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The Speaker of Parliament Hon Advocate J.F.N Mudenda addressed the IPU 146th Assembly this morning. The IPU 146th Assembly is being held in Manama, Bahrain, from the 11th to 15 March 2023, running under the theme ‘Promoting peaceful co-existence and inclusive societies: Fighting intolerance.’
The delivery by the Speaker came on the backdrop of the official opening of the Assembly on Saturday 11th March 2023 by the Deputy Prime Minister, Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, standing on behalf of His Majesty, the King Hamad Bin Isa Khalifa. Within the context of the overarching theme of the Assembly entitled “Promoting Peaceful Coexistence and Inclusive Societies: Fighting Intolerance”, His Majesty, the King, drew on Bahrain’s historical core values of tolerance, coexistence, and peace. Accordingly, he reaffirmed Bahrain’s commitment to advancing collaborative efforts to monitor international peace and security undergirded by the principles of the United Nations Charter and International Law.
In his address to the Assembly, Speaker Mudenda underscored the need for global unity in the face of adversity occasioned by intervening variables, including but not limited to, climate change and war, among other factors. In this regard, he called for Parliamentarians across the globe to play an active role in enacting legislation that promotes peace.
“Mr. President, our Parliaments are enjoined to play a palpable role instructively in formulating laws and policies that systematically deconstruct the multiplicity of barriers that threaten peaceful coexistence, inclusivity, and caustic intolerance. Furthermore, Parliaments should ensure that all the multilateral agreements that promote peaceful coexistence are ratified and domesticated into municipal laws wherever possible. National Budgets passed by our Parliaments must be so stout as to be inclusively pro-poor, pro-gender equality, sensitive to youth development and empowering persons with disabilities.”
The Honorable Speaker also made linkages between the ongoing theme and the mantra by the President, His Excellency Dr. E.D Mnangagwa.
‘These perspectives resonate well with our Zimbabwe President’s development mantra of “leaving no one and no place behind” in the national development agenda as anchored by the 17 Sustainable Development Goals,” he posited.
Speaker Mudenda went on to highlight the critical role of Parliament as espoused within the representative role ascribed to Parliaments worldwide.
“Additionally, in their representative role, Parliaments should be the voice of the voiceless in espousing an inclusive democracy matrix in choosing who should govern them and how they should be governed accountably.”
The Speaker also amplified Parliaments as a means to foster the ideals of societal co-existence and tolerance among the people of the world.
“To that, an extent, our Parliaments under the umbrella of the IPU should strive for bullish parliamentary diplomacy that rides on the pedestal of a robust roundtable dialogue to achieve global peaceful coexistence.”