Latin-American Parliament Calls for UN Parliamentary Assembly

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The Latin-American Parliament (Parlatino) has passed a resolution calling for the establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly(UNPA) to strengthen "the effectiveness, transparency, representativeness, plurality and legitimacy of the international system." 

Passed earlier this month in Panamá, the resolution "reinforces an emerging consensus," according to Andreas Bummel, head of the Berlin-based Secretariat of the Campaign for a UNPA.  

Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly

"Parlatino is now the fourth continental parliament to support the creation of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, joining the European Parliament, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the Pan-African Parliament," he said.

UN member states should take heed, Bummel suggests.

"Considering the urgent need for more democratic and effective oversight of international institutions – a need made all the more apparent by the global financial crisis – it is high time that the creation of a world body composed of elected representatives be seriously considered by the United Nations and its member states," said Bummel.

For Fernando Iglesias, Deputy of Parlatino and of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies, the resolution is a milestone for a region until recently deprived of democracy.

"The continent that a few decades ago was the site of political genocide and many of the most terrible military dictatorships, expresses now, through this resolution of its oldest and biggest supranational parliamentary institution, its deep conviction in the virtues of democracy at every level of political decision-making," said Iglesias."

History of Parlatino

Created in 1964, Parlatino represents 22 Latin American member states. The UNPA resolution by Parlatino this month was preceded by a declaration in June by its Commission on Political Affairs strongly endorsing a UN Parliamentary Assembly and inviting "all parliamentary organizations to participate actively in the process of its creation." 

This November, the Senate of Argentina was the first national parliamentary chamber to take up the offer and voice its unconditional support.

Since its inception in 2007, the international appeal for a UN Parliamentary Assembly (detailed at ) has been endorsed by over 580 current parliamentarians from over 80 countries encompassing all the world's major regions. 

The Campaign is also supported by many prominent Canadians, including John Turner, Lloyd Axworthy, Flora MacDonald, Ed Broadbent and Elizabeth May, and by the World Federalist Movement-Canada whose President is Warren Allmand, former cabinet minister in the government of Pierre Trudeau.

"One of the most practical ways Canada can create a global culture of democracy is to promote the adoption by fellow UN members of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly," Allmand said.