Welcoming parliamentarians from 117 countries meeting in Nairobi, the President of Kenya, Mr. Mwai Kibaki, has inaugurated the 114th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. The ceremony was attended by Mr. Francis Ole Kaparo, Speaker of the host Parliament, Mrs. Margareth Mensah-Williams, on behalf of the IPU President, Mr. Pier Ferdinando Casini, Mr. Amir Dossal, Representative of the United Nations Secretary General Mr. Kofi Annan, and Mr. Anders B. Johnsson, Secretary General of the IPU.
"As legislators and representatives of the people in your respective Parliaments, you shoulder enormous responsibilities. These include ensuring that citizens have good laws, that your Governments are transparent and accountable to the people, and that the people’s rights are protected at all times", declared President Kibaki.
He added that the 114th IPU Assembly "provides an ideal forum for sharing experiences on how best to tackle your cardinal responsibilities as parliamentarians. I am optimistic that the deliberations and exchanges of views in the coming days will serve to strengthen the role of parliaments in providing practical leadership to our people".
President Kibaki said that "it is now widely acknowledged that better governance will solve many of the challenges confronting our countries. We must, therefore, pay particular attention to the need to strengthen the capacity of parliaments to improve governance and especially to ensure accountability and transparency in the management of public affairs".
The Speaker of the Kenyan Parliament, Mr. Francis Ole Kaparo, said that "this Conference takes place at a particularly difficult period for this where more than 20 million people are living under the threat of starvation due to drought, conflict and other natural calamities. I therefore feel very indebted to the Inter-Parliamentary Union President Mr. Casini for calling on Parliaments to help mobilize international support to alleviate these problems".
He added that democratic participation, particularly of the weakest and the poorest, is the rock on which the ideals of Inter-Parliamentary Union are based. "The spirit of democracy requires that we respect each other's prerogative to organize our societies according to our conviction about how the greatest good for people can be ensured. Our system and our ways of running our lives may differ but so long as the ideals of democracy are not endangered, diversity can only enrich our lives".
In her capacity as Vice-President of the IPU Executive Committee, Namibian member of parliament, Margareth Mensah-Williams took the floor on behalf of the IPU President, Mr. Pier Ferdinado Casini, who was unable to be present as the Italian Parliament is due to convene to elect a new President of the Italian Republic.
In his message read by Mrs. Mensah-Williams, President Casini said that on Tuesday the 114th IPU Assembly will have a panel discussion on Africa's development. "Some of you may also visit some of the areas stricken by drought. And all of you, I hope, will report back to your parliaments and governments when you return from Nairobi, encouraging them to do yet more".
Speaking on a more positive note, President Casini said that these are also times of an unprecedented expansion of democracy. "Parliaments are strengthening their action at home and increasing their influence in international politics, once the exclusive domain of the executive branch. The IPU is becoming a vibrant centre of parliamentary diplomacy".
He concluded his message by underlying the fact that elected representatives of citizens "must become strong spokespersons for parliaments on this issue which is closely linked to that of global governance".
Mr. Amir Dossal, Executive Director of the United Nations Fund for International Partnership (UNFIP) read a message from the United Nations Secretary General, Mr. Kofi Annan.
In his message, Mr. Annan recalled that the Declaration adopted by the Second World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, held at UN Headquarters just before last September’s Summit, stated that "Parliament embodies democracy".
He stressed that "democracies generally act peacefully towards each other. It enables internal disputes to be resolved through political means, reducing the appeal of violent extremism. And when practiced in good faith, and without the corruption that undermines public trust, democracy helps to ensure that governments are accountable to the people".
Other press releases