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.

Le sous-comité aux Nations Unies examine la question d'une APNU

Les parlementaires s'entretiennent avec le directeur de la Campagne internationale pour la création d'une Assemblée parlementaire auprès des Nations Unies

Mercredi, à Berlin, le sous-comité aux Nations Unies, aux organisations internationales et à la mondialisation, créé par la Commission des affaires étrangères du Bundestag, le parlement allemand, a organisé une discussion dont le thème était « comment renforcer les structures démocratiques des Nations Unies ». Cette discussion a principalement porté sur la création d'une Assemblée parlementaire auprès des Nations Unies, une recommandation effectuée par Andreas Bummel, le président du Comité pour une ONU démocratique, qui était invité à assister à cette rencontre en tant qu'expert.

Heike Hänsel, Andreas Bummel, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul et Jürgen Klimke (de gauche à droite) avant la rencontre

Image : KDUN

Selon M. Bummel, le déficit démocratique fondamental des Nations Unies repose sur le fait que seuls les gouvernements des États membres sont représentés au sein des organes onusiens. Le fait que chaque État membre dispose, au sein des organes existants, d'un vote égal, sans que la taille de sa population ne soit prise en compte entraîne un « déséquilibre » et s'avère « problématique ». Au contraire, une assemblée parlementaire compenserait cela, puisque le nombre de sièges attribué à ses représentants élus pourrait « approximativement » être distribué selon la taille de la population d'un pays. L'ONU requerrait « une participation et un contrôle parlementaires ».

L'expert du comité bipartite, qui est également le Secrétaire général de la Campagne internationale pour la création d'une Assemblée parlementaire auprès des Nations Unies, a fait remarquer qu'en 2005, le parlement allemand a adopté une résolution soutenant le développement de l'Union interparlementaire existante, établie en 1889, en une Assemblée parlementaire auprès des Nations Unies. Il a critiqué le fait que M. Norbert Lammert, le président du parlement allemand, ait, en totale contradiction avec cette décision, joué un rôle clé dans l'organisation de l'opposition contre les efforts de réforme allant dans cette direction lors de la troisième Conférence mondiale des Présidents de parlement, organisée par l'Union interparlementaire en 2010. « Au cours des huit années écoulées depuis l'adoption de cette résolution, l'Union interparlementaire n'a observé aucun développement notable dans ce sens », a noté M. Bummel. C'est pour cette raison, entre autres, que le comité et la Campagne internationale ont suggéré l'option complémentaire visant à la création d'une Assemblée parlementaire à l'ONU en tant que nouvel organe à part entière, indépendant de l'Union interparlementaire.

Discussion avec les parlementaires

Heike Hänsel, la présidente du sous-comité, a posé la question pratique de savoir de quelle manière une assemblée parlementaire mondiale pourrait demeurer fonctionnelle, du point de vue de sa taille, sans perdre sa représentativité démocratique. Elle a également souligné le fait que de nombreuses questions politiques ne seraient pas traitées par les Nations Unies, mais plutôt par d'autre organisations et forums informels, telles que les réunions du G20. Une Assemblée parlementaire mondiale n'aurait donc que peu d'effet et Mme Hänsel a proposé de plutôt renforcer l'ONU.

Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, parlementaire et ancienne ministre fédérale de la Coopération et du Développement internationaux, a exprimé son soutien au projet d'Assemblée parlementaire auprès des Nations Unies. Elle a également insisté sur le fait que, selon la politique établie il y a huit ans, le Bundestag devrait préférer une réforme correspondante de l'Union interparlementaire à la création d'un nouvel organe. Selon Mme Wieczorek-Zeul, cette question a besoin d'être réévaluée et promue plus énergiquement au sein de l'Union interparlementaire et du parlement allemand.

