REMARKS AT THE OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF BENCHMARKS FOR DEMOCRATIC LEGISLATURES IN SOUTHERN AFRICA
ELEPHANT HILLS RESORT HOTEL VICTORIA FALLS, ZIMBABWE
10 NOVEMBER, 2011
BY DR WILLIAM F. SHIJA CPA SECRETARY-GENERAL
INTRODUCTION The Hon. Lovemore Moyo, MP Chairperson of the SADC Parliamentary Forum
Hon Speakers and Other Presiding Officers
Hon Stella Martin Manyanya Chairperson of the Democratisation, Governance and Gender Equality Committee Mr. Michael Shultheiss Resident Representative for Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Namibia Office
Dr Esau Chiviya, Secretary-General of the SADC Parliamentary Forum
Honourable Members, Invited Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I greet you in the name of The Almighty God and our African Ancestors. I wish to sincerely thank my colleague and friend, Dr Esau Chiviya, the Secretary-General of the SADC Parliamentary Forum, and all of you, for inviting me to the official launch of the Benchmarks for Democratic Legislatures in Southern Africa. I feel quite humbled and honoured to be with you at this historical event in parliamentary reform and strengthening and the promotion of democracy in Africa.
The publication we are launching tonight is indeed a great achievement for the SADC Region and an invaluable addition to Parliaments in Southern Africa. For us in the CPA and partners, it is recognition of our contribution to Parliaments around the Commonwealth as they strive to strengthen their democracies and democratic practices, through the ongoing work on Benchmarking and Self Assessment for Democratic Legislatures.
The CPA, as most of you know, was established in 1911, South Africa being one of the six founding members. It has close to 18,000 Members of Parliament in national, state and provincial legislatures across the Commonwealth. The CPA usually runs a number of programmes at Branch, regional and national levels. Among these programmes, the Benchmarks for Democratic Legislatures has been discussed extensively by Members and Parliamentary Staff, leading to the formation of Regional and/or country specific benchmarks.
HISTORY OF THE BENCHMARKS – CPA STUDY GROUP
Chairperson, to give you a brief background, the CPA started its work on benchmarks in 2006 when it, in collaboration with the World Bank Institute, convened the first ever Study Group on Benchmarks for Democratic Legislatures, in Bermuda. At that Study group, we were joined and supported by other partners such as the United Nations Development Programme, the European Parliament and the National Democratic Institute.
It was recognized then, and now, that Parliaments, like many other public institutions, are constantly being scrutinised by outsiders, including the media, academics, intergovernmental agencies and civil society. In 2006, the CPA developed the Benchmarks for Democratic Legislatures so that Parliaments and Legislatures could undertake their own self-assessments based on a Commonwealth standard developed by Members and parliamentary officials, a standard specifically designed to help Parliaments identify possible new ways to function as effectively as possible, or to determine whether they have kept up with advances in parliamentary practices and procedures.
The Benchmarks, comprised of 87 indicators, were drafted by Parliamentarians representing different Commonwealth Regions. Building on the Commonwealth Latimer House Principles, a National Democratic Institute discussion paper and the recommendations of some 26 different CPA workshops and study groups held over the years, the CPA Study Group on Benchmarks for Democratic Legislatures synthesized and codified a set of benchmarks to reflect the current state of good Commonwealth parliamentary practice.
The study group represented most of the Commonwealth regions, but could not capture all of the nuances and diversity in the 54 Commonwealth countries. Consequently, individual Parliaments have been encouraged to undertake Benchmarks Self-Assessments and share their experiences with their peers in other Commonwealth Parliaments.
As you know, we have continued to work with our Regions to formulate new Benchmarks which reflect the Commonwealth’s regional diversity. This work has resulted in adaptations of the original 87 CPA Benchmarks into region-specific benchmarks for the Pacific Region (2009) followed by the 3 Asian Regions - Asia, India and South East Asia (2010); the Caribbean, Americas and Atlantic Region, last month and this evening – Southern Africa. Separately, the Francophonie also passed their translated version of benchmarks based on the CPA Benchmarks. We are working on plans for another regional approach, probably involving developed country Parliaments to get their perspectives into the process. This will be followed in the near future by another Commonwealth-wide study group to amend and augment the Commonwealth Benchmarks so they continue to evolve along with the Parliaments. We are grateful for the continued support from our partners, the WBI and the UNDP.
