THE National Assembly on Thursday unanimously passed a motion for Guyana to become a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).The motion was tabled by First Vice-President and Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo, who explained that the motion was in keeping with a decision made at the 13th Meeting of the Parliamentary Management Committee on May 2, 2014.

According to the whereas clause of the motion, “the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) provides an opportunity to express views on issues of international interest with the aim of bringing about action by Parliaments, and provides the forum for the promotion and defense of human rights, which is an essential factor of parliamentary democracy.”

Guyana, on May 27, 2014, had made application to the IPU for membership, and IPU, in response, had asked for a resolution of the Parliament of Guyana to be approved before acceptance is granted.

Guyana’s acceptance to the IPU will, however, come at a cost, Prime Minister Nagamootoo told the House as he explained that an annual subscription fee of just over $2M will be required.

But the benefits, he said, will be enormous. “Besides fostering contacts and exchange of experience among parliaments and parliamentarians of other countries, “we will also have working knowledge of how other institutions work, and how we can… bring our Parliament to a level of acceptable… standards.”

People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Chief Whip Gail Teixeira, in signalling the Opposition’s unwavering support, recalled that while in Government, she along with then Opposition Member Joseph Harmon, had had extensive consultation on the possibility of Guyana becoming an IPU member before an agreement was met on May 2, 2014.

The IPU has been placing major emphasis on women’s participation in parliaments around the world.
“An increase in the number of women Speakers of Parliament during 2015 and some regional successes were among the few highlights in what proved to be yet another disappointing year for women’s participation in parliament,” the IPU said.

The IPU’s “Women in Parliament 2015: the Year in Review”, released ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8, indicated that for the second year in a row, the number of women Members of Parliament (MPs) across the world rose by a worryingly low 0.5 percentage point. Women now account for 22.6 per cent of the world’s MPs.