First Global Week of Action for a World Parliament to take place in October 2013

Groups and activists around the world are preparing for a Global Week of Action for a World Parliament that will be held for the first time this year from 17 to 24 October. The announcement of the week that was worked out in the last months declares:

If you feel that our current political system is inadequate to deal with growing global challenges, you are not alone! Join our week of action on October 17-24 to call for the establishment of a World Parliament that will give real representation to all citizens.

The idea is to make the proposal of a world parliament known through a coordinated global effort. Recently, a provisional website, a Facebook page, and a Twitter account was created to build momentum and to organize the week's supporters. To date, a bit more than 70 days before the week's launch, events and activities are already being prepared in 30 locations on all the world's continents.

The announcement suggests among other things that during 17-24 October, groups should gather in the public space, for example at important landmarks, and hold up a banner with the week's slogan "World Parliament Now!" Pictures of these gatherings will then be posted on the website, Facebook, and elsewhere. In order to generate public attention, supporters of the week will also organize all sorts of other events including discussion meetings or "model parliaments."

The week's organizers argue that...

A world parliament would be an instrument to find and implement solutions that are democratic, accountable and serve the best interest of humanity. It would reflect the social, political, religious, ethnical, and cultural variety of all the world’s citizens, transcending national boundaries.

If you are interested to participate in the week and to organize some activity or event, have a look at the website and write to the week's coordination team at team@worldparliamentnow.org.

The Global Week of Action for a World Parliament is supported by the Campaign for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly. The 5th international meeting of the campaign that will take place in the European Parliament in Brussels from 16-17 October 2013 is one of the kick-off events.

More new statements in support of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly

As readers of this earlier post and followers of the campaign's page at Facebook know, we've started a while ago to collect and publish supportive statements on the creation of a UN Parliamentary Assembly.

Today we published the 50th "Quote of the Day" (which can all be found either at Flickr or Facebook).

We want to use this occasion to provide an overview of ten interesting new statements that were made this year:

Let's start with the latest one which was made today by Alban Bagbin, a member of parliament, former minister of health and now a cabinet minister in the office of the president of Ghana in charge of priority projects:

The absence of a UN Parliament has left a wide gap in the architecture of global democratic governance and must be bridged as soon as possible. Representatives of governments alone do not sufficiently represent the people.

Around a month before this, on 4 July, another government member voiced support, namely the foreign minister of Malta, George Vella. He said that he agrees with...

the setting up of a Parliamentary Assembly for the United Nations, as I am a firm believer in parliamentary democracy, and believe that such an assembly will be the embodiment of the whole concept of representative governance and the epitome of what we mean by democratic empowerment of elected representatives.

Although there are many former foreign ministers who endorsed a UNPA, Mr. Vella might well be the first in office to do so in decades. It is also worth noting that decisive initiatives for the convention on the law of the sea emanated from Malta.

The member of the European Parliament Isabella Lövin from Sweden published the book "Silent Seas. The Fish Race to the Bottom" last year in English. On 4 July 2013, she made this statement:

We must not be silent when the Oceans are dying because short-sighted national interests make effective global rules impossible. Through a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly a platform could be established that finally makes the voice of humanity heard in support of the global interest and sustainable life on Earth.

The need to transcend national political divisions was also highlighted in a way by Kansei Nakano, a former vice-speaker of the Japanese house of representatives, in a statement he made a day before: 

A global parliamentary body elected by and accountable to the world's citizens would increase understanding and solidarity across national borders in an unprecedented way and would contribute to the emergence of a real democratic world community. As a first step, a UN Parliamentary Assembly should be established.

The former minister of health and social affairs and former deputy prime minister of Sweden, Lars Engqvist, said the following on 3 June:

Our global society needs a reformed United Nations: a democratically structured, global decision-making organization, that better mirrors our world of today. For this reason, I support the establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly.

The new co-chair of the campaign's parliamentary advisory group, the Argentinian member of parliament Gabriela Michetti, was interviewed by us in May. The following quote of the day from her was published:

Sooner or later, the creation of a UN Parliamentary Assembly as a key for a more democratic global order will be at the top of the political agenda. It is inevitable to give democratically elected representatives of the world's citizens a say in matters that affect all of humanity, for instance environmental and climate protection, global financial issues, human rights, or disarmament.

In a statement made in February, Daniel Innerarity, professor of political and social philosophy and the director of the Institute for Democratic Governance in San Sebastián in Spain said that

Institutions such as the United Nations Parliamentary Assembly would help to reduce what is today an outrageous distance between those who decide and those affected by their decisions.

