Activities and events

Parliamentary Strengthening Learning Program, WBI/CPA

ARPAC launches its Financial Oversight Handbook

The Global Task Force Parliamentary Oversight held its annual meeting in Asuncion Paraguay, hosted by the Paraguayan Senate and Senator Monges on July 8-10, 2010.

The participants included members of the Global Task Force:  

Latin American parliamentarians included a delegation from Mexico - Senator Ricardo Garcia Cervantes, Senator Alfonso Sanchez, M.P. Gaston Luken Garza  Senator, delegates from Paraguay- Host  Senator Juan Dario Monges Espinola , Ms. Maria Soledad Machuca, Diputado  Clemente Barrios Monges and Senator Alfredo Stroessner. Senator Juan Manuel Galan from Colombia also attended and and M.P. Maria Margarita Velado Punetes from El Salvador.

The agenda focused on developing global and regional strategies on Parliamentary Oversight and reviewing the UNCAC Toolkit for Parliamentarians.

Cesar Jauregui Robles made the point that there is a need to adapt the materials on Parliamentary Oversight, which are often focussed on Westminster systems, for Presidential  systems.

Senator Galan made a presentation that focused on corruption and Parliamentary Oversight in Latin America.   He stressed the need to strengthen democratic institutions against corruption and outlined the key factors of democratic institutions, which included: electoral systems, separation of the branches, civil society, free press, access to information and political parties.  This document is available on the web site in English and Spanish.   Senator Galan added that parliamentarians must also think about the incentives of corruption. He outlined several corruption incentives, which he stated were:

1. civil service and patronage rather than merit system
2. legal system, confusion in laws and gaps, redundancies and loopholes
3. procedures and regulations that are bureaucratic, and ‘process mania’
4. lack of oversight and control
5. inefficient control of the judicial system
6. dysfunctional judicial system
7. lack of social control
8. lack of political will

He stressed that corruption needs to be studied and parliamentary oversight in the following areas: political control, public control, approval of budgets and approval of cancelling accounts need to be strengthened.

The members of the Global Task Force and the attendees discussed different regional approaches and strategies on Parliamentary Oversight. It was agreed that this was an ongoing part of the work of the task force.

Willias Madzimure also made a presentation on how to build a National Chapter. This document is available as a blog for comments from GOPAC members.

The meeting also announced that Senator Cervantes has set up a Mexican Chapter office which Senator Cervantes will also serve as interim LAPAC Chair with the support of the Mexican Senate. There is an agenda already underway to create GOPAC chapters to be part of LAPAC, i.e.  Latin American Parliamentarians Against Corruption which now is a legal entity.

For further information on the Parliamentary Oversight GTF Meting, please contact  Nola Juraitis (English speakers) at: nolajur@sympatico.ca or Lola Giraldo (for both English and Spanish speakers) at Giral@parl.gc.ca