Advocate Mudenda urges strengthening of parliamentary democracy

Moses Magadza

Speaker of the National Assembly Advocate Jacob Mudenda has called for the strengthening of parliamentary diplomacy to “silence the guns”, especially at time when there is growing concern over conflicts around the world.

He made this call to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) at the recent 148th Assembly and Related Meetings in Geneva, Switzerland.

The meetings were running under the theme “Parliamentary Diplomacy: Building bridges for Peace and Understanding”.

He argued that parliamentary diplomacy — which is premised on “established method of influencing the decisions and behaviour of foreign governments and peoples through dialogue, negotiation and other methods short of violence” — was essential in ensuring peaceful co-existence of member states.

Advocate Mudenda welcomed the 148th Assembly’s theme of the IPU and Related Meetings, saying it was in line with the United Nations Charter’s trajectory for peace and security among its sovereign members, as provided for in Article 2 of the Charter.

This, he said, was central to peaceful resolution of global conflicts.

“It is no wonder that Cremer and Passy, the IPU forbearers in 1889, underscored dialogue and negotiation as the fulcrum for parliamentary diplomacy as provided in the IPU statutes, specifically Article 1(2), which affirms that ‘As the focal point for worldwide parliamentary dialogue since 1889, the IPU shall work for peace and cooperation among peoples and for the solid establishment of representative institutions’,” he noted.

He called for strengthening of parliamentary diplomacy in the ongoing quest for peace and security worldwide, saying it had worked in some instances.

“At the regional level, the SADC Parliamentary Forum exercised parliamentary diplomacy by calling for intervention by the SADC Summit to curtail the insurgent conflict in northern Mozambique and the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The SADC Summit reacted positively in the spirit of collective self-defence,” he submitted.

Also, at the international level, parliaments attending the 144th IPU Assembly in Bali agreed to constitute a taskforce to exercise parliamentary diplomacy as a peace-brokering effort by engaging the Ukrainian and Russian parliaments to stop the war.

“That effort must be vigorously sustained as the Ukraine-Russia conflict has resulted in internationally imported inflation and disrupted supply chains of goods and services in Africa as well as across Europe. In the same vein, the Middle East conflict between Israel and Gaza is now engendering destabilized global economies through the affected Suez Canal trade route,” he argued.

“Parliamentary diplomacy must be accentuated with accelerated urgency, more so now when we are witnessing the calamitous annihilation of Palestinian lives and colossal infrastructure destruction.”

Adv Mudenda said the First and Second World Wars claimed over 50 million lives and ruined infrastructure, but what ended the wars was “the penning of peace accords at two roundtable conferences respectively driven by the hankering spirit of diplomacy and dialogue”.

“The pen is mightier than the most lethal weapon! Accordingly, let the IPU spirit of arliamentary diplomacy and dialogue rise to the occasion and not be found wanting!” he added.

 

 

CAPTION: Adv Mudenda delivering a statement to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) 148th Assembly and Related Meetings in Geneva, Switzerland, recently