April 2001. President Kabbah asked the Parliament to con-sider this extension, the maximum allowed by the Consti-tution, upon the recommendation of the National ElectoralCommission, because the civil war and the continuing rebelcontrol of a large proportion of the country made it impos-sible to hold another poll. The postponement was also moti-vated by the fact that the government was unable to meetthe cost of the elections.

SingaporeOn 15 February 2001, the Political Donations Act (PDA)entered into force. It prevents foreign groups from inter-fering in domestic politics through donations to politicalassociations and candidates in the presidential and parlia-mentary elections. Political parties and their candidates areprohibited from accepting donations from persons or bod-ies that are not permissible donors and anonymous dona-tions are restricted. Permissible donors are defined asindividuals who are Singapore citizens and are at least 21years old, as well as Singapore-controlled companies thatcarry on business wholly or mainly in the country. The Actalso imposes reporting requirements for donors who in anysingle year have made multiple donations with an aggre-gate value of 10,000 Singapore dollars or more to a polit-ical association.

YemenOn 20 February 2001, 73 % of Yemeni voters approved aconstitutional amendment lengthening the terms of the Pres-ident and members of Parliament from five to seven yearsand from four to six years respectively. This amendmentalso establishes a second chamber of Parliament, a Coun-cil, to be appointed by the President.

PRESIDENT FIDEL CASTROOPENS 105th IPU CONFERENCE

At the invitation of the Cuban Parliament, theInter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) held its 105th

statutory Conference and related meetings from 1 to7 April 2001, at the Havana Convention Centre. Theinaugural ceremony took place on Sunday 1st April,in the presence of the President of the Council of Stateand Council of Ministers of the Republic of Cuba,Mr. Fidel Castro Ruz, the President of the IPU Coun-cil, Mrs Najma Heptulla, and the President of theNational Assembly of the People's Power, Mr. RicardoAlarcón.

The representatives of IPU's 141 member Par-liaments and five associated regional parliamentaryassemblies examined more particularly "Securingobservance of the principles of international law inthe interests of world peace and security" and"Education and culture as essential factors in pro-moting the participation of men and women inpolitical life and as prerequisites for the develop-ment of peoples".

The 105th Conference also gave the delegations anopportunity to hold bilateral meetings and examineconflicts in several parts of the world, in particularthe Middle East, Cyprus and the Great Lakes area inAfrica.

IPU COMMITTEE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

SUPPORTS THE RIGHT TO FOOD

The Committee for Sustainable Development heldits main annual session from 12 to 14 March 2001

at IPU Headquarters in Geneva. Created in 1995, theCommittee elected Mr. Paul Günter (Switzerland) asPresident. Among other items, the Committee dis-cussed food security and the right to food.

The Committee heard presentations by AmbassadorM. Manfredo Incisa di Camerana, Special Advisor tothe Director-General of FAO and by Mr. Jean Ziegler,Special Rapporteur on the Right of Food to the UnitedNations Human Rights Commission.

The UN Special Rapporteur was seeking collabo-ration with the IPU and, through it, with national par-liaments. According to the Committee, copies of Mr.Ziegler's report should be made available to nationalparliaments. The Committee also proposed that theSpecial Rapporteur be invited to the IPU session inOuagadougou in September 2001 to discuss mattersof national legislation on the right to food in a dia-logue with MPs attending the session.

Flash - Flash - Flash - Flash - Flash


Frédéric Passy ((May 20, 1822-June 12, 1912) was bornin Paris and lived there his life of ninety years. The tradi-tion of the French civil service was strong in Passy's fam-ily, his uncle, Hippolyte Passy (1793-1880), rising to becomea cabinet minister under both Louis Philippe and LouisNapoleon. Educated as a lawyer, Frédéric Passy entered thecivil service at the age of twenty-two as an accountant inthe State Council, but left after three years to devote him-self to systematic study of economies. He emerged as a the-oretical economist in 1857 with his Mélanges économiques,a collection of essays he had published in the course of theresearch, and he secured his scholarly reputation with aseries of lectures delivered in 1860-1861 at the Uni-versity of Montpellier and later published in twovolumes under the title Leçons d'économiepolitique… Passy's passionate belief ineducation found expression in De la pro-priété intellectuelle (1859) and Ladémocratie et l'instruction (1864). Forthese contributions, among others,he was elected in 1877 to member-ship in the Académie des sciencesmorales et politiques, a unit of theInstitut de France.

