The first activities of an action plan to create a more gender-sensitive national parliament in Montenegro were drafted during a workshop in Podgorica on 18-19 April 2016 organized by the OSCE Mission to Montenegro in co-operation with the Parliamentary Committee for Gender Equality and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).

The event gathered 18 participants, including members of parliament and representatives of the parliamentary service, institutions and civil society, who, led by experts, drafted the first activities of the action plan. The plan covers six key areas: leadership and commitment, gender-balanced representation, gender-sensitive legislation and policy, parliamentary services and infrastructure, gender awareness in parliamentary culture, and parliament as a promoter of gender equality. Participants set the end of the year as the goal for finalizing and putting the plan up for adoption for the new convocation of the Parliament for the first quarter of 2017.

“The on-going gender mainstreaming of the Montenegrin Parliament is a significant step forward in translating our written pledges into actual reality,” said Dan Redford, Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro. “In particular, I am delighted to hear that the development of a roadmap and subsequent drafting of their action plan have been initiated by the parliament. This has to be the clearest indicator that its implementation has great chances of success and becoming ‘mainstream’ in the truest sense of the word.”

Nada Drobnjak, Chair of the Parliamentary Committee for Gender Equality highlighted the fact that the drafting of this important document and its subsequent adoption will make the Montenegrin Parliament a leader and pioneer in the region, and beyond.

In 2015, the Mission and ODIHR, in co-operation with the Committee for Gender Equality developed a roadmap towards a gender-sensitive parliament which served as the basis for the development of the action plan. The development and the adoption of the action plan is one of the measures initiated and included in the action plan for strengthening the legislative and oversight role of Montenegrin Parliament. 

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Secretaries General and Deputy Secretaries General of Western Balkans parliaments, heads of human resources and information and communications technology departments, legal advisors and representatives of OSCE Missions in the region took part in a meeting on strategic and annual planning in parliaments in Podgorica, Montenegro on 1 and 2 June 2016.

The aim of the event, hosted by the OSCE Mission to Montenegro and the Montenegrin Parliament, was to discuss current developments and exchange best practices and lessons learned in regard to planning in parliaments.  

Dan Redford, Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, stressed the importance of developing the institutional capacity of parliaments to make them strong and self-reliant.

Suljo Mustafic, Secretary General of the Parliament of Montenegro, thanked the OSCE Mission to Montenegro for its support and co-operation in publishing the Parliamentary Lexicon - a collection of terms used in parliamentary life - which was presented at the meeting. Mustafic underlined the importance of transparency in the decision-making process and the benefits of planned development of parliamentary institutions regardless of the constant changes that parliaments underlie. 

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BISHKEK, 15 July 2016 – The OSCE Centre in Bishkek and the Regional Office for Central Asia of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR ROCA) completed a training course in Bishkek today for 35 advisors and experts of the Kyrgyz parliament on promoting human rights in the legislative process.

The two-day training course aimed at enhancing the knowledge of parliamentarians on human rights principles.

National and international experts shared their know-how with participants on the international human rights standards, and the United Nations Human Rights Treaty System and its mechanisms. They also discussed the role of parliamentarians in promoting and protecting human rights, the principles of equality and non-discrimination as well as the relations between the state and other actors.

“Today’s training course is an important step towards ensuring that new laws will be drafted in compliance with these principles for the continuous democratic development of Kyrgyzstan,” said Daniele Rumolo, Senior Human Dimension Officer at the OSCE Centre in Bishkek. “Following the successful organization of parliamentary elections in October 2015, it is necessary that Kyrgyz authorities continue to meet their obligations and implement the relevant OSCE commitments on human rights.”

Ryszard Komenda, OHCHR ROCA Regional Representative, said: “It is critical that advisors and experts working closely with members of the parliament are fully versed in and committed to international and national human rights standards in order to propose and adopt legislation that is in full compliance with them. This training course represents one way in which OHCHR supports Kyrgyzstan to protect and promote human rights.”

The training course is part of the OSCE Centre’s project on strengthening democratic governance in Kyrgyzstan.

The final report by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on Serbia’s 24 April 2016 early parliamentary elections recommends a comprehensive review of legislation to further improve election process.  

The report, while finding the elections were efficiently administered and held in a competitive environment, spells out key areas that would benefit from such a review, including unclear rules on candidate registration, inadequate regulation of campaign finance, deficiencies and loopholes in dispute resolution mechanisms, an absence of sanctions for some violations and the lack of provisions on election observation.

The report, published on 29 July 2016, notes that, while fundamental freedoms were respected and candidates were able to campaign freely, biased media coverage, undue advantage of incumbency and a blurring of the distinction between state and party activities hindered a level playing field for contestants. To this end, the report recommends specific campaign regulations, including the introduction of ceilings on campaign expenditures and preventing the misuse of administrative resources and the abuse of office.  

