As part of an "electoral rebellion for global democracy", Germans give their vote to people abroad

Ahead of the general elections in Germany on 22 September, an initiative calls on German voters to cede their vote to citizens in other countries.

Activists of the campaign “Electoral Rebellion” argue that everywhere in the world people are affected by policies that were not made in their own country:

Politics does not stop at national borders but democracy does. In Spain, Greece or Portugal, for example, people are affected by the policies of the German government. Austerity measures are only one part of it. Nevertheless, these people have no say.

By calling on Germans "to give their votes" to people in other countries, Electoral Rebellion wants to set an example for "more and true democracy" and start a debate about how the current political system can be democratized at the global level.

How it works

On Facebook, German citizens post on the page of the "Electoral Rebellion" that they are willing to give their vote to someone in another country. People in other countries who want to join the action and wish to use a vote can comment on these posts, explaining who they are and how they are affected by German or global politics. Then they send a Facebook friend request to their "voting buddy." Before elections day on 22 September, the voter outside of Germany will tell the "voting buddy" where to mark the ballot paper. "It will only take you ten minutes to join in," the campaign's activists assure.

The campaign was launched by Egality, a group of German and international activists who advocate global democracy.

A similar initiative was launched ahead of the elections in Israel on 22 January this year (here's our report).

UNCCD handbook reasserts support for the establishment of a UN Parliamentary Assembly

A United Nations handbook on the role of parliamentarians in the implementation of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification that was published at the end of July (see PDF here) suggests that parliamentarians involved in the process "could play a leadership role" in the establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly.

The handbook that was authored by former parliamentarian Uwe Holtz from Germany points out that:

A United Nations Parliamentary Assembly (UNPA) could strengthen the effectiveness, transparency, representativeness, plurality and legitimacy of the work of the institutions that compose the United Nations system. The establishment of a UNPA could also be a centrepiece for parliamentary supervision of the renewed system of international financial, economic and environmental governance. The Round Table of the Parliamentarians under the UNCCD could play a leadership role in this context.

Support for a UN Parliamentary Assembly in the context of UNCCD was mandated by the Parliamentary Round Table on UNCCD in a declaration adopted at the ninth session of the conference of the parties of the UNCCD in Buenos Aires in 2009 (see our report here).

Beginning with the second session of the conference of parties of the UNCCD in 1998, the Round Table of Parliamentarians has become an established forum for the exchange of views between parliamentarians working on sustainable development and desertification in particular.

The handbook will be discussed at the next Round Table for Parliamentarians on UNCCD on 20 September in Windhoek (here's the agenda of the meeting).

Students from over 30 countries met in Canberra for a Model Global Parliament

On 27 July 2013, around 50 students from over 30 countries met in the House of Representatives at Old Parliament House to hold an inaugural Model Global Parliament in Canberra. A report from Nicolás H. Martins and Sandesh Silpakar.

The increasing connectivity among nations from all over the world, the growing convergence of complex worldwide policy issues, and the universal awareness of human dignity are demanding a strengthened global democracy. Although the idea of global parliament dates back centuries ago, the actual need was materialised only after World War II with formation of international organisations like the United Nations, which was an attempt to bring nations together for peaceful future working through cooperation and negotiation. There however is more to be done as such organisations face its own limitations. A Global Parliament therefore is a global body where democratically elected members representing state and non-state actors are able to legislate on global issues on a level playing field.

At the Model Global Parliament in Canberra, several motions under an agenda of education, human rights and environmental issues were debated by students, who represented as elected members of different regions, governments and non-state actors. Negotiations were part of the political debate, while motions were passed valuing democratic principles of ‘one person, one vote, one voice’. The majority ruled the day – even if consensus on an issue was not reached, members were bound to the collective voice of the Parliament.

Building on previous sessions of the Model Global Parliament held in Melbourne, the Canberra session had the opportunity to hear from former parliamentarian, the Hon Bob Brown.The Model Global Parliament might be a sign that a global democratic world is possible if we are willing to make it happen Special guests included Mr Steve Killelea Founder and Chairman of the Institute for Economics and Peace, Associate Professor Chris Hamer, Professor Bruce Chapman, Professor Charles Sampford and Professor Glenn Withers. The Canberra session was proudly supported by the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University, Ms Pera Wells, currently the Australian representative on the Steering Committee for the Global Interdependence Movement, the Museum of Australian Democracy and the World Citizens Association.

