The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has encouraged lawmakers across the Commonwealth to endeavour to “restore dignity to elected offices and to rebuild trust and confidence in democratic processes and institutions.”
The Speaker said overtime, citizens were losing confidence in democracy and parliaments, especially in Africa, must begin to understand reasons for the loss of trust and confidence in the leadership of democratic processes.
“We should be able to pick the signals should there be any, and steer our democracies away from such incidents (of military incursions into governance)” Mr Bagbin said at the opening ceremony of the ongoing 66th Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Conference in Accra yesterday.
His comments come on the back of increasing military takeovers in the West and Central African subregion.
In his view, high levels corruption, nepotism, neglect of the hopes and aspirations of the electorates in pursuit of personal and parochial interests, and policies that only deepen poverty and deprivation levels, whilst supporting ostentation among the political elite would continue to generate mistrust among the electorates.
“That explains why in some of our countries, election into public offices has become highly transactional between candidates and voters, with instant personal gratification as the currency. This only serves to accentuate the cycle of mistrust that is fueling the dissatisfaction with political leadership and institutions in the sub-region,” he stated.
According to the Speaker, effective separation of powers of government might have been achieved by the parliaments of developed countries, but for some parliaments within the Commonwealth, it remains a mirage.
Advocating that countries within the Commonwealth worked towards achieving independent legislatures, Mr Bagbin said “Democracy will remain elusive if we are not deliberate in our efforts to ensure the independence of parliaments”.
Parliaments, the Speaker said could be strengthened “if we empower our oversight committees to effectively review government actions, budgets, and policies.
“We can strengthen parliament through civic education programs that inform citizens about their rights and the need to protect parliamentary democracy”, he said and advocated strong relationships parliaments have with civil society and the media to facilitate public participation in its work and to expose infractions on democratic principles.
For the Secretary General of the CPA, Stephen Twigg, the Association has made significant progress with best democratic practices among member countries.
He said the association had for the last few years encouraged and supported member countries in reforms to improve best practices of democratic values and principles.
Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the Majority Leader of Ghana’s Parliament and the Vice-President of the CPA, on his part said the Association was making significant improvement from being a male dominated one to an effective cross-sectional representation of communities including females, youth, and physically challenged persons.
He said the time had come to examine which systems was best for effective participation – first past the post or proportional representation or complimentary appointments by recognised authority be they kings, presidents or sovereign power.
The theme for the Conference which is being attended by about 600 delegates from the 56 countries of the Commonwealth across its nine regions is on the theme “The Commonwealth Charter 10 Years On: Values, and Principles for Parliaments to Uphold”.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