In noting the absence of an effective mechanism for monitoring media conduct during the campaign, the report recommends clarifying the competences of the media regulatory body in investigating and sanctioning breaches of legislation in a timely manner.

A review of the election appeals system to guarantee an effective and timely remedy for all complaints, and particularly in cases related to electionday irregularities and election results, is also among the report’s recommendations.

Additional recommendations relate to providing unrestricted access of citizen and international observers to the entire electoral process, including voting, counting and tabulation, and enhancing the transparency of the tabulation of results.

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MINSK, 2 August 2016 – The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today formally opened an election observation mission for the 11 September parliamentary elections in Belarus. The mission’s deployment follows an official invitation from the Belarus authorities.

The mission is led by Tana de Zulueta and consists of a core team of 10 experts based in Minsk and 38 long-term observers to be deployed in teams of two across the country. In addition, ODIHR will request 400 short-term observers to monitor proceedings on election day. The experts and observers are drawn from 24 countries.

The mission will assess the parliamentary elections for compliance with OSCE commitments and other international standards and obligations for democratic elections, as well as with domestic legislation. Observers will follow the candidate registration process, campaign activities, the work of the election administration and relevant state bodies, implementation of the legal framework and the resolution of election disputes. As part of the observation, the mission will also monitor the media coverage of the campaign.

In the course of its observation, the mission will meet with representatives of relevant authorities and of political parties, as well as with representatives of civil society, the media and the international community.

On election day, observers will monitor the opening of polling stations, voting, the counting of ballots and the tabulation of results. For election day, the mission plans to join efforts with delegations from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

A statement of preliminary findings and conclusions will be issued on the day after the election. A final report on the observation of the entire election process and including recommendations will be published approximately two months after the completion of the election process.

For further information please visit http://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/belarus  or contact Ulvi Akhundlu, OSCE/ODIHR Election Adviser, at +375 29 876 3772 (mobile) 

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BISHKEK, 3 June 2016 – Wrapping up a two-day visit to Kyrgyzstan, which has included meetings with the Speaker of the Parliament, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and officials at the OSCE Centre in Bishkek, Special Representative for Central and Eastern Asia and Vice-President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Christine Muttonen spoke to students today at the OSCE Academy in Bishkek on conflict prevention and peace-building, noting the strengths of the OSCE’s approach, as well as areas for improvement.

Muttonen’s visit this week – her first to Kyrgyzstan since her appointment as Special Representative in January – has served as an opportunity to discuss confidence-building in the region and developing co-operative approaches to common challenges such as energy security, water management and border co-operation. In her meetings with Speaker of Parliament Chynybay Tursunbekov and Minister of Foreign Affairs Erlan Abdyldaev, Muttonen noted the importance of continuing to build trust and dialogue through the OSCE.

“There is a need to develop ways of countering the lack of trust and promoting co-operation between countries in the region,” she said. “The OSCE is our common organization, an inclusive organization in which all of its members have an equal voice, and we need to work effectively together within this forum.”

Discussions in Bishkek also focused on promoting follow-up on OSCE/ODIHR election-related recommendations and on the importance that Kyrgyzstan attaches to the OSCE and its Parliamentary Assembly. Muttonen expressed appreciation for the fact that Kyrgyzstan intends to send a full delegation to the OSCE PA’s 25th Annual Session in Tbilisi, Georgia, next month.

In meetings with staff of the OSCE Centre in Bishkek, Muttonen was briefed on the situation in the country and heard about the Centre’s ongoing projects, notably in the spheres of early warning and conflict prevention, as well as youth-oriented and parliamentary development projects. There was also discussion on the possibility of holding future OSCE PA events in the country.

In her lecture at the OSCE Academy, she highlighted the early warning capabilities of the OSCE – including through its field operations such as the Centre in Bishkek – but regretted that sometimes political considerations hamper effective implementation of early warning mechanisms. Discussing the OSCE’s consensus-based decision-making procedure and the non-binding character of its decisions, Muttonen pointed out the OSCE is only as strong as its participating States allow it to be.

Nevertheless, she said, the OSCE’s response to the crisis in and around Ukraine has served as an example of its ability to engage in conflict prevention and peace-building. “The Ukraine conflict has shown that the OSCE is well-placed and equipped to engage in conflict prevention and support mediation and peace-building,” said the PA Vice-President. “Through its unanimous vote principle, the OSCE and its participating States can formulate strong political agreements, even if the process may be slow.”

She noted that OSCE parliamentarians have been active in supporting the Central Asian countries’ peace-building efforts, notably through fact-finding missions.

Muttonen’s speech at the OSCE Academy concluded a week-long visit to Central Asia, which included meetings with government officials, parliamentary leaders and representatives of civil society in Astana, Almaty, and Bishkek.

In her mandate as Special Representative, she is tasked, inter alia, with encouraging active participation in the PA by parliamentarians from Central Asia, as well as liaising with and supporting the work of the OSCE field operations in the region.

