United Nations parliament promoted at the Swedish Forum for Human Rights

Seminar on "The right to have influence in a global society" features proposal for a UN Parliamentary Assembly

The international Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly was present at the annual Swedish Forum for Human Rights that was held in the city of Gothenburg on Monday and Tuesday this week. On Monday, Christer Winbäck, a member of the Swedish parliament and a supporter of the campaign, and the campaign's national coordinator in Sweden, Petter Ölmunger, held a well-attended seminar on "The right to have influence in a global society."

During the seminar, Mr Winbäck, a member of the national parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs,

Supporters at the campaign's information desk during the Swedish Forum for Human Rights. At the left, Petter Ölmunger, the national coordinator

Image: CEUNPA

explained that a big advantage of the United Nations is that almost all countries are members and that the organization is highly respected in almost all of them. However, he said, "what we miss in the UN is parliamentary participation, the democratic character." This could be achieved with the establishment of a parliamentary assembly. "I'm convinced", Mr Winbäck stated, "that with a more democratic UN, which we would have with this parliamentary assembly, we would get a much more transparent and a much more legitimate organization."

As fundamental reforms of the UN are very hard to achieve, a first step could be to establish the new assembly as an advisory body: "If we want to, it's totally possible to create such an assembly within the UN. The existing provisions allow the UN General Assembly to do so," Mr Winbäck told the audience of around 80 people. Answering the question whether such a democratization of the UN could inspire democratic development also at the national level, Mr Winbäck said that he thinks it would, both through the inter-parliamentary exchange that a UN Parliamentary Assembly would enhance, and also because the UN itself would then be more of "a good example" in this regard.

In addition to the seminar, supporters of a UN Parliamentary Assembly used the Swedish Forum for Human Rights as an opportunity to come together and to discuss and promote the proposal and the underlying vision of strengthening the voice of humanity in international affairs. Among those who were there was former Swedish parliamentarian and vice-chair of the Left Party, Johan Lönnroth, who has written about the need of global democracy in his book "Den tredje vänstern" ("The third Left").

Petter Ölmunger, who coordinates the activities of the campaign in Sweden, evaluated the participation in the Swedish Forum of Human Right afterwards: "We had a very good seminar, many valuable talks and meetings and, not the least, lots of fun! Also, it felt perfectly right for us to, through our participation, help highlight the connection between human rights and democracy. If human rights are global, then democracy needs to be global too."

A newly created Swedish flyer was distributed during the forum and "was a big help in marketing the campaign," Mr Ölmunger said.

Photo gallery
Swedish flyer (PDF)
Video recording of seminar

Top image: Christer Winbäck (left) and Petter Ölmunger (right) during the seminar. Photo: CEUNPA

Former UN Secretary-General Boutros-Ghali turns ninety, campaign congratulates

Former UN chief helped launching the international Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly

The former Egyptian politician and diplomat Boutros Boutros-Ghali who served as sixth Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1992 to 1996, turned ninety this Wednesday. The international Campaign for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly was among those who transmitted congratulations. "We congratulate Mr. Boutros-Ghali on his 90th birthday. From the very beginning, he has strongly backed the Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly. On this

Boutros Boutros-Ghali, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the UN in 1995

Image: United Nations

occasion we wish to thank him again for his support and encouragement," said Jo Leinen, Co-Chair of the campaign's parliamentary group and a member of the European Parliament.

In April 2007, Mr. Boutros-Ghali was one of the initial signatories of the campaign's statement that appeals to the UN and the governments of its member states to establish a UN Parliamentary Assembly. In a message addressed to the campaign's supporters (PDF here), he wrote that "we need to promote the democratization of globalization, before globalization destroys the foundations of national and international democracy. The establishment of a Parliamentary Assembly at the United Nations has become an indispensable step to achieve democratic control of globalization." Later that year he was honorary patron of the campaign's first international meeting in the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

During his term as UN Secretary-General Mr. Boutros-Ghali already addressed the issue of international and global democracy. "Having recognized the connection between development and peace on the one hand, and democracy on the other, I decided that I should also explore the role of the United Nations in democratization in more detail," Mr. Boutros-Ghali noted in the foreword of a recent book on a global parliament. One of the outcomes was the famous "Agenda for Democratization" (PDF here) in which the UN Secretary-General stated that "If democratization is the most reliable way to legitimize and improve national governance, it is also the most reliable way to legitimize and improve international organization. ... Moreover, just like democratization within States, democratization at the international level is based on and aims to promote the dignity and worth of the individual human being and the fundamental equality of all persons and of all peoples."