Le parlementaire Jürgen Klimke a fait remarquer qu'une assemblée parlementaire mondiale impliquerait l'organisation d'élections mondiales au suffrage direct. Cependant, il ne s'agit pas d'une option viable dans le futur proche. En outre, selon lui, l'acceptation d'un tel organe par l'ensemble de la population pourrait poser problème : le Parlement européen est déjà souvent perçu comme trop éloigné des citoyens. Cependant, M. Klimke a conclu qu'il pourrait dans un premier temps être possible d'accroître la transparence et la participation citoyenne aux Nations Unies par le biais d'une délégation des parlementaires des États membres formant un organe onusien approprié. Il a utilisé l'exemple de l'Assemblée parlementaire du Conseil de l'Europe pour illustrer ce principe.

Au cours de la discussion, M. Bummel a fait remarquer que le fait que l'APNU ne doit pas être étroitement limitée aux questions soulevées lors de l'Assemblée générale de l'ONU fait maintenant l'objet d'un consensus au sein de la Campagne internationale pour la création d'une Assemblée parlementaire auprès des Nations Unies. Les compétences de l'APNU devront en fin de compte avoir une portée plus large, incluant par exemple les institutions financières internationales et l'Organisation mondiale du commerce. M. Bummel a également exprimé son étonnement quant au fait que le parlement allemand ne semble pas participer aux consultations des présidents de parlement des pays du G20, initiées par le Sénat canadien en 2010.

D'autres thèmes ont été abordés lors de cette rencontre, dont la réforme du Conseil de sécurité de l'ONU, ainsi qu'en particulier la question du droit de veto des cinq membres permanents du Conseil.

Image du haut : le bâtiment du Reichstag à Berlin. Source : Flickr (maxie-online), CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

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

Les partis pirates soutiennent la création d'une Assemblée parlementaire à l'ONU

La conférence à Kazan appelle à créer un « organe directement élu par les citoyens de la Terre »

Lors d'une conférence organisée à Kazan, en Russie, l'association internationale des partis pirates, le PPI pour Parti pirate international, a adopté une déclaration soutenant la création d'une Assemblée parlementaire à l'ONU. Selon cette déclaration, l'assemblée, directement élue par les citoyens du monde, viendrait compléter à l'Assemblée générale des Nations Unies.

La déclaration fait référence à l'effort international visant à conclure un Accord commercial anti-contrefaçon ACTA pour illustrer

Emblème du Parti pirate international, PPI

Image : PPI

« de manière évidente qu'il est urgent et nécessaire d'impliquer le public et les parlements dans le processus d'élaboration de l'agenda international ». Selon cette déclaration, l'absence d'organe parlementaire au sein de l'ONU et d'autres organisations internationales « contribue fortement au déficit démocratique international ».

Les partis pirates du monde entier ont contribué à mobiliser le public contre le traité ACTA, négocié en secret sans aucun débat ou consultation publics significatifs. En juillet 2012, le Parlement européen a rejeté le traité, enterrant de facto cet effort pour le moment.

Le PPI a été officiellement fondé en 2010 en tant qu'association politique internationale des partis pirates. Actuellement, 42 partis nationaux sont membres de ce réseau. Le premier parti pirate a été fondé en Suède en 2006. Entre autres, les partis pirates militent pour des lois libérales en matière de copyright et de brevet, pour le libre partage de l'information et du savoir, pour la confidentialité et la transparence, ainsi que pour un accès à Internet neutre, universel et illimité.

Selon le site Web du PPI, les partis pirates sont actuellement représentés au parlement national d'Islande et au sénat de la République tchèque, où ils occupent respectivement trois et un siège. En outre, les représentants du Parti pirate occupent deux sièges au Parlement européen, ainsi que plus de 40 sièges dans les législatures de quatre États en Allemagne.

La conférence organisée à Kazan par le PPI s'est déroulée les 20 et 21 avril 2013.