To watch a recent interview with the Special Representative, in which she discusses her priorities, please click here. Photos of her visit this week to Central Asia are on Flickr. Her full remarks to the OSCE Academy are available here.

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The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) issued a final report on 8 July 2016 on the postponed early parliamentary elections in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, which were scheduled for 5 June 2016. The final report assesses whether the electoral process and activities conducted before the postponement of elections were in line with OSCE commitments, other international obligations and standards for democratic elections, and with national legislation.  

While recognizing that 2015 amendments to the Electoral Code attempted to address most of the prior OSCE/ODIHR recommendations, the report notes that late changes negatively affected electoral stakeholders’ understanding of new provisions and impacted their ability to fulfil their functions. In addition, a number of previous recommendations remain to be addressed and legal inconsistencies eliminated. The report recommends conducting a complete review of the Code after consultations between all political stakeholders and relevant civil society organizations.  

As one of the priority recommendations, the report recommends the State Election Commission and the Ministry of Internal Affairs continue the process of updating the voter register through a co-ordinated effort ahead of the next elections. In order to increase the citizens’ confidence in the accuracy of voter registration, it also recommends that the process is transparent and ensures political parties and civil society access for verification.  

Noting that some measures to prevent intimidation and pressure on citizens were taken by authorities, it however mentions that a climate of intimidation persisted, attributed to a fear of retribution existing in state companies and institutions. The report recommends that authorities actively encourage citizens to report any cases of pressure and intimidation and thoroughly investigate such instances. 

While a number of aspects for the media coverage of election campaigns have been detailed in the Electoral Code, a need for continued substantial reform was highlighted. The report suggests amending the legal framework to further clarify the requirements for balanced reporting during the pre-campaign period.

Additional recommendations in the report include deciding on election-related cases within timely deadlines and harmonizing the Electoral Code with the Constitution, which provides for public hearings. It also recommends periodic review of district boundaries by an independent body to ensure the equality of the vote.

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The final report by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on Serbia’s 24 April 2016 early parliamentary elections recommends a comprehensive review of legislation to further improve election process.  

The report, while finding the elections were efficiently administered and held in a competitive environment, spells out key areas that would benefit from such a review, including unclear rules on candidate registration, inadequate regulation of campaign finance, deficiencies and loopholes in dispute resolution mechanisms, an absence of sanctions for some violations and the lack of provisions on election observation.

The report, published on 29 July 2016, notes that, while fundamental freedoms were respected and candidates were able to campaign freely, biased media coverage, undue advantage of incumbency and a blurring of the distinction between state and party activities hindered a level playing field for contestants. To this end, the report recommends specific campaign regulations, including the introduction of ceilings on campaign expenditures and preventing the misuse of administrative resources and the abuse of office.  

In noting the absence of an effective mechanism for monitoring media conduct during the campaign, the report recommends clarifying the competences of the media regulatory body in investigating and sanctioning breaches of legislation in a timely manner.

A review of the election appeals system to guarantee an effective and timely remedy for all complaints, and particularly in cases related to electionday irregularities and election results, is also among the report’s recommendations.

Additional recommendations relate to providing unrestricted access of citizen and international observers to the entire electoral process, including voting, counting and tabulation, and enhancing the transparency of the tabulation of results.

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MINSK, 2 August 2016 – The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today formally opened an election observation mission for the 11 September parliamentary elections in Belarus. The mission’s deployment follows an official invitation from the Belarus authorities.

The mission is led by Tana de Zulueta and consists of a core team of 10 experts based in Minsk and 38 long-term observers to be deployed in teams of two across the country. In addition, ODIHR will request 400 short-term observers to monitor proceedings on election day. The experts and observers are drawn from 24 countries.

The mission will assess the parliamentary elections for compliance with OSCE commitments and other international standards and obligations for democratic elections, as well as with domestic legislation. Observers will follow the candidate registration process, campaign activities, the work of the election administration and relevant state bodies, implementation of the legal framework and the resolution of election disputes. As part of the observation, the mission will also monitor the media coverage of the campaign.

In the course of its observation, the mission will meet with representatives of relevant authorities and of political parties, as well as with representatives of civil society, the media and the international community.

On election day, observers will monitor the opening of polling stations, voting, the counting of ballots and the tabulation of results. For election day, the mission plans to join efforts with delegations from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

A statement of preliminary findings and conclusions will be issued on the day after the election. A final report on the observation of the entire election process and including recommendations will be published approximately two months after the completion of the election process.

For further information please visit http://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/belarus  or contact Ulvi Akhundlu, OSCE/ODIHR Election Adviser, at +375 29 876 3772 (mobile) 

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Supporting the process of ethical standards reform and developing a code of conduct for members of the Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian parliament, was the focus of an event, co-organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the Verkhovna Rada, the Agency for Legislative Initiatives, the USAID RADA Program and the Netherlands Institute for Multi-party Democracy.