Top image: H.E. Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali in his office in Paris in September 2011. Photo: CEUNPA

UN's Independent Expert to examine proposals for a UN Parliamentary Assembly

Statement at the UN General Assembly in New York, in-depth report on international democratic order in preparation

The UN's independent expert on "the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order," Alfred de Zayas from the United States, said on Friday at the United Nations that he is "exploring proposals for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly in order to enhance the participation of civil society within international institutions."

The expert in international law and former senior UN official explained in a statement to the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly that he is working on an in-depth report on

Independent expert Alfred de Zayas with ambassador Laura Dupuy Lasserre from Uruguay, President of the Human Rights Council, May 2012 in Geneva

Image: alfreddezayas.com

equitable and effective participation as mandated by the UN's Human Rights Council last September. The question of a UN Parliamentary Assembly is one of the issues that de Zayas is considering as part of ongoing consultations with governments, inter-governmental organizations and civil society.

The Campaign for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, an international network of legislators, civil society representatives and experts, welcomed that de Zayas is considering the proposal. "From our point of view, the establishment of a UN Parliamentary Assembly is indispensable and long overdue. It is not understandable why citizen-elected representatives should not be formally involved in deliberations and, eventually, decision-making at the United Nations. In other intergovernmental organizations this is taken for granted. A parliamentary assembly would make the UN more vivid, more democratic, and bring it closer to the citizens," commented the campaign's Secretary-General, Andreas Bummel. "We are ready to assist Mr. de Zayas in every possible way," he added.

In a first preliminary report that de Zayas presented in August, the UN's independent expert addressed the "problem of weighting" at votes in UN bodies. He stated that "Democracy can be understood internally but also internationally, since the will of a majority of States in the General Assembly deserves respect. Whereas every member of the General Assembly has an equal right to vote, consideration must also be given to the fact that some States have very large populations and only a single vote, posing a problem of weighting."

According to the resolution of the UN's Human Rights Council that established the mandate last May, the independent expert shall, "identify possible obstacles to the promotion and protection of a democratic and equitable international order, and submit proposals and/or recommendations to the Human Rights Council on possible actions in that regard." The Human Rights Council specified that from its point of view a democratic and equitable international order requires the realization, inter alia, of the "promotion and consolidation of transparent, democratic, just and accountable international institutions in all areas of cooperation, in particular through the implementation of the principle of full and equal participation in their respective decision-making mechanisms" and "the right to equitable participation of all, without any discrimination, in domestic and global decision-making."

The independent expert’s official website

Top image: The UN General Assembly’s Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) during its first meeting of the 67th session on 8 October 2012. UN Photo # 531291

Congress of the State of Jalisco supports appeal for a UN Parliamentary Assembly

Document signed in Guadalajara at a ceremony with politicians and civil society representatives

The Congress of the State of Jalisco, a Mexican federal state, has joined the international appeal for the establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly. At a ceremony that was held last week in the state's capital Guadalajara, an agreement to that effect was formally signed. The appeal is addressed to the United Nations

Francisco Plancarte García y Naranjo, CEUNPA representative in Mexico, Dip. José Antonio De la Torre Bravo, and Dip. Cuauhtémoc Plazola Chávez during the ceremony (from right)

Image: Congress of Jalisco

and the governments of its member states, including Mexico, and calls on them to implement "democratic participation and representation at the global level."

The representative of the international Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly in Mexico, Francisco Plancarte, said at the function that "parliamentary representation is a key instrument to legitimize and improve national and regional democratic governance and should also be applied globally at institutions such as the United Nations." He added that "the best way to achieve this, is through a Parliamentary Assembly at the United Nations towards a World Parliament, which could be made up of delegates sent by the national and regional parliaments, reflecting the political composition of those parliaments in order to represent the political diversity, including civil society representation of a country at the global level as well."

In addition to Mr. Plancarte, the formal ceremony in Guadalajara was attended by deputy Cuauhtémoc Plazola Chavez, the deputy coordinator of the PAN bloc, José Antonio de la Torre Bravo, Sofía Aguayo Castillo, the National President of the Women Entrepreneurs Association, Jesus Becerra, representative of the State Commission on Human Rights ECHR, and the federal deputies Carmen Lucía Pérez Camarena and Margarita Licea González. The governor of Jalisco, Emilio González Márquez, was represented by his Secretary for Legal Affairs, Ricardo Lopez Camarena.

According to a report published by La Jornada Jalisco, deputy Plazola stressed that a world parliament would help solve problems afflicting mankind such as global warming, violations of human rights, weapons proliferation, and economic and social inequality. The State Congress was determined to pursue the project not only in the state of Jalisco, but also in the other States of the Mexico and its Federal Congress as well.

The State of Jalisco is located in the mid-West of Mexico and has a population number of around 7.4 million people. Among the 32 Mexican states, including the federal district, it ranks 4th in terms of GDP.

