Parliaments urged to win back public trust

By Pemphero Malimba: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has urged African parliaments to find solutions to dwindling public trust in the institutions. UNDP country representative Fenella Frost made the call yesterday during the official opening of the ongoing Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Africa Region conference in Lilongwe. The conference has brought together delegates from 63 national and sub-national legislatures across Commonwealth countries in Africa. Frost said parliaments' failure to respond to issues of public interest has contributed to the loss of public trust. She warned that failure to restore and maintain public trust risks undermining legal reforms and development efforts. "Without trust, reforms lose legitimacy, policies face resistance, and development outcomes become increasingly difficult to sustain," Frost said. She also called on parliaments to safeguard democratic discourse by addressing misinformation and disinformation and ensuring the ethical governance of emerging technologies. CPA International Secretary General Stephen Twigg said although declining public trust in parliaments is a global issue, African legislatures need to take steps to address it. Twigg said CPA International was committed to supporting member parliaments in tackling the problem. "Internationally, we want to work with parliaments in the Commonwealth including Malawi to give all the support we can to challenge this," he said. Speaker of Parliament Sameer Suleman acknowledged that Parliament's failure to be responsive, transparent and accountable has contributed to declining public trust. "We are not responsive enough. We are not playing the oversight enough. We are not being accountable and transparent enough so we need to fix all this and slowly I am sure that trust will return," Suleman said. He underscored the need for Parliament to listen to the people it represents. The annual conference, running until August 16, is taking place under the theme 'Renewing the Social Contract: Parliaments as Catalysts for Inclusive Growth and Citizen Trust'. Last year's conference took place in The Gambia. The conference provides a platform for delegates to discuss issues affecting parliaments and democratic governance while strengthening parliamentary cooperation among member countries.

WIRE — By Pemphero Malimba: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has urged African parliaments to find solutions to dwindling public trust in the institutions. UNDP country representative Fenella Frost made the call yesterday during the official opening of the ongoing Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Africa Region conference in Lilongwe. The conference has brought together delegates from 63 national and sub-national legislatures across Commonwealth countries in Africa. Frost said parliaments' failure to respond to issues of public interest has contributed to the loss of public trust. She warned that failure to restore and maintain public trust risks undermining legal reforms and development efforts. "Without trust, reforms lose legitimacy, policies face resistance, and development outcomes become increasingly difficult to sustain," Frost said. She also called on parliaments to safeguard democratic discourse by addressing misinformation and disinformation and ensuring the ethical governance of emerging technologies. CPA International Secretary General Stephen Twigg said although declining public trust in parliaments is a global issue, African legislatures need to take steps to address it. Twigg said CPA International was committed to supporting member parliaments in tackling the problem. "Internationally, we want to work with parliaments in the Commonwealth including Malawi to give all the support we can to challenge this," he said. Speaker of Parliament Sameer Suleman acknowledged that Parliament's failure to be responsive, transparent and accountable has contributed to declining public trust. "We are not responsive enough. We are not playing the oversight enough. We are not being accountable and transparent enough so we need to fix all this and slowly I am sure that trust will return," Suleman said. He underscored the need for Parliament to listen to the people it represents. The annual conference, running until August 16, is taking place under the theme 'Renewing the Social Contract: Parliaments as Catalysts for Inclusive Growth and Citizen Trust'. Last year's conference took place in The Gambia. The conference provides a platform for delegates to discuss issues affecting parliaments and democratic governance while strengthening parliamentary cooperation among member countries.

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