On the occasion of an official meeting in Senegal in March, the world-famous singer Youssou N'Dour who is also minister for tourism argued:

Just as every town has an elected city council or just as every democratic nation has a parliament, a UN Parliamentary Assembly that reflects the diversity of the world’s citizens and cultures needs to be established at the global level. Such a global parliament would allow for global issues to be dealt with in a democratic and legitimate way.

Then, on 4 February, Rafael Domingo, visiting professor of law at Emory University in Atlanta and author of the interesting book "The New Global Law" (2010) provided the following statement:

Because parliament is the democratic institution par excellence and the cradle of true democracies, a democratic global order worth this name has to be based on a global parliament that represents humanity as a whole.

The last quote in this overview is from Mathias Koenig-Archibugi, a senior lecturer in global politics at the London School of Economics and Political Science. On 16 January 2013 we published the following quote of the day from him, a quote which we believe gives a lot food for thought:

The possibility of social events depends in part on beliefs about their possibility. Thus, the possibility of a global parliament is not independent from people’s beliefs about the possibility of a global parliament.

Finally, we do not want to miss mentioning that on 14 June, the secretary-general of the Parliamentary Forum for Democracy, Mátyás Eörsi, provided a statement that we featured on our blog already in full here and another one from Margaret Zziwa, the speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly, in February was featured here.

In October, MEPs host the 5th International Meeting on a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly

We are delighted to announce the 5th international meeting on a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly which will take place on 16-17 October 2013 in Brussels. The conference is organized in collaboration with the Union of European Federalists and will be hosted in the European Parliament by MEPs Jo Leinen, Graham Watson, and Elmar Brok.

This conference will bring together parliamentarians, campaigners and experts who are at the cutting edge in the efforts for democratizing the global order through the establishment of a parliamentary body.

In two working sessions devoted to the international Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly, campaign supporters will share reports, experiences and views, consider the campaign's policy and strategy, and develop future plans and priorities.

In addition, there will be a public round table discussion on the proposal for a UN Parliamentary Assembly and global democracy, a public reception, and, as a special highlight, a public consultation with Alfred de Zayas, the UN's Independent Expert for the Promotion of an Equitable and Democratic International Order.

Finally, the conference will be a kick-off event for the first "Week of Action for a World Parliament," that is currently in preparation. As part of this week of action, we plan to organize a nice photo event somewhere in the public space in Brussels on Friday, 17 October.

Ours is a world with a growing need for improved and reformed institutions of global governance. As the meeting's hosts Jo Leinen, Graham Watson, and Elmar Brok wrote in their invitation letter that was sent today to the campaign's supporters, "Our goal remains: The establishment of a UN Parliamentary Assembly that allows for democratic participation of the world's citizens in global affairs through elected representatives."

If you wish to attend the 5th international meeting on a UN Parliamentary Assembly, please register as soon as possible by completing this online registration form. More information and future updates are available on this page.

To promote the meeting, we've also created an event page at Facebook.

MPs from 13 ACP-EU countries join the appeal for a UN Parliamentary Assembly

The establishment of a UN Parliamentary Assembly was promoted last week in the margins of the 25th session of ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly which was held in the European Parliament in Brussels. The Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly was represented with an information stand and the co-chair of the campaign's parliamentary council, Jo Leinen, a Member of the European Parliament, was one of the delegates participating in the ACP-EU assembly which brings together elected representatives of African, Caribbean, and Pacific states and the European Union.

The campaign was delighted to welcome 18 elected representatives from 13 countries as new supporters of the international appeal for a UN Parliamentary Assembly: 

Kokou Lucien Houngnibo and Boniface Yehouetome from Benin, Doamba Benjamine and Achille Tapsoba from Burkina Faso, Dharamkumar Seerat from Guyana, Zita Gurmai MEP from Hungary, Fitz Jackson from Jamaica, Mariem Bilal from Mauritania, Piet van der Walt from Namibia, Abdourhaname Chegou and Amina Tiémoko from Niger, Suleiman Isyak Ahmed from Nigeria, Ibrahim Bundu and Alpha B. Lewally from Sierra Leone, Milner Tozaka from the Solomon Islands, David Martin MEP from the United Kingdom, and Sithembile Mlotshwa, a Senator from Zimbabwe.

"The idea of a world parliament seemed to go naturally with many officials regardless of their origins. I talked to representatives of mostly West-African nations, including Cape Verde," said Alfred Ngaffi who was present in Brussels and who is the Executive Director of GoGovernance, an NGO from Cameroon participating in the Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly.

