Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament and President of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), has urged Commonwealth Parliamentarians to respect democratic ideals and Commonwealth values.
He stated that as CPA members, they shared a set of beliefs and ideals, which were enshrined in the Charter.
“Let us encourage ourselves to strive to restore dignity to elected offices and to rebuild trust and confidence in democratic processes and institutions,” said Speaker Bagbin during the 66th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in Accra.
The Commonwealth Parliaments and Legislatures Association (CPA) is an international network of 180 Commonwealth Parliaments and Legislatures working together to strengthen the Commonwealth’s commitment to the highest standards of democratic governance.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo started the week-long Conference on the theme “The Commonwealth Charter 10 Years on Values and Principles for Parliaments to Uphold.”
The Commonwealth Charter, which describes the Commonwealth’s principles and ideals, will celebrate its tenth anniversary in 2023.
Speaker Bagbin stated that while parliaments in wealthy countries may have established effective separation of powers, it remains a fantasy for certain parliaments.
Speaker Bagbin said, quoting James Madison, the Fourth President of the United States, that “the accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.”
Speaker Bagbin stated that parliaments might be strengthened by empowering oversight committees to effectively scrutinise government activities, budgets, and programmes.
He highlighted that civic education activities that enlighten citizens about their rights and the need of protecting parliamentary democracy could help to strengthen parliament.
Furthermore, parliaments must use their strong relationships with civil society and the media to increase public participation in parliament’s work and expose violations of democratic ideals.
.On parliamentary democracy in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Speaker stated that Ghanaians felt a sense of accomplishment as hosts of the 66th CPC.
He stated that their experiments with parliamentary democracy was now a full-fledged element of their governing architecture.
“This year, we celebrate 30 years of stable parliamentary democracy,” Speaker Bagbin stated.
“Ours is a stable democracy in a sub-region that has in recent times developed notoriety for reversing and backsliding on its democratic journey.”
He stated that parliaments in the West African sub-region and Africa in general must endeavour to understand the reasons behind the recent wave of military invasions into governance.
“We should be able to pick the signals should there be any and steer our democracies away from such incidents.”
High-level corruption, nepotism, and disregard for the hopes and aspirations of the electorate in pursuit of personal and parochial interests, as well as policies that only deepen poverty and deprivation levels while supporting ostentation among the electorate.
“That explains why in some of our countries, elections into public offices have become highly transactional between candidates and voters, with instant personal gratification as the currency,” he stated.
Speaker Bagbin stated that this just serves to exacerbate the cycle of mistrust that is generating unhappiness with the sub-region’s political leadership and institutions.
In his welcome remarks, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the Majority Leader and Leader of Government Business in Parliament, and Vice of the CPA’s Executive Committee, stated that the CPA represented the unwavering efforts of a group of parliamentarians bound by a common history and destiny to address critical issues confronting today’s parliaments in order to promote democracy, good governance, and the dividends of democracy, which were development of and for their people.
CPA Secretary-General Stephen Twigg stated that the CPA intended to empower and implement the values enshrined in the Commonwealth Charter.
He stated that the Charter recommended benchmarks for democratic legislation within the Commonwealth and that it had proven to be a valuable tool in aiding Commonwealth Parliaments to improve practises and to develop policies.
CPA executive committee chairperson Ian Liddel-Grainger said the CPA stood for Parliamentary democracy and to reinforce what they believed in.