So, what’s next? If a growing consensus is reached in the near future on the need to address global challenges in a more sustainable, cooperative and cohesive basis, the concept of a Global Parliament has an indisputable role to play. The Model Global Parliament – Canberra was a joint vision of the participants from across multidisciplinary studies, such as public policy, environmental sciences, international development policy, economics and international relations. This might be a sign that a global democratic world is possible if we are willing to make it happen. Building on the knowledge capital of modelling global parliament, the next session of the MGP will be held in Sydney.

For more information, visit the Model Global Parliament's website and the Facebook page.

Report to the Human Rights Council elaborates on the idea of a World Parliamentary Assembly

In a report to the Human Rights Council, the UN's Independent Expert for the Promotion of an Equitable and Democratic International Order, Alfred de Zayas from the United States, has elaborated on the question of a World Parliamentary Assembly.

The report which was published online yesterday includes reflections on the nature of democracy, and identifies deficits and obstacles at the domestic and international levels. "In order to test the existence or otherwise of international democracy in recent times," the report says,

one may ask whether States and peoples, including non-represented peoples, have had a democratic opportunity of participating in decisions concerning important issues, such as war and peace, global warming, the environment, trade relations, access to medicine and the common heritage of humankind.

In a part on good practices, the independent expert elaborates on the proposal for a World Parliamentary Assembly (see para. 49) and writes that the idea of the proposal "is to address democracy deficits by giving expression to global public opinion and including citizens in global decision-making through elected officials." After stating, among other things, that UN Charter reform would not be required to establish the assembly, he concludes that

global decisions would have greater legitimacy through citizen input and involvement, if the General Assembly represented people as well as States.

In the section on good practices, the report also refers to several other initiatives that "endeavour to advance a democratic and equitable international order by providing judicial and constitutional review as well as enforcement mechanisms," in particular the Tunisian proposal to establish an International Constitutional Court and the proposals for a World Court of Human Rights and an International Court for the Environment.

The independent expert will be a special guest at the upcoming 5th international meeting on a UN Parliamentary Assembly which will take place on 16/17 October 2013 in the European Parliament in Brussels. The Secretary-General of the Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly, Andreas Bummel, recently participated in a consultation convened by Mr. de Zayas in Geneva.

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.

Unterausschuss Vereinte Nationen diskutiert Frage einer Parlamentarierversammlung

Abgeordnete führen Gespräch mit dem Leiter der internationalen Kampagne für ein Parlament bei der UNO

Der vom Auswärtigen Ausschuss des Bundestages eingerichtete Unterauschuss Vereinte Nationen, Internationale Organisationen und Globalisierung hat am Mittwoch in Berlin ein Gespräch über "Möglichkeiten zur Stärkung demokratischer Strukturen in den Vereinten Nationen" geführt. Die Diskussion drehte sich im wesentlichen um die Einrichtung einer Parlamentarischen Versammlung bei der UNO, die von dem als Experten eingeladenen Vorsitzenden des Komitees für eine demokratische UNO, Andreas Bummel, empfohlen worden war.

Heike Hänsel, Andreas Bummel, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul und Jürgen Klimke (von links) vor der Sitzung

Bild: KDUN

Das entscheidende Demokratiedefizit der Vereinten Nationen, so Bummel, bestehe darin, dass in den Gremien der Weltorganisation nur die Regierungen der Mitgliedsländer vertreten seien. Dass dabei in den bestehenden Gremien jedes Land unabhängig von der Bevölkerungszahl eine Stimme habe, führe zu "Unwuchten" und sei problematisch. In einer parlamentarischen Versammlung könne demgegenüber ein Ausgleich geschaffen werden, indem sich die Sitzverteilung der gewählten Abgeordneten "in etwa" an der Bevölkerungsgröße der Länder orientiere. Die UNO bedürfe "parlamentarischer Mitwirkung und Kontrolle".

