Pan-African Parliament calls for UN Parliamentary Assembly

The eighth session of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) convened in Midrand, South Africa, adopted a resolution calling for the establishment of a Parliamentary Assembly at the United Nations this Wednesday. According to the resolution the PAP considers to “take the initiative to achieve the establishment of a consultative United Nations Parliamentary Assembly within the UN system”. “The UN is an important advocate for democracy in the world. To maintain its credibility the UN itself, however, has to become more democratic. A UNPA would be a means to achieve this”, Mokshanand Dowarkasing, legislator from Mauritius who introduced the motion, said. The resolution was hailed abroad. “This is a major development in our international efforts”, the head of the Secretariat of the UNPA-Campaign, Andreas Bummel, said. “The resolution paves the way for a joint initiative of the Pan-African and the European Parliament”, Jo Leinen, a legislator in the European Parliament, noted.