Can Parliaments play a role at international summits

Economic globalisation worries the citizens of many of the world's countries. After the events which took place in Seattle, Porto Alegre, Davos and Genoa, we asked a few leading figures to answer the question: What role can parliaments, parliamentarians and the IPU play at international summits?

Mrs. Sheila Finestone, Member of the Canadian Senate (Liberal party), President of the Canadian IPU Group:
"MPs can facilitate the information flow"

Mrs Sheila Finestone, President of the Canadian IPU Group. Canada will host the next G8 Summit

Information on the contents of international summit meetings must be presented in a clearer way to encourage a meaningful dialogue between the participants. MPs can enhance the transparency of this process by helping to clarify the subjects that are discussed at these summits, thereby making it possible for more clearly defined objectives to emerge. Parliamentarians can also help to reinforce the idea that the issues at these summit meetings can be backed and approved by local constituents, be it only because MPs are more inclined to act in the interests of those they represent. Viewed from this perspective, the IPU can turn out to be an important point of reference to facilitate the development of democracy.

Patrice Mugny - Member of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland (Joint President of Swiss "Greens" party):
"Getting the attention of the world's decision-makers"
Unfortunately, the real answer to this question is a far cry from the reaction which immediately comes to mind. Today's world is a product of the many political balances of power, the effects of which are felt in all countries. If we discount authoritarian regimes and democracies in name only, only a few dozen countries are left in the running. If we look at the state of debate in these regions, it is clear that liberal ideology has gained the upper hand. Yet the state of the world derives from this new totalitarianism, which, as French farmer José Bové puts it, quite simply views the world as a commodity.
Logically, a world assembly that accurately reflects national parliaments would merely be yet another vehicle for this ideology. This relatively discouraging realisation must not prevent parliamentarians, who currently represent the forces of resistance (still a minority), from trying to draw the attention of the few decision-makers in the world who are not totally corrupt or fascinated by the dominant model to the fact that the key to the future of humanity is to pool our means and abilities so that we can all live decent lives in peace, not pursue an endless armed and/or economic conflict between populations.
In any event, parliaments possess only a very small part of any possible solution, which will primarily come from a broad-based, non-dogmatic social movement which recalls that the primary political priority is to establish a society that recognises the right of each and every one to live in a healthy environment and that stops considering the profit motive as its main raison d'être.

Mr. Francis Ole Kaparo, Speaker of the National Assembly of Kenya (KANU - Kenya Africa National Union):
"Parliaments should get more involved"
Parliaments should get more involved. For a long time parliamentarians have not, on an international level, made their contributions to the great events concerning their countries. Parliaments have long left this to the executive, to the governments. I think there is a trend towards parliaments taking a more active role on public affairs. In 2000, the first ever Conference of Presiding Officers of Parliaments took place at the UN Headquarters in New York. Parliamentarians subsequently met to discuss the question of international trade. This is a good thing. MPs must continue to involve themselves in matters of public policy at international level and there is no better forum for this than the IPU.

Mr. Bernard Cassen, Director General of the monthly Le Monde Diplomatique and President of the ATTAC (Association for the taxation of financial transactions for the benefit of citizens):
"Parliaments and summit meetings"
The loss of prestige for MPs is particularly plain to see at summit meetings of multilateral organizations, such as the World Bank, the IMF, or the WTO, as well as the sessions of the Council of Ministers of the European Union. It is within these walls that the major decisions are taken, which are subsequently applied in each of the countries considered. Governments, without bothering to consult either constituents or MPs, take the decisions they wish, and in the best of cases, parliaments are invited to approve them after the event. Dispossessing parliamentarians elected by universal suffrage of their role as depositories of popular sovereignty means reducing representative democracy to almost nothing. This is why it is important to establish standing oversight bodies within parliamentary assemblies, where they do not exist, both upstream and downstream, for monitoring government action in multilateral organizations. This is also why it is necessary, at each summit meeting, to include duly mandated MPs in national delegations as observers.