Texte complet de la déclaration de Kazan
Pirate Parties International

Sur le même sujet

4 février 2012 : Selon le KDUN, le traité ACTA confirme « la nécessité d'un parlement mondial élu »

Image du haut : P conférence du PPI à Kazan, Russie, par N. Malysheva, http://on.fb.me/13Sde0G

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

La nouvelle assemblée citoyenne mondiale devra figurer sur l'agenda de l'après 2015

Le projet a été présenté lors d'une réunion organisée par Alfred de Zayas, l'expert indépendant de l'ONU

La création d'une assemblée parlementaire mondiale était l'un des sujets de la consultation organisée jeudi dernier au Palais des Nations à Genève par Alfred de Zayas, l'expert indépendant des Nations Unies pour la promotion d'un ordre international démocratique et équitable.

Lors de l'ouverture de la réunion, M. de Zayas a souligné que l'existence d'un déficit démocratique au niveau mondial

Andreas Bummel, le représentant de la campagne (à gauche) et Alfred de Zayas, l'expert indépendant des Nations Unies (à droite) à Genève

Image : CCAPNU

est maintenant largement reconnue. Selon lui, « le lien entre le pouvoir et les peuples a été rompu ». L'objectif de cette réunion était de recueillir l'opinion de différents experts quant aux mesures à recommander afin de « renforcer la participation totale, équitable et efficace au niveau international comme national ».

Dans une déclaration effectuée lors de cette réunion, Andreas Bummel, le représentant de la Campagne pour la création d'une Assemblée parlementaire auprès de l'ONU, a fait valoir que la démocratisation de l'ordre international doit viser à promouvoir la dignité et la valeur de chaque être humain, ainsi que l'égalité fondamental de tous les citoyens du monde. Selon lui, si l'on prend en compte le fait que les Nations Unies sont une organisation de nature intergouvernementale fondée sur les États, « le défi consiste à trouver différentes manières de créer dans ce contexte un espace permettant de relier plus directement la prise de décision au niveau mondial aux citoyens du monde en tant qu'individus ».

Selon M. Bummel, un organe devrait être créé au sein de l'ONU afin de « permettre aux citoyens du monde de s'exprimer aux Nations Unies par l'intermédiaire d'une représentation plus directe ». « L'idée sous-jacente est d'accroître la participation en augmentant la représentation politique », a-t-il déclaré.

Les membres de ce nouvel organe pourraient soit être délégués par les parlements nationaux, soit, si les États en décident, être élus directement. Faisant référence aux organes parlementaires de l'Union européenne, au Conseil de l'Europe et à l'Union africaine, il a insisté sur le fait qu'une assemblée parlementaire auprès de l'ONU « ne contredirait d'aucune manière la nature intergouvernementale des Nations Unies ».

Quant aux discussions internationales en cours relatives aux objectifs de développement après 2015, M. Bummel a déclaré que le nouveau cadre devra inclure un rapprochement vers une gouvernance démocratique mondiale axée sur les citoyens. « Il faut sérieusement envisager la contribution qu'une assemblée parlementaire auprès des Nations Unies pourrait apporter aux mécanismes pouvant assurer les aspects de responsabilisation, d'établissement de rapports, de suivi et de dialogue continu quant à la réalisation des objectifs de l'après 2015 », a-t-il déclaré. Cela correspond à l'appel lancé en début d'année par la société civile mondiale dans un rapport de synthèse, selon lequel le cadre de développement de l'après 2015 devra « comporter des objectifs de réforme et de démocratisation des institutions mondiales».

Parmi les autres thèmes abordés lors de la réunion, on compte la réforme du Conseil de sécurité de l'ONU, le renouvellement de l'Assemblée générale des Nations Unies, la démocratie directe, le rôle des parlements nationaux au sein de l'arène internationale comme nationale, ainsi que la situation des peuples et nations indigènes.

Cette consultation a été organisée par l'expert indépendant dans le cadre du rapport qu'il soumettra aux Nations Unies en octobre.

Télécharger la déclaration en entier (PDF)

Pour en savoir plus

3 novembre 2012 : l'expert indépendant de l'ONU va examiner les propositions de création d'une APNU

29 novembre 2012 : l'expert indépendant de l'ONU réaffirme que la création d'une Assemblée parlementaire aux Nations Unies doit être explorée

Image du haut : réunion d'experts à Genève, CCAPNU