Passy was not, however, a clois-tered scholar; he was a man ofaction. In 1867, encouraged by hisleadership of public opinion in tryingto avert possible war between France andPrussia over the Luxembourg question, hefounded the "Ligue internationale et perma-nente de la paix". When the Ligue became a casu-alty of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871, hereorganized it under the title "Société française des amisde la paix" which in turn gave way to the more specifi-cally oriented "Société française pour l'arbitrage entrenations", established in 1889.

Passy carried on his efforts within the government aswell. He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1881,again in 1885, and defeated in 1889. In the Chamber, hesupported legislation favourable to labour, especially an actrelating to industrial accidents, opposed the colonial pol-icy of the government, drafted a proposal for disarmament,and presented a resolution calling for arbitration of inter-national disputes.

His parliamentary interest in arbitration was whetted byRandal Cremer's success in guiding through the British Par-liament a resolution stipulating that England and the UnitedStates should refer to arbitration any disputes between themnot settled by the normal methods of diplomacy. In 1888Cramer headed a delegation of nine British members of Par-liament who met in Paris with a delegation of twenty-fourFrench deputies, headed by Passy, to discuss arbitration andto lay the groundwork for an organisation to advance itsacceptance. The next year, fifty-six French parliamentari-ans, twenty-eight British and scattered representatives fromthe parliaments of Italy, Spain, Denmark, Hungary, Belgium,

and the United States formed the Inter-ParliamentaryUnion, with Passy as one of its three presidents.

The Union, still in existence, established aheadquarters to serve as a clearinghouse

of ideas, and encouraged the formationof informal individual national parlia-mentary groups willing to support leg-islation leading to peace, especiallythrough arbitration.

Passy's thought and action hadunity. International peace was thegoal, arbitration of disputes in inter-national politics and free trade ingoods the means, the national units

making up the Inter-ParliamentaryUnion the initiating agents, the people

the sovereign constituency.Through his prodigious labours over a

period of a half century in the peace move-ment, Passy became known as the "apostle of

peace". He wrote unceasingly and vividly. His Pour la paix(1909), which came out when he was eighty-seven yearsold, is a personalized account -in lieu of an autobiographywhich he deplored- of his work for international peace,noting especially the founding of the Ligue, the "périodedécisive" when the Inter-Parliamentary Union was estab-lished, the development of peace congresses, and the valueof the Hague Conference. ■

Extract from: Peace 1901-1925-Nobel Lectures. Edited byFrederick W. Haberman (Professor of Communication Arts, theUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison, USA). Published for the NobelFoundation in 1972 by Elsevier Publishing Company.

Historical focus

Frédéric Passy (France)Co-founder of the Inter-Parliamentary Union

with William Randal Cremer (United Kingdom)Nobel Peace Price in 1901 with the ICRC founder, Henri Dunant (Switzerland)

"A Pacifist before his Time"


Democracy, you say?Dixit

Democracy is both an ideal to be pursued and a mode of government to be applied according to modalitieswhich reflect the diversity of experiences and cultural particularities without derogating from internationallyrecognized principles, norms and standards. It is thus a constantly perfected and always perfectible state orcondition whose progress will depend upon a variety of political, social, economic, and cultural factors.

IPU, Universal Declaration on Democracy

As I see it, democracy should ensure that the weakest enjoy the same opportunities as the strongest. Onlynon-violence can achieve this goal.

Gandhi, text quoted in All Men Are Brothers

As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differsfrom this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy.

A. Lincoln, Letters*

The worst of democracies is preferable by far to the best of dictatorships.Ruy Barbosa, Letters*

In general, barring scandalous exceptions, democracy has given the ordinary worker more dignity than heever had before.

Sinclair Lewis, It Can’t Happen Here*

Democracy is a political form of capitalism just as the soul is the form of the body according to Aristotle, orits idea, according to Spinoza.

Georges Bernanos, Lettre aux Anglais**

If liberty could manage its affairs by itself, this would be democracy.John dos Passos, U.S.A.**

In democracy, liberty is to be supposed; for it is commonly held that no man is free in any governmentAristotle, Politics (Lib. VI, Cap. ii. 350 BC)***

* Le Dictionnaire des Citations du Monde Entier

** Le Petit Philosophe de Poche***Excerpt from Democracy, its Principles and Achievement, Inter-Parliamentary Union, 1998.

