Senior lawmakers from Commonwealth countries yesterday called upon the member states to keep parliaments free from all sorts of interventions to deliver the benefits of democracy to the people in the best possible way.

They said freedom should be sought every day and people's participation in the democratic process should have to be ensured through representative parliaments to promote democracy and good governance.

The parliamentarians were addressing a workshop titled “Democracy must deliver: Role of parliament in addressing the challenges” in the city's Bangabandhu International Conference Centre. The event was part of the 63rd Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC).

The eight-day annual conference of Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) began on November 1 with participation of about 540 MPs.

The workshop set out four recommendations for the CPA general assembly, to be held today at the same venue. Among the recommendations is making parliamentarians equipped and enabled to reach decisions on law-making.

“The principle of accountability of executive to parliament must be made a workable one. This will happen only when executive becomes completely separate from parliament. If the political executive emerges from parliament, this accountability of the executive to parliament will seriously suffer,” said TN Thongdok, speaker of Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly of India.

According to him, the conflict between freedom and development is a “political conflict” and there is no fixed model for striking a balance between the two.

“The bottom line, however, is that democracy alone can deliver faster and equitable development despite challenges,” he added.

Zambia's Deputy Speaker Catherine Namugala said parliamentarians must enjoy a certain level of freedom to ensure that democracy is delivered.

“Is there any country in the Commonwealth that has changed the total separation of power where they [countries] have an independent judiciary, independent legislature and the executive doesn't control these two institutions?” she questioned.

A representative from Malta said freedom is not only sought when a country gets independence. Rather, it is the value which must be sought every day.

“A good democracy has a better distribution of parliament. You can still have a democracy, but at the same time you can have people who are not free in the democracy, free to speak, free to access to have justice. So freedom should be sought every day and from every point of view,” he said.

He stressed the need for setting up strong institutions to deliver better governance and practice democracy in everyday life. 

Bangladeshi lawmakers Md Ali Ashraf, Md Shahiduzzaman Sarker, Dipu Moni and Moinuddin Khan Badal were the lead discussants at the workshop, moderated by Tanvir Imam MP.

The meeting recommended that parliamentarians should proactively play a role in translating the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into legislation and policies for achieving country-specific goals.

It suggested that parliaments should be transparent and have a separation of power to be easily accessible to the public.

It also stressed the need for parliaments to reflect the social diversity of the population in terms of gender, geography, language, religion, ethnicity and any other politically significant characteristics.

EYES ON UNIFORM VISA SYSTEM

Lawmakers from Commonwealth countries yesterday agreed on recommendations to introduce uniform visa and trade systems and easing tariff restrictions among the Commonwealth states like in the European Union.

They also acknowledged that a youth quota should be introduced in parliaments. The recommendations came at different workshops of the 63rd CPC.

The CPC general assembly will finalise the Dhaka Declaration today after considering recommendations from parliamentarians.

The suggestions on visa, trade and tariff came at a workshop titled “The role of parliamentarians in building stronger ties within the Commonwealth: Including new trade issues, travel restrictions, non-tariff restrictions”.

At another workshop on “Giving voice to the youth: Mechanism for ensuring effective participation of youth in the governance process,” the MPs agreed on introducing youth quotas in parliaments and at the party levels in case of picking “candidates”.

The lawmakers also agreed that parliaments must ensure participation of youths in the parliamentary bodies at the national, regional and international levels. They said parliaments needed to give voice to youths by making sure that the policies close to their hearts were actively considered.

The workshop recommended that parliaments and lawmakers should ceaselessly endeavor to ensure mainstreaming of the youths in governance and nation building to equip and empower them to shape the destinies of democracies worldwide.

Youth delegates from Commonwealth countries also attended the workshop.

At another workshop titled “The climate change debate: Challenges for the Commonwealth”, lawmakers unanimously agreed on two recommendations, including ensuring a framework to combat climate change.

The MPs pledged to find means to give legal protection to people displaced by climate change and to support a UN General Assembly resolution in this regard.

At another discussion titled “CPA benchmarks for democratic legislatures: Progress in the past 10 years,” lawmakers adopted a resolution that says “relevant citizens, civil society and academia should be consulted when parliaments conduct self-assessments with the CPA benchmarks to promote transparency and accountability”.

The Bangladesh delegation, led by Deputy Speaker Fazle Rabbi Mia, voted against the resolution. 

Lawmakers from 15 countries, including Australia, Canada and Malaysia, participated in the workshop.

Talking to The Daily Star last night, the deputy speaker said, “As Bangladesh's parliament is supreme and sovereign, it does not require consulting civil society members in running the House.”

Earlier, the deputy speaker told journalists at the workshop venue that the CPA general assembly might issue a statement on the Rohingya issue, calling upon Myanmar to stop atrocities and forced displacement of Rohingyas and ensure their return to their homeland Rakhine immediately.

Several other workshops were held yesterday on issues focusing on democracy, SDGs and the rise of nationalism.