THE IMPORTANCE OF BENCHMARKS FOR DEMOCRACTIC LEGISLATURES Chairperson, with regard to the importance of the benchmarks, firstly, and as the Study Group in Bermuda concluded, the Benchmarks would help parliaments measure themselves in their own reform and modernization efforts in order to become more effective and democratic institutions. In addition, benchmarks may also serve as a useful tool for parliaments working to establish their independence and powers relative to the government, or the Executive, an area which is still hotly contested in many of our countries.
Secondly, the CPA and several other groups including the IPU, the Association of Secretaries General of Parliament, OECD, and the SADC PF, have continued publishing documents on good practices for democratic legislatures. Therefore, a compilation of recommendations as comprehensive publications, such as the Benchmarks, would make them easily accessible to Members, staff, and development professionals. CPA SECRETARIAT INVOLVEMENT Chairperson, in recognition of this importance, since 2008, our Branches have been encouraged to apply the Benchmarks to their own Parliaments and to report the results back to us. Among the branches that have applied the benchmarks, such as Canada, Australia Capital Territory, Kiribati, nearly 85% of the benchmarks have been adopted and utilized. This means that out of the 87 Benchmarks identified in 2006, 80 appear to be generally applicable across our members. We are yet, of course, to carry out a more scientific evaluation of this acceptability. In some areas, such as West Africa, we have not completed the exercise. We shall therefore be looking at the product that comes out of the SADC Region with greater attention to see how it can be adapted for West Africa parliaments. West Africa has some similar characteristics of the SADC Region in that we have members such as Cameroon, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia who still need extra assistance in their democratization process. In this vein, we might have to bring in Rwanda at this stage and work with our partners to invite Liberia to join us. We think that Nigeria and Ghana will be sources of comparative democratic practice in West Africa and Africa as a whole. We hope that at the conclusion of the evaluation exercise, the CPA Secretariat will have amassed useful data on the procedures, services and facilities in Commonwealth Parliaments and Legislatures, as well as partner countries. We shall freely share this information with various partners to benefit as many parliamentarians and parliamentary staff as possible.
BENCHMARKS VARIATIONS Chairperson, the Commonwealth and the CPA recognize diversity as strength: different experiences, approaches and attitudes foster variations in practices and policies which stimulate innovation. This certainly applies to parliamentary democracy where the ways in which parliamentary theories are applied differ throughout the Commonwealth. We at the CPA recognize that no single Parliament is a source of “good practice” in all areas, but that all Parliaments can be sources of valuable innovations regardless of their size or age. Furthermore, the parliamentary system is a dynamic one so that “good practice” today may be surpassed tomorrow as institutions, Members, officials and citizens alike, seek ever higher democratic standards. The development of regional versions of the CPA Benchmarks is one way of contributing to the evolution of this valuable set of standards.
BENCHMARKS AND PARLIAMENTARY REFORM In the African environment, the CPA would like Parliamentarians to “own” this assessment tool as they use the Benchmarks to provide a baseline assessment to measure their Parliament’s progress over time. Africa has a unique position in the political and democratic history. The 50 years of independence are not enough in the evolution of democracy in many African countries. In some countries, social divisions reinforced by colonial structures continue to undermine democracy. There are individuals who still believe that they were born with the right to govern. In the SADC Region, I commend you for pursuing to harmonise the differences between the so-called Lusophone, Anglophone and Francophone groups because they are not sustainable in the African environment. What is sustainable is the Afrocentric approach to democracy; that is, the domestication of parliamentary democracy in Africa (Afriminster Model).
The Commonwealth’s cultural, historical and economic diversity impacts upon the various groupings, making what may be considered viable for a certain region or geographical entity unsuitable for the other. Therefore our efforts, through region-specific benchmarks, are directed towards creating conditions that relate to the various regions and examine the extent to which future changes could be influenced.
The CPA therefore continues to be open in its interaction and exchange with Branches in the quest to bring about useful parliamentary reform, expected to strengthen democratic structures, policies and practices.
I wish to conclude my remarks by congratulating you Mr. Secretary-General of the SADC PF, Dr Esau Chiviya, your staff and all the members of the Southern African Parliaments and Legislatures for your hard work in compiling the Benchmarks for Democratic Legislatures in Southern Africa, which we are launching tonight. I appeal to all of you in Africa, in Commonwealth and non-Commonwealth countries, to continue to work together, and in cooperation with our partners, to strengthen our parliaments through these Benchmarks and other forms of parliamentary reform.
CHAIRPERSON, HON. SPEAKERS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,
I HEREBY NOW HAVE THE SINGLE HONOR AND PRIVILEGE TO OFFICIALLY LAUNCH THE BENCHMARKS FOR DEMOCRATIC LEGISLATURES IN SOUTHERN AFRICA.
Thank you and may God Bless you all.