Dominican Republic: Commission on Foreign Affairs of the Chamber of Deputies supports a UN Parliamentary Assembly

The Commission’s support of the international campaign for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly was announced by its President, Victor Suárez Díaz, on Twitter.

On August 14, the President of the Commission on Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Chamber of Deputies of the Dominican Republic, Victor Suárez Díaz, announced the Commission’s support of the campaign for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, in short UNPA.

The creation of a UN Parliamentary Assembly is promoted as a way to give elected representatives a formal role in the UN and to increase the world organization’s democratic character. It is envisaged as a complementary body that represents the world's citizens and not governments.

“As President of the Permanent Commission of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, I believe that we need to use our mandate from the congress to boost public policies that would give a voice to the world’s citizens and would work to the benefit of our peoples. For this reason I commit myself to advance the campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly both at the global level as well as from our region in the Caribbean,” Mr. Suárez, a member of the governing party PLD, stated.

The Commission plans to submit a resolution of support to the plenary of the Chamber of Deputies. The endorsement expressed by Mr. Suárez was welcomed by the international campaign for a UNPA.

“The call made by the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Chamber of Deputies of the Dominican Republic in favor of the Campaign for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly constitutes a significant step towards the democratization of the UN and the whole system of global governance,” said Fernando Iglesias, a member of the UNPA campaign’s Steering Committee and Chair of the World Federalist Movement’s Council.

“After similar resolutions adopted by the Latin-American Parliament, the Mercosur Parliament and both Argentine chambers, the Dominican Republic’s parliament could become the second one in the Latin American and Caribbean region to support the initiative of giving a real voice to the citizens of the world. The global South, where most of them live, asks for more transparency, accountability and democracy at the international and global scale,” the Argentinian politician added.

The campaign’s international appeal for a UNPA is endorsed across party lines by more than 1,500 current and former members of parliament from over 120 countries, among them over 20 from the Dominican Republic.

Recently, a workshop on UNPA was held at the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo.