Mexican legislators call for a review of the UN Charter and "effective international legislation"
The Commission on Foreign Affairs of the Mexican Congress supports a United Nations conference to review the UN's Charter of 1945 and calls on the new Mexican government to pursue the matter at the upcoming UN General Assembly
Following Mexico's general election in July that was won by Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the Juntos Haremos Historia alliance, the Sub-Commission on Foreign Affairs, National Defense and Education of the Permanent Commission of the Mexican Congress which includes legislators of the Mexican Chamber of Deputies and the Senate called on the new Mexican federal government to push for UN reforms "in accordance with the UN's Charter" at the upcoming session of the UN General Assembly which will be opened on September 18.
Deputy Macedonio Tamez and Francisco Plancarte in Mexico City. Image: CEMERG
The declaration adopted on August 14 says that the next UN General Assembly should take a decision to convene a General Review conference as provided for in Article 109 of the UN's Charter. The document explains that in the light of global issues "Mexico and the international community must respond to the world population with a new paradigm of global governance and with international legislation that is effective to tackle new threats to peace and worldwide stability."
The resolution was tabled by Mexican deputy Macedonio Tamez, leader of the parliamentary group of the Movimiento Ciudadano in the outgoing legislative term. Commenting on the declaration, Mr. Tamez said that "We support the call for open and inclusive intergovernmental preparations of a UN reform summit in 2020. This will be a good opportunity to launch a review of the UN Charter. In addition, we endorse the efforts for the establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly as a first step towards a world parliament."
"Preparations for a UN Charter Review Conference and the creation of a global parliament are overdue," commented Francisco Plancarte, a Mexican lawyer and long-time promoter of UN transformation according to Art. 109 of the San Francisco Charter with Planetafilia and now the Centro Mexicano de Responsabilidad Global, CEMERG.
With the declaration, Mexican legislators are adding momentum to international calls for an overhaul of the UN's structure and a UN Parliamentary Assembly (UNPA) ahead of the UN's 75th anniversary in 2020. In July, the European Parliament requested the European Union's governments to promote the creation of a UNPA and early preparations for a UN 2020 Reform Summit.
Observers hope that another boost for global governance reforms may be achieved through the Paris Peace Forum that will take place from 11-13 November 2018 on the initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron. The Global Challenges Foundation in Stockholm is supporting working groups that are to present proposals.
Top image: Cristiano Oliveira/Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0
Read the declaration