In March this year, the proposal was well received in the National Assembly of Senegal. The National Assembly's Vice-President Aimé Assine subsequently joined the campaign's parliamentary council. Two weeks ago, the establishment of a UN Parliamentary Assembly was also discussed in the margins of a visit of a parliamentary delegation from the Ivory Coast to Senegal.

Mátyás Eörsi: UN's promotion of democracy would be more credible if a UN Parliamentary Assembly existed

Mátyás Eörsi, the Secretary-General of the Parliamentary Forum for Democracy based in Warsaw, argues that the UN's efforts in promoting democracy around the world would be much more credible if the UN itself would democratize itself through the establishment of a UN Parliamentary Assembly.

We're delighted to publish his following statement:

The mission of the UN is protecting and maintaining international peace and stability through promoting democracy in every corner of the globe — as the UN itself declares. Indeed, much needs to be done on all continents so that democracy prevails possibly in all countries in the world. In consequence, the endeavours of the UN in promoting democracy deserve the assistance and applaud of all democrats.

There are many definitions of the term „democracy”, but there is a general consensus here, that parliamentary oversight of each and every executive power is an indispensable element of democracy. In all countries that are called democratic, the elected representatives exercise the oversight of the executive.

The UN is an intergovernmental organization that lacks such democratic oversight. The Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe, OSCE, the Council of Europe, even a military organization, the NATO, are also intergovernmental organizations, but they are all, in a way, under democratic control by the elected parliamentarians who work together in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, PACE, and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

The UN does not have such parliamentary body. The UN, lacking this indispensable element of democracy, could become significantly more authentic and credible in promoting parliamentary democracy around the world, if it, too, were under parliamentary control exercised by a UN Parliamentary Assembly. In this way, there is a clear and strong connection between national and international democratization.

More information on the Parliamentary Forum for Democracy is available on their website.

Subcommittee on the United Nations considers the question of a UN Parliamentary Assembly

MPs talk with the head of the international Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly

Set up by the Foreign Affairs Commission of the German Bundestag, the Subcommittee on the United Nations, International Organizations and Globalization conducted a conversation on Wednesday in Berlin about "ways to strengthen democratic structures at the United Nations." The discussion revolved mainly around the establishment of a Parliamentary Assembly at the UN, a recommendation that was made by the chair of the Committee for a Democratic UN, Andreas Bummel, who was invited to attend the meeting as an expert.

Heike Hänsel, Andreas Bummel, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul and Jürgen Klimke (from the left) before the meeting

Image: KDUN

According to Mr. Bummel, the fundamental democratic deficit of the United Nations lies in the fact that only the governments of the member states are represented in the bodies of the world organization. The fact that in the existing bodies each member state has one vote alike without any consideration of population size would lead to "imbalance" and was "problematic." In contrast, a parliamentary assembly could provide for compensation as the number of seats of its elected representatives could "approximately" be distributed according to population size. The UN would require "parliamentary participation and control."

The expert of the bipartisan committee, who is also secretary-general of the international Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly, pointed out that the German Bundestag in 2005 had adopted a resolution to the effect that it supports the development of the existing Inter-Parliamentary Union IPU, established in 1889, into a parliamentary assembly of the United Nations. He criticized that in clear contrast to this decision, the German parliament's president, Mr. Norbert Lammert, was key in organizing opposition against reform efforts in this direction at the Third World Conference of Speakers of Parliament hosted by the IPU in 2010. "In the eight years since the resolution was passed, there was no noteworthy development in this regard at the IPU," Mr. Bummel noted. Not least for this reason the committee and the international campaign suggested the complementary option that a UN Parliamentary Assembly is established independently of the IPU as a whole new body.

Discussion with parliamentarians

The chair of the subcommittee, Heike Hänsel, posed the practical question of how a global parliamentary assembly could remain functional, from the perspective of size, without losing its democratic representativeness. She also pointed out that many important political issues would not be dealt with by the United Nations but rather by other organizations and informal fora such as the G20 meetings. A UN Parliamentary Assembly thus would have little effect. Rather, the UN as such should be strengthened, Mrs. Hänsel noted.

Parliamentarian and former German Minister for International Development Cooperation Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul expressed support for the proposal of a Parliamentary Assembly at the United Nations. At the same time, she stressed that according to the existing policy established eight years ago, the Bundestag would prefer a corresponding reform of the IPU over the establishment of a new body. The subject needed to be re-evaluated and promoted more strongly within the IPU and the Bundestag, Mrs. Wieczorek-Zeul said.

