Second Conference of Speakers of Parliaments: operationalise the role of parliaments at international level

2nd Conference of Speakers of Parliaments in IPU's Headquarters

A Preparatory Committee made up of some fifteen Speakers of Parliament met in January at IPU Headquarters in Geneva to draw up plans for a second world Conference of Speakers of Parliaments. The Conference will take place in late August or early September 2005. It will build on the conclusions and commitments made at the first ever global gathering of Presiding Officers of Parliaments who met at United Nations Headquarters on the occasion of the Millennium Assembly.

The 2nd Conference will aim to operationalise the role of parliaments at the international level. The President of the IPU, Chilean Senator Sergio Páez, declared "The Preparatory Committee has started to assemble the building blocks to create the political will within parliaments and governments to give the IPU certain political and operational responsibilities in matters such as the promotion of peace and security, democracy, human rights and gender parity".

The IPU Secretary General added that the 2nd Conference would also offer an important opportunity to evaluate progress achieved on the basis of the commitments made by the Speakers attending the 1st Conference to provide a parliamentary dimension to international cooperation and thus offer support to the United Nations. In the same vein, he said that they will assess action taken in parliaments to advance progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

Photo IPU/LB: The Preparatory Committee made up of some fifteen Speakers of Parliament met in January to draw up plans for a second world Conference of Speakers of Parliaments.

"The more parliaments and the IPU are given a central role the better they can defend peoples' interests"

During his official visits, the President of the IPU noted increasing interest among Speakers of Parliament in the IPU’s activities along with a commitment to make the presence of parliaments more strongly felt in the international political arena. « It is important to extend the purview of parliaments beyond national horizons. Understandably, they are taken up with regional, local and domestic politics, and from time to time they need to have their say on the rest of the world», said Mr. Hermann de Croo, Speaker of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives.

"The British House of Commons takes a great deal of interest in world affairs", emphasised the Speaker of the House, Mr. Michael Martin, when he received President Páez in London last year. "I am not allowed to tell my parliament what to do, but having been a member of parliament for 24 years, I can say that the Foreign Secretary has to be very well briefed, because when he is questioned in the House, questions can arise relating to matters from all over the world. I see the IPU as an organisation of great friendship and it gives an opportunity to meet people from democracies all over the world, to exchange ideas and to learn the cultures of other countries, because when you learn about people of other cultures you learn to show respect".

In Iran the parliament plays an important role. Receiving President Páez in Teheran, the Speaker of the Majlis, Mr. Mehdi Karoubi, stressed that "the parliament is present in all spheres. It is the only legislative body and according to our Constitution, the Majlis cannot be in recess for a single day. Even during a war when parliamentary elections cannot be held, the legislature that was already in office continues to sit until the end of the conflict. Our Constitution states that nobody, no authority, can dissolve the Chamber. It is the strongest defender of the people". He recalled that "the more parliaments and the IPU are given a central role the better they can defend peoples' interests. I should add that the women's group in the parliament is very active."