Photo gallery
Video interview with Francisco Plancarte

Documentary on world referendum now on the web

The documentary film "World Vote Now" that premiered three years ago and runs over 77 minutes was now released in full length at vimeopro.com.

The movie that was shot from 2001 to 2009 in 26 countries explores the possibility of a world referendum and features interviews with people from all walks of life. What do ordinary people around the world think about global votes? What about the idea of giving every person an equal say? These are some of the questions that filmmaker Joel Marsden pursued.

"The fundamental and simple idea behind the film is that if democracy is such a beneficial way to improve the governance and development of so many countries and their people, why not try it at the global level as well? When we made World Vote Now nobody could have predicted that there would be democratic revolutions and mass uprisings from Egypt to Wall Street, from Spain to Russia. People everywhere want change! The time has never been more ripe for a global democracy than now," Joel Marsden told us on the occasion of the movie's internet release.

Together with MEP Graham Watson and the Club of Rome-EU Chapter, we hosted a presentation of the movie in the European Parliament in Brussels (here's a  report). In 2010, the film won the Democracy Video Challenge, sponsored by the U.S. State Department. It's great that it can now be watched on-line. The documentary appeals to emotions and is wonderfully suited to popularize the idea of global democracy.

Watch the movie here:
In English or in Spanish.

Manifesto for Global Democracy and proposal for a UN Parliamentary Assembly presented

Events in the Italian Senate feature a manifesto for global democracy and the proposal for a UN Parliamentary Assembly

Experts on global democracy and Italian politicians gathered in Rome on September 11 at two events in the premises of the Senate to present a "Manifesto for Global Democracy" and the proposal for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly.

At a press conference held under the slogan "Intellectuals call on political

Senator Roberto Di Giovan Paolo was one of those who advocated a UN Parliamentary Assembly

Image: Democracia Global

leaders and world citizens to build a global democracy", professors Roberto Esposito, (Istituto Italiano di Scienze Umane, Florence), Fernando Iglesias (Cattedra Spinelli, Buenos Aires), Lucio Levi (Università di Torino), Raffaele Marchetti (Libera Università Internazionale, Rome), Giacomo Marramao (Università di Roma Tre) and Heikki Patomäki (Helsinki University) presented their views on the global situation and explained the proposals included in the "Manifesto for Global Democracy" that they signed with other 25 scholars specialized on the study of political global trends.

According to a report published by Democracia Global, Fernando Iglesias opened the panel recalling that eleven years ago, September 11 was "the most dramatic exemplification of what Samuel Huntington predicted as the Clash of Civilizations." "I hope that our thoughts and reflections can provide a small contribution to peace, pluralism and democracy in the world. But there will be no peace in the world if there is no justice, and there won't be justice in the world if we are not able to build democratic global institutions to make the crucial decisions that are now in the hands of financial markets, undemocratic international agencies and the big national powers," Mr. Iglesias said.

Giacomo Marramao followed by commenting: "The protests that spread across the planet show a deep discomfort with existing forms of representation and the limited capacity of the political system to protect the common goods. The indignados, the Arab Spring, the Occupy movement and global protesters express a demand for more and better democracy not only at the national level, but at the global one."

Scholar Heikki Patomäki added: "Global crises require global solutions. Occasional summits, intergovernmental agreements and international cooperation are not enough. The globalization of finance requires democratic institutions on all continents and a Parliamentary Assembly at the United Nations, as the embryo of a future World Parliament."

Roberto Esposito concluded the meeting by declaring: "We share with global social movements the claim to unite for global change and real democracy. We do not want to remain governed by powers over which we have no influence. Self-determination is and politics are valid not only nationally, but also regionally and globally. We want to be citizens of the world and demand global democracy."

At a second event that was devoted to the subject of a UN Parliamentary Assembly, Italian Senator Roberto Di Giovan Paolo explained why he supports the proposal. The Italian news agency TMNews quoted him saying that he intends to bring it up in the Senate. The Senate's former President Franco Marini recently endorsed the international "Appeal for the Establishment of a UN Parliamentary Assembly".

In June, a similar event on the "Manifesto for Global Democracy" was held in the premises of the London School of Ecnomics.

Top image: Esposito, Levi, Marramao, Patomaki, Marchetti and Iglesias, by Democracia Global

Two events on global democracy coming up in Rome

Next week on Tuesday, September 11, two exciting events on global democracy will take place in Rome, gathering some of the world's leading experts on the subject.

The first event at 12:00 is a public debate on the establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly with Virgilio DASTOLI, President of the Movimento Europeo and of the Spinelli-Group, Senator Roberto DI GIOVAN PAOLO, President of the Federalist Intergroup in the Italian Senate, Fernando IGLESIAS, Council Chair of the World Federalist Movement and former Argentine parliamentarian,Lucio LEVI, Università di Torino and President of the Movimento Federalista Europeo, and Heikki PATOMAKI, University of Helsinki.

At the second event at 15:00, the Manifesto for Global Democracy (here's the website) will be presented to the Italian public by Prof. Roberto ESPOSITO, Istituto Orientale di Napoli, Prof. Fernando IGLESIAS, Cattedra Spinelli (CUIA) - Democracia Global, Prof. Lucio LEVI, Università di Torino - Movimento Federalista Europeo, Prof. Raffaele MARCHETTI, Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali, Prof. Giacomo MARRAMAO, Università degli Studi di Roma Tre, and Prof. Heikki PATOMAKI, Università degli Studi di Helsinki. Here is the event's page at Facebook.

For more details, download the invitations here:

Debate on a UN Parliamentary Assembly
Presentation of the Manifesto for Global Democracy

OpEd in the Times of India argues for a global parliament

In an opinion piece published in the Times of India today, titled "Towards a global Parliament", Richard Falk and Andrew Strauss argue that what has worked in India since independence of the country in 1947 should work as well at the global scale: Parliamentary democracy.

They point at numerous examples of international parliamentary institutions that already exist, primarily the European Parliament, to underpin the proposal of a global parliament. "There is no principled reason why the establishment of citizen representative institutions should be the litmus test for legitimate governance at the local, provincial and national levels, but not at the global level," the US-American professors write.

Falk and Strauss have published numerous articles on a global parliamentary assembly before. Last year, the Committee for a Democratic U.N. released a volume of their collected works. An Indian edition was presented in May in Delhi.

Read the entire article in the Times of India here

Input requested for a manifesto on democracy and sustainable development

The Foundation for Democracy and Sustainable Development has launched a consultative process to develop the world’s first manifesto for democracy and sustainable development. The aim of the process that runs until the end of November 2012 is to provide a platform for action around the world to ensure that democracy is properly equipped to deliver sustainable development outcomes.

According to FDSD, "Democracy needs to be cherished if it is to thrive and adapt to pressures that climate change, resource scarcity and major demographic shifts will create. The manifesto will set an agenda for tackling problem areas such as the way that democracy is so often hitched to business-as-usual economic growth, or lack of respect for future generations. At the same time, there's an increasing risk that unsustainable development could erode democracy."

FDSD asks for suggestions on methods, institutions, policies or practices that can point the way to democratic decision-making that is tailored to sustainable development. "We want to hear from anyone – whether an individual or on behalf of an organisation - who cares about democracy and what it can do to deliver a healthy environment and fairness for all now and in the future. We're particularly keen to get ideas on practical actions that could equip democracy to deliver sustainable development. Should a UN Parliamentary Assembly be among them, for example?," said Halina Ward, FDSD's director.

To take part in the public consultation process, you can fill in and submit this on-line form that sets out three questions on principles, actions, and vision.

Please share this information within your networks if you possibly can. If you’d like any further information, or you would be interested in hosting a consultation workshop or consultation exhibition stand, please write to Halina Ward at manifesto@fdsd.org.

More information is available at FDSD's website.

On the transition from "Old" to "New Geopolitics"

Yesterday, Richard Falk, an international law and international relations scholar who taught at Princeton University for forty years (and who supports the Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly), published a blog post on the transition from "Old Geopolitics" to "New Geopolitics."

"A number of developments on the global stage are suggesting that a New Geopolitics is indeed struggling to be born, although unable at this stage to challenge seriously the reign of the Old Geopolitics," Mr. Falk writes. A "striking example of New Geopolitics" according to Mr. Falk was the realignment that took place in the closing days of the 2009 Copenhagen UN Conference on Climate Change when "the United States sought to circumvent unwieldy and uncongenial procedures involving 193 states by selecting the participants in a hegemonic coalition that consisted of itself, China, India, Brazil, and South Africa."

This move was challenging "that part of the Old Geopolitics associated with the idea of the equality of states as the basis of legitimate multilateral lawmaking in the 21st century."

The civil society vision of the New Geopolitics, writes Mr. Falk, "inclines strongly in the transformative direction of Global Democracy, making all institutions of governance subject to the imperatives of transparency, accountability, stakeholder participation, rule of law, and attention to the human interest/global justice/climate change diplomacy. A first institutional step toward Global Democracy could involve the establishment of a Global Parliament that would directly represent people, not governments."

Richard Falk has been writing on the subject for a long time. Recently, a book was published with collected works of Richard Falk and Andrew Strauss on a global parliament.

Read the entire blog post here