Deputy Jürgen Klimke noted that a global parliamentary assembly would ultimately mean to have direct elections. However, this was hardly viable in the foreseeable future. Moreover, the acceptance of such a body by the population at large might be an issue, he said. The European Parliament already would often be perceived as being too far away from the citizens. However, Mr. Klimke concluded, more transparency and citizen participation in the United Nations could initially be achieved through the delegation of parliamentarians of the member states to an appropriate UN body. As an example for this he mentioned the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

In the discussion, Mr. Bummel pointed out that it is now a consensus in the international Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly that the assembly should not be narrowly limited to the issues raised at the UN General Assembly and that its competences ultimately should extend further, for instance to the international financial institutions and the World Trade Organization. Mr. Bummel expressed amazement about the fact that the German Bundestag apparently is not participating in the consultations of the speakers of parliament of the G20 countries that were initiated by the Canadian Senate in 2010.

Other topics that were covered at the meeting included the reform of the UN Security Council and in particular the question of the veto power of the five permanent members of the Council.

Top image: The Reichstag building in Berlin. Source: Flickr (maxie-online), CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Pirate Parties support the creation of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly

Conference in Kazan calls for "a body that is directly elected by the Earth's citizens"

At a conference in Kazan in Russia, the international association of Pirate Parties PPI adopted a declaration that supports the establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly. According to the statement, the assembly should be directly elected by the world's citizens and would complement the existing UN General Assembly.

The declaration refers to the international attempt to conclude an Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement ACTA as an example that

Emblem of Pirate Parties International, PPI

Image: PPI

makes "it evident that an early involvement of general public and parliaments in the international agenda setting process is urgently needed." The non-existence of a parliamentary body at the UN and other international organizations "strongly contributes to the international democratic deficit," the statement says.

Pirate parties around the world had helped mobilize public opposition against ACTA, a treaty that was negotiated in secrecy without any meaningful public debate and consultation. In July 2012 the European Parliament rejected the treaty, thus effectively burrying the effort for the time being.

PPI was formally established in 2010 as the international political association of Pirate Parties. Currently, 42 national parties are members of the network. The first Pirate party was founded in Sweden in 2006. Among other things, Pirate parties advocate for liberal copyright and patent laws, free sharing of information and knowledge, privacy, transparency and neutral, universal and unrestricted access to the internet.

According to PPI's website, Pirate parties are currently represented with three seats in the national parliament of Iceland and one seat in the Senate of the Czech Republic. In addition, two Swedish seats in the European Parliament are held by Pirate party representatives and more than 40 seats are held in four different German state legislatures.

PPI's conference in Kazan took place from 20-21 April 2013.

Full text of the Kazan declaration
Pirate Parties International

Related news

04 February 2012: ACTA confirms "need of an elected global parliament", says Committee

Top image: PPI conference in Kazan, Russia, by N. Malysheva, http://on.fb.me/13Sde0G

New world citizens' assembly should be part of post-2015 agenda, campaign suggests

Proposal presented at a meeting convened by the UN's Independent Expert Alfred de Zayas

The establishment of a world parliamentary assembly was one of the subjects of a consultation convened on Thursday at the Palais des Nations in Geneva by the UN's Independent Expert for the Promotion of an Equitable and Democratic International Order, Alfred de Zayas.

At the opening of the meeting, Mr. de Zayas stressed that the existence of a democratic deficit at the global level

Campaign representative Andreas Bummel (left) and the UN's Independent Expert Alfred de Zayas (right) in Geneva

Image: CEUNPA

was widely recognized today. "There is a disconnect between power and people," the Independent Expert said. The purpose of the meeting was to seek views from experts on what measures could be recommended to "strengthen full, equitable and effective participation at the international and national levels."

In a statement delivered at the meeting, the representative of the Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly, Andreas Bummel, pointed out that democratization of the international order should aim at promoting the dignity and worth of the individual human being and the fundamental equality of all world citizens. Considering the fact that the United Nations is a state-based organization and intergovernmental in nature, he stated that "The challenge is to find ways to create a space within this setup that nonetheless allows connecting global decision-making more directly with the world’s citizens as individuals."

According to Mr. Bummel, a UN body should be established in order to "give the world's citizens a voice at the UN through more direct representation. The underlying idea," he said, "is increased participation through increased political representation."

The members of this new body could be either delegated by parliaments or countries could choose to have them directly elected. Referring to the parliamentary organs of the European Union, the Council of Europe and the African Union, he emphasized that such a new UN Parliamentary Assembly "in no way would contradict the intergovernmental nature of the United Nations."