Bringing together 20 Members of Parliament, the event aimed at identifying and addressing specific ethical dilemmas facing them. The event also provided a platform for discussing various ethical dilemmas relating to conflict of interest, gift declaration, gender equality and conduct in private vs. public life with representatives of around 50 civil society and international organizations.

"Enhancing trust in the Verkhovna Rada is a necessary precondition for ensuring and maintaining the legitimacy and trust of our institution," said Andriy Parubiy, Speaker of the Parliament of Ukraine. "This is our main responsibility and an opportunity."

Participants also discussed avoiding harm to the reputation of the Parliament by considering ethical dilemmas and the low level of public trust in the institution, as well as exploring ways the introduction of ethical standards for its members can increase confidence. 

Pat Cox, former President of the European Parliament and Head of the European Parliament's Needs Assessment Mission to the Verkhovna Rada, said: "Ethics is not only about black and white, legal and illegal, but also about regulating unethical behaviour and thus showing the public that you strive towards ensuring the highest professionalism standards in your work."

"ODIHR has, in recent years, supported more than 12 national Parliaments with developing and adopting a code of conduct," said Kateryna Ryabiko, Project Co-coordinator at ODIHR. "I am convinced that we, together with partner organisations and experts, will be able to support the Verkhovna Rada with ethics reform and development of professional standards for MPs that will meet the public’s expectations of transparency and accountability."

The event was organized as part of the ODIHR’s "Strengthening dialogue among civil society and with key governmental stakeholders in Ukraine" project, which was launched in April 2015 with the goal of enhancing effective mechanisms for dialogue to address key human rights issues in Ukraine, in line with OSCE commitments and international standards.

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COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka began voting in a snap election on Thursday which will determine if the island nation wants to empower its new, leftist President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to push his pro-poor policies as it recovers from a financial meltdown. A little over 17 million Sri Lankans are eligible to elect lawmakers to the 225-member parliament for a five-year term. A record 690 political parties and independent groups are in the fray across 22 electoral districts. Marxist-leaning Dissanayake, 55, was elected president in September but his National People's Power (NPP) coalition had just three of 225 seats in parliament, prompting him to dissolve the legislature almost a year before its term ended and seek a fresh mandate. Over 7,000 police personnel have been deployed to ensure free and fair elections at the more than 13,400 polling stations set up across the country, police officers told Reuters. "The military is also on standby to assist the police but we do not expect any incidents," said Police Spokesman Nihal Thalduwa, adding that voting was proceeding smoothly. As polling opened in the early hours of the morning, people began trickling into temples, schools and other public buildings being used as polling stations. Among them was Umeshi Perera, 32, who lined up to cast her ballot at a school in Biyagama, a suburb about 15 km from the South Asian nation's largest city of Colombo. "I think we are seeing the first signs of a positive political change in Sri Lanka after the president was elected and we should give him the chance to continue that change," she said. Analysts say Dissanayake's coalition is expected to draw significant support, while a victory for a rival could lead to a policy logjam the country cannot afford. The Samagi Jana Balawegaya party of opposition leader Sajith Premadasa - who favors a mix of interventionist and free-market economic policies - is NPP's main challenger. The other key contender is the New Democratic Front, backed by previous President Ranil Wickremesinghe. "All arrangements are in place and we appeal to the public to work with us to ensure a free and fair election," Election Commission Chairman RML Rathnayake told reporters at a pre-election briefing on Tuesday. Votes will be counted soon after polling closes on Thursday and results are expected to be announced on Friday. A country of 22 million people just across the southern tip of India, Sri Lanka was crushed by a 2022 economic crisis triggered by a severe shortfall of foreign currency, causing the economy to shrink by 7.3% in 2022 and 2.3% last year. Boosted by a $2.9 billion bailout program from the International Monetary Fund, the economy has begun a tentative recovery, but the high cost of living is still a critical issue for many voters, especially the poor. Dissanayake wants to push anti-poverty policies including bigger welfare schemes and fight corruption as a political outsider in a country dominated by family parties for decades. He also aims to tweak targets set under the IMF program to reduce high income taxes and free up funds to invest in welfare for millions hit hardest by the crisis. The new government must deliver a budget to reach a crucial primary surplus target of 2.3% of GDP in 2025 set under the IMF program, deliver pro-poor policies, and put growth on a sustainable path. But investors worry Dissanayake's desire to revisit the terms of the IMF bailout could delay future disbursements, and make it harder for Sri Lanka to hit that primary surplus target. "In past elections, people did not have confidence in us but in September people gave us victory and proved that we are a winning party and we can form a government," Dissanayake said on Sunday as the campaign neared its conclusion. "The next task is to unite people from the four corners of this country and build a powerful people's movement," he said.

