Voters do not trust Parliament - report

Apr 03, 2012

Voters have lost faith and respect in the legislature, according to a report which examines the multiple challenges MPs face, among other issues

By Henry Mukasa

Voters have lost faith and respect in the legislature, according to a report.

The report, which examines the multiple challenges MPs face and the scandals they scrutinize was compiled by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU).

It was launched at Imperial Royale Hotel on the sidelines of the on-going 126th IPU assembly in Kampala. (FOR RELATED STORIES ON IPU, read  Civil Society Voices report from the Inter Parliamentary Union )

“Trust and respect for MPs is at its all-time low,” IPU Secretary General, Anders Johnson told a journalists’ briefing. “There is a sense that Parliaments are not living to the standards that citizens expect,” he added.

According to the report in which 125 Parliaments and 660 MPs participated, trust levels have plunged to below 10% in countries like USA and Lithuania and regions of the Arab world, East Asia and the Pacific.

Ironically, the only region where the downward spiral has tapered, according to the report, is Sub-Saharan Africa, where a comparatively high level of trust is recorded at 56% across the continent.

"It is clear that casting a ballot every year is no longer enough for an electorate. It wants more democratic engagement between it and the political institution it elects, IPU President, Abdelwahed Radi observed.

The report points out that parliamentarians are facing three dominant pressures marked out by the public's desire for; information and influence in parliamentary work, accountability and responsiveness to public concerns and service delivery to meet citizens’ needs.

 

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