“[…] parliamentary diplomacy can be a powerful tool for the voice of members of parliament (MPs) to be heard in places usually reserved for government officials,” Ranko Krivokapić, Speaker of Parliament, Montenegro.
Parliamentary diplomacy [aka parlomacy] is a relatively new practice in Ethiopia. MPs usually focused on legislating laws and debating on major national issues. Both intra-state and inter-state parlomacy had not received wide attention for years. The activities of the MPs have now been broadened to diplomatic cooperation, in line with the country’s foreign affairs priorities.
Hence, in addition to its constitutional mandates, MPs has been undertaking a number of parliamentary diplomatic relations.
The FDRE House’s Foreign Relations and Peace Affairs Standing Committee Chairperson Tesfaye Daba stated on the House’s magazine that parliamentary diplomatic system is a great instrument to safeguard the rights of the people, the interests of the country and other issues.
According to him, the parlomacy focused on strengthening people-to-people relations. It is possible that people-to-people relations would be stronger and sustainable when the parliament of one country emulate lessons and shares its experiences with the parliament of other country. Wide-array of expertise and skills could be cross-fertilized as a result of such diplomatic frontiers.
Parliament diplomacy supports different diplomatic activities of the government, he said, adding that the House’s diplomatic activities have three aspects.
The first one is creating good relations with different peer groups. The House is working by forming 13 friendship groups – four bilateral relations like Ethio-America, Ethio-Japan, Ethio-India, and Ethio-South Korea. And also, there are many multi-lateral relations – global, continental, and regional. Participating in different global, continental, and regional forums and parliamentary unions is another duty of the House. Thirdly, the House engages in reciprocal diplomatic visits with counterpart parliaments.
He noted that the main focus of the parlomacy is expediting and complementing the diplomatic efforts of the government—or simply, priority is attached with economic diplomacy.
Other forms of assistances have also been obtained. The Government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has pledged over 370 million USD in the form of donation to the construction of Ethiopia’s new parliament building, for instance.
Tesfaye noted that a delegation headed by the House Speaker Tagesse Chafo made meticulous diplomatic efforts during its recent visit to the UAE and the two parties reached consensus that the UAE government to donate the stated sum in the sign of good friendship.
Meanwhile,
many bilateral and some multilateral agreements that have economic and social
returns have been approved by the House, he said. The agreements are
economically viable. Air service agreements signed with Israel, Morocco,
France, and Switzerland; loan agreements signed with International Development
Association, Government of the Republic of Italy, China Export-Import Bank and
European
Investment Bank; investment expansion and protection agreements signed with Morocco, Rwanda, Algeria, the United Arab Emirates and Israel; and trade agreements signed with Algeria, India and Djibouti are mentionable in this regard.
More than 1.2 billion USD and 77 million Euros were secured through loan agreements, and almost all of the money is free of interest, as shown on the document.
If paromacy could get more attention the country can obtain more and more benefits. Former member of opposition party and former Member of Parliament, Abdurahman Ahmedin, told The Ethiopian Herald that parliamentary diplomacy had got scant attention over the years.
MPs of many countries contribute a lot to the people they represent through this powerful tool, he adds.
Parlomacy has come to be a reliable tool for the representatives of people to maximize their contribution in all spheres of life in a world traditionally dominated by powerful states and non-state actors, as many literature shows. Also it helps MPs to learn important lessons that can benefit their government and people.
“Depending on the current and emerging status of our country, various activities can be executed in concert with embassies of countries in Ethiopia,” he says. “For example, some of the activities can be to create more understanding on the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD,” he concludes.
The Ethiopian Herald December13, 2019
BY ABDUREZAK MOHAMMED