1. Sri Lanka parliamentary elections 2024: What’s at stake?  Al Jazeera English
2. Sri Lanka to hold key parliamentary vote on November 14  The Hindu
3. Snap Sri Lankan election poses test for new leader  BBC.com
4. Sri Lanka Heads For Snap Elections Today, Results Likely On Friday  NDTV
5. Sri Lanka's newly-elected parliament to convene next week  Deccan Herald

Parliament voted in favour of an amended version of a motion put forth by Progress Singapore Party (PSP) Non-Constituency MPs Leong Mun Wai and Hazel Poa on Wednesday (Nov 13) after a debate that lasted five-and-a-half hours. This motion called for the Government to "review its policies relating to hawkers and the management of hawker centres to provide better support for hawkers to sustain and grow Singapore hawker culture, so that Singaporeans can continue to enjoy good and affordable hawker food". During his speech, Leong highlighted that high operational costs, harsh working conditions, and the expectation to provide cheap food are pressing issues faced by hawkers here. The PSP secretary-general then proposed that social enterprise hawker centres be phased out as contracts expire, replacing them with centralised management under a new government agency called Hawker Singapore. This new agency would oversee the management of all hawker centres in Singapore and the promotion of hawker culture domestically and internationally, working together with other relevant agencies, he added.

1. Sri Lanka Leader Seeks to Bolster Power With Parliamentary Vote | Company Business News  Mint
2. Sri Lanka Heads For Snap Elections Today, Results Likely On Friday  NDTV
3. Sri Lanka votes today: President Dissanayake faces litmus test as NPP aims for majority control | All you need to know  Mint
4. Sri Lanka to hold key parliamentary vote on November 14  The Hindu
5. Snap Sri Lankan election poses test for new leader  BBC.com

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s ruling alliance is looking to secure a majority in Parliament

Dutch parliamentarians clashed on Wednesday in a heated debate to discuss the attacks on Israeli fans after a football match last week, with some lawmakers pointing fingers and others urging unity.

The Netherlands is still dealing with the political fallout from last week’s violence in Amsterdam, when fans of Tel Aviv Maccabi were assaulted by men on scooters in several parts of the capital.

Five Macabi fans were briefly hospitalised after being beaten up following a match with the local Ajax team last Thursday, in what Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof termed an incident of “unadulterated anti-Semitism”.

After the match, groups of men on scooters engaged in “hit-and-run” attacks on Maccabi fans in areas of the city.

Police said the attackers were mobilised by calls on social media to target Jewish people.

Far-right MP Geert Wilders, leader of the biggest party in the coalition government, said the perpetrators of the violence against Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were “all Muslims” and “for the most part Moroccans”.

The anti-Islam Wilders called for the attackers to be prosecuted “for terrorism.”

“For the first time since the Second World War there was a hunt on Jews,” Wilders said, adding “I am sick of being criticised when I tell the truth.”

But the firebrand MP drew the ire of opposition parties, who accused him of “adding fuel to fire”.

‘Dividing the country’

While unanimously condemning the violence, left-wing parties have called for dialogue with the Muslim community instead of “dividing the country”.

“I share the condemnation of the violence in Amsterdam and yes, there was indeed anti-Semitic violence,” left-wing opposition leader Frans Timmermans said.

“You are simply stoking the fires while this country has a need for politicians to unite people and find solutions,” Timmermans told Wilders.

Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema on Tuesday called the attacks a “poisonous cocktail” of anti-Semitism and hooliganism.

Events ahead of the match heightened tensions, including anti-Arab chants by Maccabi fans, who also set fire to a Palestinian flag on the city’s central square and vandalising a taxi.

After the match, which passed off peacefully, reports emerged of social media calls to attack Jews, Amsterdam police said.

The violence took place against the backdrop of an increasingly polarised Europe, with heightened tensions following a rise in antisemitic, anti-Israeli and Islamophobic attacks since the start of the Gaza conflict.

The Dutch PM indicated that the government would present concrete steps to tackle antisemitism on Friday.

Eight people remained in custody over the violence.

[Nile Post] Filmmakers have contributed Shs 57,600,000 to Parliament to support the Parliamentary Forum in revising the National Culture Policy.

[Leadership] Nigeria's youngest female lawmaker, Hon Rukayat Shittu, representing Owode Onire constituency at the Kwara State House of Assembly has traveled to France for the Organisation of Parliamentary Work programme.

[Nile Post] At a press conference, UPPA president Sam Ibanda Mugabi strongly criticised the decision, underscoring the importance of independent media coverage free from interference.

Alliance pays tribute to its "ground-breaking" and "trailblazing" former assembly member, Anna Lo.

BERLIN: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will hold a vote of confidence in parliament on Dec. 16, a source told Reuters on Tuesday, a move that would pave the way for snap elections following the collapse of his three-way governing coalition.

