The IPU at the World Economic Forum

The IPU Secretary General, Anders B. Johnsson, was invited by the World Economic Forum in the Informal Gathering of World Economic Speakers (IGWEL), the meeting of heads of State and government, senior government ministers and heads of international and regional organisations that meets during the World Economic Forum, which took place in New York this year.

Excerpts of the Secretary General's speech on Global economic governance and democracy

This year's meeting of the World Economic Forum has turned its attention to the serious democratic deficit in the way global economic governance is managed. Successive Forums have grappled with the issue and this year's meeting in New York has been no exception, but the repetitive and frequently violent protests in the streets of Genoa, Göteborg and other cities hosting major inter-governmental summits have lent renewed urgency to the debate.

A huge range of economic activities, including investment, trade and cross-border capital flows, tie the world's nations closer together. The problem is that people are increasingly aware that they are not being consulted in the decisions relating to economic issues that directly affect them, that the resulting activities are not leading to a betterment of their lives and that international cooperation and multilateral decision-making are, paradoxically, posing an ever greater threat to their interests.

Globalization and the pre-eminence of economic factors in the development of nations make it imperative to strengthen political processes and the link between citizens and their representatives. It is also crucial to reinforce the role of parliaments and their members in international cooperation. The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) was therefore pleased to have been invited to this year's "Davos" Forum to start a dialogue on the role of parliaments in relation to global economic governance.

Parliament is made up of men and women elected by the people to represent them and express their aspirations. It is the organ of the State that allows society in all its diversity to participate in the wider political process and in the development of public policy. Parliaments embody the sovereignty of the people and can, in all legitimacy, contribute to expressing the will of the State internationally.

At the national level, parliaments must take a more active part in setting the regulatory framework for economic activities. Through their legislative and oversight functions, parliaments must ensure that laws are adopted which reflect the needs of the people, and they must oversee the implementation by the government of agreed policies.

Through constant interaction with the citizenry - their constituents - members of parliament are well placed to understand the concerns and fears of the public, and can bring a much-needed social dimension to economic decision-making. Moreover, parliament has institutional mechanisms, such as hearings, through which civil society actors can channel their contribution to the debate.

Parliament can also play a particularly important role in relation to the work of the multilateral inter-governmental structures. A start has already been made with the growing cooperation between the United Nations and national parliaments, through the Inter-Parliamentary Union, and at the World Trade Organization through the first global parliamentary meeting on international trade organized by the IPU in Geneva last year. The IPU proposes to perform similar work in relation to the Bretton Woods institutions so that the elected representatives of the people in both lending and recipient countries can review the policies of the large financial institutions.

Progress has already been made in many countries, but much remains to be done. To be successful, this effort will also require significantly strengthening the parliamentary institution and giving it the means to carry out its legislative and oversight functions.