With reference to ongoing international discussions on post-2015 Development Goals, Mr. Bummel stated that steps towards citizen-based global democratic governance should be part of the new framework. "Serious consideration should be given to the contribution that a parliamentary assembly at the United Nations could make to the mechanisms which can assure accountability, reporting, monitoring and continued dialogue regarding the fulfillment of the post-2015 goals," he stated. This was in line with a call of global civil society made earlier this year in a synthesis report that the post-2015 framework should "incorporate targets on the reform and democratization of global institutions."

Other themes discussed at the meeting included reform of the UN Security Council, reinvigoration of the UN General Assembly, direct democracy, the role of national parliaments in the international and national arena, and the situation of indigenous peoples and nations.

The consultation was convened by the Independent Expert with a view of a report that will be submitted to the United Nations in October.

Download the full statement here (PDF)

Read more

03 November 2012: UN's Independent Expert to examine proposals for a UN Parliamentary Assembly

29 November 2012: UN’s Independent Expert reasserts that the establishment of a UN Parliamentary Assembly should be explored

Top image: Expert meeting in Geneva, CEUNPA

Youssou N'Dour: A UN Parliamentary Assembly needs to be established

Delegation presents the proposal to the Senegalese Prime Minister and the President of the National Assembly

The world-renowned Senegalese musician Youssou N’Dour has taken a stand for the establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly. Mr N’Dour who is also a Minister of Tourism in the government of Senegalese President Macky Sall argued that “just as every town has an elected city council or just as every democratic nation has a parliament,

Youssou N’Dour and the campaign’s delegation in Dakar

Image: CEUNPA

a UN Parliamentary Assembly that reflects the diversity of the world’s citizens and cultures needs to be established at the global level.” In a statement on the occasion of a meeting with representatives of the international Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly on Tuesday last week, he further pointed out that “such a global parliament would allow for global issues to be dealt with in a democratic and legitimate way.”

The delegation to Dakar was also received by the Senegalese Prime Minister Abdoul Mbaye and the President of the National Assembly, Moustapha Niasse. The Vice-President of the National Assembly of Senegal, Aimé Assine, who was host to the

The President of the National Assembly, Moustapha Niasse, with campaign representatives Mamadou Ibrahima Fall and Andreas Bummel (from right to left)

Image: CEUNPA

delegation emphasized that Senegal should play a leading role in the efforts for democratizing the UN. “Building on a strong democratic tradition and a long-standing involvement at the United Nations, Senegal now needs to spearhead the initiative for the creation of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly,” Mr Assine said.

The campaign’s representative for Senegal, Mamadou Ibrahimia Fall, added that Senegal had already shown “its commitment to democracy, to African integration and to a more democratic multilateral system.” “Senegalese parliamentarians and the executive are invited to take up leadership in Africa to work towards the creation of a Parliamentary Assembly at the United Nations,” he stated.

One subject of the talks in Dakar was the possibility to convene an international meeting of the Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly in the Senegalese capital. “For the first time on the African continent, the National Assembly of Senegal is ready to host an international conference of the Campaign for the Establishment of a UN Parliamentary Assembly in 2014, gathering parliamentarians, academics and citizens from all over the world who work on this noble project”, Mr Assine summarized the outcome.

In an interview with TV station RTS, the campaign’s Secretary-General Andreas Bummel who led the delegation together with Mr Fall said that the positive stance of the Senegalese authorities was encouraging. “A leading role of Senegal in the efforts for a UN Parliamentary Assembly would be highly welcome,” Mr. Bummel stressed.

Other members of the delegation included Mathias Eberlen, the chief of staff of the co-chair of the campaign’s advisory group Jo Leinen, and the campaign’s Senegalese coordinator, Papa Meissa Dieng.

Photo gallery at Flickr

Top image: Skyline of Dakar, Source: Jeff Attaway, Flickr, Creative Commons

Presentation of the UNPA Campaign in Barcelona

On March 5 the Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly was officially re-launched in Spain. The campaign and its goals were presented in Pati Llimona in Barcelona where the room was filled with intellectuals, politicians and citizens interested to learn more. The campaign's secretariat in Spain is hosted by the organisation WDGpa (World Democratic Governance project association) which was created one year ago (New association to push for Spain’s support of a UN Parliamentary Assembly).

Fernando Iglesias, President of the World Federalist Movement's Council and a promoter of the UNPA campaign particularly in Latin-America, was the keynote speaker. He was accompanied on the panel by Joan Marc Simon (coordinator of the UNPA Campaign in Spain), Carme Valls (Secretary General of WDGpa) and Salvador Milà (member of the Catalan Parliament and member of WDGpa).

For more information about the UNPA Campaign in Spain please visit:
unpa.apgdm.org