More to follow

Pirate Parties: This past weekend, elections were held in Luxembourg and the Czech Republic. The Pirate Party of Luxembourg tripled their support and entered the Luxembourg Parliament with two MPs, and in the Czech Republic, the Pirate Party increased their support further – now receiving a full 17% in Prague.

With 6.45% of the votes of the final tally, the Luxembourg Pirate Party is entering its national Parliament, being the fifth Pirate Party to enter a national or supranational legislature (after Sweden, Germany, Iceland, and the Czech Republic). This may not seem like much, but it is a very big deal, for reasons I’ll elaborate on later. A big congratulations to Sven Clement and Marc Goergen, new Members of Parliament for Luxembourg!

Further, the Czech Republic has had municipal elections, and the Czech Pirate Party showed a full 17.1% support in Prague, the Czech capital, making the Pirates the second biggest party with a very narrow gap to the first place (at 17.9%). This may or may not translate to votes for the Czech national legislature, but is nevertheless the highest score recorded so far for a Pirate Party election day. I understand the Czech Pirates have as many as 275 (two hundred and seventy-five!) newly-elected members of city councils, up from 21 (twenty-one). Well done, well done indeed!

For people in a winner-takes-all system, like the UK or United States, this may sound like a mediocre result. In those countries, there are usually only two parties, and the loser with 49% of the vote gets nothing. However, most of Europe have so-called proportional systems, where 5% of the nationwide votes gives you 5% of the national legislation seats. In these systems, the parties elected to Parliament negotiate between themselves to find a ruling majority coalition of 51%+ of the seats, trying to negotiate common positions between parties that are reasonably close to each other in policy. This usually requires a few weeks of intense negotiations between the elections and the presentation of a successfully negotiated majority coalition.

Further, it could reasonable be asked what kind of difference the Czech Republic or Luxembourg could possibly make on their own in the global information repression. The answer is, a whole lot. The key here is realizing that one country is sufficient to break the global repression of information; the repression is completely dependent on every single country keeping watertight doors. If one single country decides to allow the free movement of culture and knowledge, then all such distribution will immediately be based there. The copyright industry lobby in other countries will protest, quite loudly, but there’s not really anything they can do about it.

And since the problem from a policymaking standpoint has been that the industry-age era politicians consider the Internet-related policy areas completely peripheral in the first place, conceding those policy areas will be seen as very cheap price to bind those votes to a majority coalition.

“One country is sufficient to break the global repression of information.”

A relevant comparison is how Canada has now legalized cannabis at the country level, following many state-level initiatives here and there in the world, and at once, the floodgates are open. Not just for the illegal distribution networks, but more importantly, for legalization everywhere else. As a German politician dryly said today, “what’s possible in Canada is also possible in Germany”, proposing that cannabis should be legalized outright in Germany. I would imagine the tone is similar in most places — or, importantly, many enough places.

The Luxembourg and Prague coalition talks have just started, with an outcome typically expected in a few weeks.

Ghana's Supreme Court restored the ruling party's majority in the parliament on Tuesday ahead of the Dec. 7 election, with an order that the speaker's declaration of four seats as vacant was unconstitutional.

On the 1st of April, between 9:30 and 16:30, the BiodiversityKnowledge project organises a conference where outcomes will be presented and widely discussed with policy makers, science and other stakeholders at the European parliament in Brussels. As final result, BiodiversityKnowledge will present a stakeholder’s document outlining a recommended design on how such a Network of Knowledge could operate and produce added value.

EU BON will be also presented at the confernce as one of the knowledge providers of the Network of Knowledge.

To counteract biodiversity loss, efforts have considerably increased over the past years to strengthen the science-policy-society interface on biodiversity and ecosystem services. There is indeed an active landscape of projects, institutions, organisations and individuals in Europe involved in this interface, all aiming to improve the knowledge flow so that decisions at different policy levels (from European, to national and local levels) are based on the best available knowledge.

With the 7th Environmental Action Programme and the start of Horizon2020 and its focus on innovative solutions for society, the need for more concerted activities in this context become even more important.

In this context, BiodiversityKnowledge (FP7 KNEU), an EU-funded coordination action has been set up to help to map, mobilise and organise this landscape focusing on the knowledge holders’ community. For this the project has been developing and testing a prototype Network of Knowledge since 2011 with more than 300 active participations of representatives of the biodiversity and ecosystems services knowledge community. Stakeholders involved ranged from practitioners and researchers to policy-makers.

Please find the conference agenda attached below.

A major crisis broke out in Russia in the beginning of October 1993. It was the most serious crisis in post-Soviet history. Disagreements between President Boris Yeltsin and parliamentary leaders led to bloody massacre on the streets of Moscow.  The number of victims of the Black October crisis remains unknown even 30 years after. According to various departments and commissions, the number of victims varies from 124 to 158 people. Witnesses say, however, that hundreds were killed and thousands of others were injured.  After the collapse of the USSR in 1991, the 1978 Constitution of the RSFSR was still in force vesting supreme powers on the Supreme Council and the Congress of People's Deputies.