Der Experte des überparteilichen Komitees, der zugleich Leiter der internationalen Kampagne für ein Parlament bei der UNO ist, wies darauf hin, dass sich der Deutsche Bundestag 2005 in einer Beschlussfassung für eine Weiterentwicklung der seit 1889 bestehenden Interparlamentarischen Union IPU zu einer parlamentarischen Versammlung der Vereinten Nationen ausgesprochen habe. In klarem Widerspruch zu diesem Beschluss habe sich der Bundestagspräsident Norbert Lammert bei der von der IPU veranstalteten dritten Weltkonferenz der Parlamentspräsidenten im Jahr 2010 als maßgeblicher Akteur gegen Reformbestrebungen in diese Richtung eingesetzt, kritisierte Bummel. "In den acht Jahren seit dem Bundestagsbeschluss hat es bei der IPU in dieser Sache keine nennenswerte Entwicklung gegeben", stellte er fest. Nicht zuletzt aus diesem Grund werde vom Komitee und der internationalen Kampagne ebenfalls die Option vorgeschlagen, die parlamentarische Versammlung unabhängig von der IPU als ganz neues Gremium zu etablieren.

Diskussion mit Abgeordneten

Die Vorsitzende des Unterausschusses, Heike Hänsel, stellte die praktische Frage, inwieweit eine globale parlamentarische Versammlung von der Größe her gesehen überhaupt arbeitsfähig sein könnte, ohne ihre Repräsentativität zu verlieren. Sie wies darüber hinaus darauf hin, dass viele wichtige politische Fragen nicht bei der UNO, sondern bei anderen Organisationen und informellen Foren wie den G20-Treffen behandelt würden. Eine UN-Parlamentarierversammlung hätte daher ebenfalls wenig Einfluss. Vielmehr müsse die UN als solche wieder gestärkt werden.

Die Abgeordnete und ehemalige Ministerin für Internationale Entwicklungszusammenarbeit Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul äußerte Unterstützung für den Vorschlag einer parlamentarischen Versammlung bei den Vereinten Nationen. Zugleich wies sie jedoch darauf hin, dass der Bundestag nach der seit acht Jahren bestehenden Beschlusslage eine entsprechende Reform der Interparlamentarischen Union gegenüber der Gründung eines neuen Gremiums vorziehen würde. Das Thema müsse neu begutachtet und innerhalb der IPU und des Bundestages stärker vorangetrieben werden.

Der Abgeordnete Jürgen Klimke merkte an, dass eine globale parlamentarische Versammlung letzten Endes auf Direktwahlen hinauslaufe. Dies sei jedoch auf absehbare Zeit kaum zu realisieren. Zudem stelle sich die Frage, wie die Akzeptanz einer solchen Versammlung in der Bevölkerung aussehen würde. Schon das Europäische Parlament werde oft als bürgerfern wahrgenommen. Mehr Transparenz und Bürgerbeteiligung bei der UNO könne jedoch zunächst durch die Entsendung von Parlamentsabgeordneten der Mitgliedsstaaten in ein entsprechendes UN-Gremium erreicht werden. Als Beispiel wurde die Parlamentarische Versammlung des Europarates genannt.

In der Diskussion wies Bummel darauf hin, dass es in der internationalen Kampagne für ein Parlament bei der UNO inzwischen Konsens sei, dass das Gremium nicht eng auf die bei der UN-Generalversammlung behandelten Themen beschränkt werden dürfe und dass sich die Kompetenzen letztlich etwa auch auf die internationalen Finanzinstitutionen oder die Welthandelsorganisation erstrecken müssten. Verwunderung äußerte Bummel darüber, dass sich der Deutsche Bundestag offenbar nicht an den 2010 vom kanadischen Senat initiierten Konsultationen der Parlamentspräsidenten der G20-Staaten beteilige.

Zu den weiteren Themen, die bei der Sitzung behandelt wurden, gehörte die Reform des UN-Sicherheitsrates und insbesondere die Frage des Vetorechts der fünf ständigen Ratsmitglieder.

Oberes Bild: Reichstagsgebäude in Berlin. Quelle: Flickr (maxie-online), CC BY-NC-SA 2.0