IPU, Alm.del - 2021-22 - Bilag 17: International Day of Parliamentarism 2022

Dansk Interparlamentarisk Gruppes bestyrelse 2021-22
IPU Alm.del Bilag 17
Offentligt

News Release

International Day of Parliamentarism 2022: More

diversity, slightly fewer functioning parliaments

Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday 28 June 2022. For immediate release.

On the eve of the International Day of Parliamentarism

and the IPU’s 133rd

anniversary on 30 June, a snapshot of the state of parliaments and parliamentarians

offers mixed results.

According to the latest IPU figures, some parliaments are becoming more

representative, with the proportion of MPs who are women and who are young on the

increase. However, IPU data also shows that the numbers of functioning parliaments

and sitting parliamentarians have decreased slightly.

More women in parliament

The proportion of parliamentarians who are women stands at an all-time high of

26.2%. This compares with 11.3% 27 years ago.

According to the

IPU’s ranking,

five countries now have gender parity or a greater

share of women in their lower or single chamber, up from three in 2021. (Mexico and

Nicaragua joined Cuba, Rwanda and the United Arab Emirates in 2022).

Overall,

the Americas region

has the highest share of female representation globally,

with 34.6% of MPs being women.

Latin American perform particularly well, with three countries in the top five, often

thanks to the critical role played by well-designed quotas.

Also, at the highest level of parliamentary representation, 22.3% of Speakers of

Parliament are now women, compared with 20.5% in 2020.

Leading the way again, the Americas have the

highest percentage of women speakers

today (31.5%) compared with other regions.

More young people in parliament

In another all-time high, the number of young parliamentarians under 45 years old has

also increased

–

to close to 30%.

The number of

young parliamentarians under 30

has also nudged up to 2.6%. Norway

has the youngest-looking parliament followed by the parliaments of Armenia and

Serbia. Obviously, much still has to be done to bring about a true rejuvenation of

parliaments.

IPU, Alm.del - 2021-22 - Bilag 17: International Day of Parliamentarism 2022

But fewer functioning parliaments and MPs

However, the IPU also notes that number of parliaments in the world has dropped,

albeit slightly, from 193 to 190, with the parliaments of Afghanistan, Myanmar and

Sudan no longer functioning.

Consequently, according to the

latest IPU figures,

the number of sitting

parliamentarians in the world has decreased by 4% (1941 MPs) with 44,310 MPs in

the world compared with 46,288 this time last year.

This is due largely to the suspension of some parliaments as well as smaller numbers

of parliamentarians in temporary parliamentary bodies in countries in transition.

Since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, the bicameral Parliament of Afghanistan

has effectively been suspended and its 352 Members of Parliaments are no longer

able to meet in the country. Some 200 exiled MPs have continued to hold virtual

sessions.

In Myanmar, the military junta which took over in February 2021 has prevented the

664 Members of the two houses of Parliament elected in November 2020 from

convening. A group of around 400 of those MPs, the Committee to Represent the

Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, has continued to operate and participates in IPU meetings.

In Sudan, the bicameral parliament, made up of 492 MPs, was dissolved following a

coup d’état in April 2019. A power-sharing

deal that was supposed to create a

transitional legislative council was set back after another military coup in October

2021.

As well as the suspension of the three above-mentioned parliaments, the decrease in

the number of MPs can be explained by other political crises affecting parliaments

worldwide.

Following coup d’états

and military take-overs in Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mali, the

transitional parliaments are made up of fewer parliamentarians than the previous but

now dissolved legislatures.

The IPU is also monitoring closely the situation of parliaments in other countries

undergoing political crises including Libya, Tunisia and Venezuela.

The

IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians

is currently supporting a

record number of some 700 parliamentarians whose human rights are allegedly being

violated, many of them from the countries mentioned above.

Quotes from the IPU leadership

IPU President, Duarte Pacheco, said:

“The IPU

was founded 133 years ago with the

idea that parliamentarians from different countries should come around the table to

discuss global challenges. Today, those foundational values have never been so

relevant with the world facing war, famine and the climate emergency.

Parliamentarians have a key role to play in ensuring that countries work together to

find common solutions to those challenges.”

IPU Secretary General, Martin Chungong, said:

“There

is good and bad news on this

world parliament day and the anniversary of the IPU.

It’s encouraging to see that

parliaments have never been so female and so young. However, we are also seeing

IPU, Alm.del - 2021-22 - Bilag 17: International Day of Parliamentarism 2022

democratic backsliding in many countries and parliaments increasingly coming under

assault in the process. We are convinced that the more representative and diverse a

parliament, the stronger and more resilient it will be for the future. The IPU remains

steadfast in its mission to continue strengthening parliaments worldwide.”

ENDS

***

For more information about the IPU or pictures of parliaments and parliamentarians, contact Thomas

Fitzsimons at email:

[email protected]

or tel: +41(0) 79 854 31 53