At the House of Lords, the Palace of Westminster, World Technology Congress (WTC) featured "the new mobility landscape" as a theme for the Fall Session which addressed major challenges and opportunities of the mobility industry.

At the House of Lords, the Palace of Westminster, World Technology Congress (WTC) featured "the new mobility landscape" as a theme for the Fall Session which addressed major challenges and opportunities of the mobility industry.

inserting Amnesty for millions of illegal aliens into a budget bill to subvert the filibuster rule violates Senate rules.

Ararat Alliance compares Azerbaijan's actions in Nagorno-Karabakh to the Taliban, citing the forced displacement of over 100,000 ethnic Armenians, desecration of churches, and defiance of the European Parliament and the International Court

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Room 30, Parliament Buildings

Room 21, Parliament Buildings

Room 21, Parliament Buildings

Room 21, Parliament Buildings

Room 21, Parliament Buildings

Room 30, Parliament Buildings

The eighth plenary session of the North/South Inter-Parliamentary Association (NSIPA) was held today in the Senate Chamber of Parliament Buildings.

TBILISI, 2 July 2016 – Nearly 300 parliamentarians from 54 OSCE countries have begun debates on political and security affairs, economic and environmental issues and human rights and humanitarian concerns at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s 25th Annual Session in Tbilisi.

The OSCE PA’s three general committees began working on resolutions Saturday dealing with topics including transnational terrorism, the crisis in and around Ukraine, protracted conflicts in Georgia, corruption, energy, climate change, migration and the rights of refugees.

Introducing the resolution to the Committee on Political Affairs and Security, Rapporteur Margareta Cederfelt (MP, Sweden) noted the importance of rebuilding trust and promoting stability in the OSCE region. “Since so many of our common challenges require real multilateral engagement, we as parliamentarians should work together in overcoming these challenges and work towards our mutual security,” she said.

Chaired by U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, the committee debated a number of issues related to the security situation in the OSCE area, with a particular focus on the threat of terrorism and resolving the Ukraine conflict through full implementation of the Minsk Agreements.

In the OSCE PA’s Committee on Economic Affairs, Science, Technology and Environment, chaired by Nilza Sena (MP, Portugal), Rapporteur Marietta Tidei (MP, Italy) highlighted the necessity of addressing climate change and other challenges in the economic and environmental dimension. She noted that 2016 marks not only the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s 25th anniversary, but also 25 years since the international community began addressing one of the most challenging environmental concerns of our time.

“In 1991, the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee held its first meeting to tackle what was already seen at that time as a serious challenge to humanity, the threat of climate change,” Tidei noted. She welcomed the adoption last year of the Paris Climate Agreement and urged its swift implementation by OSCE countries. Other issues touched on by the rapporteur and in the debate included food security, economic inequality and corruption.

The OSCE PA’s Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions opened debate on Rapporteur Gordana Comic (MP, Portugal)’s report and draft resolution, introduced by Committee Chair Isabel Santos (MP, Portugal). The resolution urges a revitalization of the OSCE’s commitment to the human dimension of security at a time when a “crisis of leadership and ideas” is coinciding with a humanitarian emergency related to Europe’s refugee and migrant crisis.

Chaired by Ivana Dobesova (MP, Czech Republic), the committee debated issues including fundamental freedoms in Crimea and humanitarian concerns related to the migration crisis, including the special vulnerabilities of women and girls.

Santos noted that the report and draft resolution do not present a “magic solution” to the challenges of human rights in the OSCE area, but provides a basis for further co-operation. ‘“Together, we can achieve more, and one day we will achieve the solutions,” she said.

Committee meetings continue on 3 July with a number of amendments to consider. After the amendment process and their adoption by the committees, resolutions will be voted on by the full Assembly during the final day of the Annual Session on 5 July, for inclusion in the OSCE PA’s Tbilisi Declaration.

The committee meetings today follow a number of opening speeches Friday, including by Georgian Speaker of Parliament David Usupashvili, President Giorgi Margvelashvili, and Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili, as well as OSCE PA President Ilkka Kanerva (MP, Finland) and the OSCE’s Chairperson-in-Office, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Also on Friday, President Kanerva and Foreign Minister Steinmeier met for a bilateral meeting that focused on conflict resolution efforts in Ukraine. They discussed the crisis in and around Ukraine in detail, including the current Russian position on its level of engagement and prospects for implementing the Minsk Agreements.

For schedules, resolutions, live streaming during the event, daily news updates, press releases and other information, please visit www.oscepa.org. Selected photos are being posted on the PA’s Flickr page atwww.flickr.com/oscepa and on the Georgian Parliament’s Flickr page athttps://www.flickr.com/photos/geoparliament. Both the PA and the Georgian Parliament are tweeting using the hashtag #OSCEPATbilisi.

