By Geoff Dubrow, Public Financial Management Expert On July 14th, the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) released its new brief, entitled “The Role of Parliament in Public Debt Management Weathering the COVID-19 Crisis and Beyond”. Here are five compelling arguments, discussed in the brief, for parliamentary involvement in public debt management. #1: GETTING THE FULL [...]
Open parliaments are the cornerstones of democracy. They represent people’s voices, pass laws and oversee governments’ actions. Opening parliaments has many benefits including effective outcomes in key policy areas, better quality legislation and most importantly improved trust relationships between citizens and the parliament. Morocco officially joined the Open Government Partnership (OGP) in 2018. The House [...]
To foster LGBT+ inclusive democracies, parliamentarians need to listen to LGBT+ voices, as well as access to more and better information. WFD is focusing on addressing these issues.
Since COVID-19 first arrived in Sierra Leone, the Government has taken key measures to counter the pandemic including declaring a state of public emergency, issuing a ban on public gatherings, and travelling, and suspending all religious activities. In Parliament, the Speaker asked political party leaders to only have half of their members in the chambers, [...]
In Kenya, WFD is carrying out its Inclusive and Accountable Programme (IAP) in partnership with Senate and National Assembly. The programme aims to improve the ability of the Parliament of Kenya to effectively address corruption and promote inclusion and accountability, helping it become a more open and efficient institution that responds to citizens’ needs. Through [...]
By Victoria Hasson, WFD's Senior Parliamentary Adviser Around the world parliaments are going virtual. But what this looks like, and its implications for the institution’s democratic standing, varies as widely as the impact of COVID-19 on any given country. The dangers of going digital are easy to anticipate and beginning to surface. What is clear [...]
In Nigeria, in addition to funds mobilised by government to fight the pandemic and support citizens, the private sector and the international community has contributed money and materials to support the fight against COVID-19. However, it is important that democracy is promoted, by ensuring accountability and transparency in the use of the funds, inclusion, equality, [...]
The Government of Nepal has invoked the Infectious Disease Act 1964 to battle coronavirus, including through enforcing quarantine. The Legislation Management Committee of the National Assembly has announced that it will conduct post-legislative scrutiny of the 57-year old law as part of its role to scrutinise government.
By Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the UK House of Commons and Patron of Westminster Foundation for Democracy
How parliaments can uphold accountability for emergency powers granted to the executive
