Opening the 3rd World Conference of Speakers of Parliament in Geneva, IPU President Theo-Ben Gurirab called for Parliaments to exercise stringent oversight to help avert further global crises. “I mean scrutiny that is so searching that it leads to something being done” he said. “Holding government to account in the finest parliamentary tradition of doing the best we can for the people who elected us”.
The IPU President went on to unequivocally condemn acts of terrorism wherever they occurred. He called for an early agreement on a comprehensive convention on international terrorism. He also welcomed the call for a nuclear-free world made at the recent NPT Review Conference in New York and reassured the UN Secretary-General, also present at the Conference opening, that the IPU was committed to work with him to mobilize political will in support of an early agreement on nuclear arms.
Mr. Gurirab recalled the time of the millennium when he had been President of the UN General Assembly and as such been instrumental in ensuring that parliaments had their place in the Millennium Declaration. Referring to the eight Millennium Development Goals, he said “we need to rekindle the political will to act that we experienced at the turn of the millennium if we are to achieve the Goals by 2015”.
Responding to his comments, Mr. Ban ki-Moon said that the IPU was bringing the voice of the world’s people to the work of the United Nations. “It is helping to integrate global issues into the work of national assemblies all over the world. At this time of crisis and challenge, let us deepen our strategic partnership” he added.
The UN Secretary-General asked the assembled parliamentarians to provide leadership in four areas. First, to act on the great challenges of the times by ratifying treaties on climate change, nuclear non-proliferation, and economic development. Second, parliaments could and should be a force for stability. Democracies, he said, rarely wage war against each other. Third, parliaments are essential in advancing development and creating prosperity. “Too many of our people, in too many parts of the world, live in conditions that are simply intolerable. As parliamentarians, you more than anyone know we must help them”, he said. Fourth, parliamentarians’ leadership was needed in the area of nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. Progress was urgently needed towards the entry into force of a Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
The Conference of Speakers continues until Wednesday. For quotations from Speakers of Parliaments and other details see the Conference blog at http://speakersconference2010.wordpress.com/
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