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is comprised of 323 parliamentarians from 57 countries spanning Europe, Central Asia and North America. The Assembly provides a forum for parliamentary diplomacy, monitors elections, and strengthens international co-operation to uphold commitments on political, security, economic, environmental and human rights issues.

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TBILISI, 5 July 2016 – The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly adopted the 2016 Tbilisi Declaration today, addressing key issues in the fields of political affairs and security, economics, the environment, human rights, and humanitarian concerns. (Full text available here in English, French and Russian.)

The Declaration, resulting from months of work by committee rapporteurs and several days of debates at the Assembly’s Annual Session in Tbilisi, contains wide-ranging policy recommendations and pronouncements, serving as policy guidance to OSCE governments and the international community. Some 300 parliamentarians from 54 countries spanning North America, Europe and Central Asia contributed to the Session’s work. The Declaration and resolutions will now be sent to parliaments and to the foreign ministers of OSCE countries as policy input ahead of the OSCE’s 2016 Ministerial Council meeting this year in Hamburg.

Among the issues covered in the recommendations adopted by the parliamentarians are transnational terrorism, the crisis in and around Ukraine, protracted conflicts in Georgia, countering corruption, energy, climate change, migration, and the rights of refugees. The Declaration is the final product of the Assembly’s 2016 Annual Session, which was held in the Georgian capital from 1 to 5 July under the theme “25 Years of Parliamentary Co-operation: Building Trust Through Dialogue.”

Stressing the theme of trust-building, the Declaration “reaffirm[s] the undiminished validity and historic role of the guiding principles and common values of the Helsinki Final Act signed in 1975, including the commitments on politico-military, economic, environmental, human rights, and humanitarian issues.” It regrets however the trend of gridlock in the OSCE and urges OSCE countries to enhance the level of co-operation in addressing common challenges.

On terrorism, the Declaration calls upon governments to strengthen co-operation and develop measures aimed at blocking the funding of terrorist organizations. It further urges the OSCE to help governments counter terrorism through pragmatic assistance and promotion of best practices.

On the crisis in and around Ukraine, the Declaration urges all parties to fully implement the Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements, and “underlines respect for the principles of the inviolability of frontiers and territorial integrity, peaceful settlement of disputes, equal rights, and self-determination of peoples as stated in the Helsinki Final Act.”

Regarding climate change, the Declaration calls upon parliamentarians to promote political dialogue in order to achieve the goals set by the Paris Climate Agreement adopted last year, and to ensure that the Agreement’s targets are met “with the greatest sense of urgency by implementing robust policies and regulations on greenhouse gas emissions and facilitating the transition to a low-carbon economy.”

On migration, the Declaration stresses the importance of prioritizing the rights of those fleeing violence, and urges governments to stop imposing legal and physical barriers to the movement of people fleeing violence and to actively work toward an inclusive approach to migrants and refugees.

The Assembly also approved 15 resolutions to supplement the Declaration, addressing issues such as fundamental freedoms in the Crimean peninsula, prevention of child sexual exploitation, confidence-building measures in the Baltic Sea region, and ensuring that members of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly affected by international travel bans are able to attend OSCE events.

For the full text of the Declaration and resolutions, as well as speeches, photos, videos and more, please visithttp://www.oscepa.org/meetings/annual-sessions/2016-tbilisi-annual-session. Additional photos are available on the Georgian Parliament’s Flickr pages at https://www.flickr.com/photos/geoparliament and https://www.flickr.com/photos/oscepatbilisi

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is comprised of 323 parliamentarians from 57 countries spanning Europe, Central Asia and North America. The Assembly provides a forum for parliamentary diplomacy, monitors elections, and strengthens international co-operation to uphold commitments on political, security, economic, environmental and human rights issues.

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Secretaries General and Deputy Secretaries General of Western Balkans parliaments, heads of human resources and information and communications technology departments, legal advisors and representatives of OSCE Missions in the region took part in a meeting on strategic and annual planning in parliaments in Podgorica, Montenegro on 1 and 2 June 2016.

The aim of the event, hosted by the OSCE Mission to Montenegro and the Montenegrin Parliament, was to discuss current developments and exchange best practices and lessons learned in regard to planning in parliaments.  

Dan Redford, Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, stressed the importance of developing the institutional capacity of parliaments to make them strong and self-reliant.

Suljo Mustafic, Secretary General of the Parliament of Montenegro, thanked the OSCE Mission to Montenegro for its support and co-operation in publishing the Parliamentary Lexicon - a collection of terms used in parliamentary life - which was presented at the meeting. Mustafic underlined the importance of transparency in the decision-making process and the benefits of planned development of parliamentary institutions regardless of the constant changes that parliaments underlie. 

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• OSCE-supported conference on accessibility of public buildings for persons with disabilities organized in Budva
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