SOME IPU PUBLICATIONSUniversal Declaration on Democracy (1997)Democracy: Its Principles and Achievement (1998)Declaration on Criteria for Free and Fair Elections (1994)Free and Fair Elections: International Law and Practice, G.S. Goodwin-Gill (1994)Codes of Conduct for Elections, G.S. Goodwin-Gill (1998)The Conference of Presiding Officers of National Parliaments (to be published in April 2001)The Parliamentary Mandate (2000)Presiding Officers of National Parliamentary Assemblies, G. Bergougnous (1997)Seminar on parliaments and the budgetary process, Nairobi, Kenya (2001)

READ IN THE PRESS - READ IN THE PRESS


VISIT THE WEB SITEWWW.IPU.ORG

Contacts :

IPU Information ServiceInter-Parliamentary UnionPlace du Petit-Saconnex

P.O. Box 4381211 Geneva 19 - Switzerland

Phone : (0041.22)919.41.16/27/61

Fax (0041.22) 919.41.60/97e-mail: postbox@mail. ipu.org

IPU New York LiaisonOffice with the UN

821, United Nations Plaza, 9th Floor

New York, N.Y. 10017United States of America

Phone (001) 212.557.58.80Fax (001) 212.557.39.54

e-mail : [email protected]

The World of ParliamentsIPU Quarterly Review is anofficial publication of theInter-Parliamentary Union

Editor in Chief :Luisa Ballin

Assisted by :Moussa Ba

Catherine BlondelleMartin ChungongIsabelle Decarroux

James JenningsDanielle Kordon

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© IPU

Fewer than 15% of legislators femaleGeneva (Reuters).Women are gaining ground in legislatures around the worldbut still account for fewer than 15% of members of all parliaments, a globalparliamentary body says. In its annual survey, the Inter-Parliamentary Unionsaid women make up 14% of the members of lower parliamentary houses and13% of upper chambers, or senates. Women are more strongly represented inthe Nordic countries of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland, wherethey hold an average of 39% of seats. (Women hold 21% of the seats in Canada'sHouse of Common). Globe and Mail (Canada)

IPU and the WTOThe Geneva-based Inter-Parliamentary Union, a multilateral organisation rep-resenting 140 parliaments, on Saturday paved the way for what is going to bethe first global dialogue between parliamentarians and the World Trade Organ-isation (WTO).

It is a step that might lead eventually to the participation of parliamentari-ans in the trade negotiations. Until now, parliamentarians came into the pictureonly at the time of ratifying multilateral agreements. To close the gap betweenfinal legislative consideration and the complex process of trade negotiations,IPU President Najma Heptulla has spearheaded the campaign for more "inclu-sive" participation of parliamentarians in the WTO activites.Washington Trade Daily (USA)

IPU mission in CubaMP Ivan Pilip and the former student leader Yan Buberik were released a fewhours after they signed a document in which they admitted having breachedCuban law, according to the President of the Committee on Human Rights ofParliamentarians of the IPU, Juan Pablo Letelier. The two men, who wereobliged to make amends before a group of foreign diplomats meeting withthe Cuban Minister for Foreign Affairs, Felipe Peréz Roque, were rushed intoa car and hastily left the Ministry, in the company of Mr Letelier and theSecretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Anders Johnsson. Associated Press (AP) 6 February 2001

... The two men were freed after they were taken to the Foreign Ministry,where they signed a statement saying they had unwittingly violated Cubanlaws when they met with dissidents here in January, sources involved in theagreement told CNN. In addition to apologizing to the Cuban people, they acknowledged havingreceived money from Freedom House, a non-government organization in theUnited States that receives money from the US government to help supportthe dissident movement in Cuba. Serving as intermediaries for the Czech government, Anders Johnsson, Secre-tary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and Juan Pablo Letelier, Presi-dent of the group's human rights commission, brokered the deal aftermeeting with Cuban officials. CNN.com 6 February 2001

Socialist MP Juan Pablo Letelier, as President of the IPU Committee on theHuman Rights of Parliamentarians, has managed to resolve the serious diplo-matic rift dividing Cuba and the Czech Republic. Thanks to Mr Letelier'snegotiations in Cuba, the Cuban Government has freed the two Czech citi-zens, one of whom is an MP, who had been detained for several days, accusedby the Cuban authorities of a breach of security. The Minister of Foreign Affairs (S) Heraldo Muñoz, telephoned Letelier onbehalf of President Ricardo Lagos to congratulate him for his work "whichmade it possible to resolve a tense diplomatic situation involving two coun-tries with which Chile has friendly relations." La Tercera (Chile) 7 February 2001

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