Key debates from the meeting of the Association of Secretaries General of Parliaments (ASGP), which was held from 15 to 17 October, at the same time as the 139th Session of the IPU PA in Geneva, were dedicated to the issues of parliamentary openness, modernisation of the work process and application of new technologies, and the relationship of the parliament and the government from the aspect of parliamentary oversight, as well as practices and obligations of parliaments relating to the new convocation.
During the first general debate on transparency, special attention was drawn to innovative solutions for broader involvement of citizens in the legislative process, as well as the application of new technologies aimed at modernisation of parliamentary processes. When considering the various modes of holding plenary sessions and working bodies’ meetings from the aspect of openness, there was emphasis on a positive impact that a high level of engagement, especially by the expert public and the civil sector, had on the decision-making process.
The relationship between the legislative and the executive power was the subject of the second general debate, where secretaries general presented various experiences regarding constitutional competencies of parliaments and governments. The issues of constitutional amendments, i.e. the role of the parliament and other relevant stakeholders in the process of adopting the constitution were considered separately, including the constitutional obligations of the executive power to consult the parliament in the process of addressing the issues of public concern, especially in emergency situations, and there was also discussion on the procedure for appointing public officials.
On the last day of the meeting, within the third general debate, there was discussion on legal and administrative procedures for establishing a new convocation, the modes of allocating key seats in the parliament while taking care of proportional representation and gender balance, informative sessions for MPs assuming the office for the first time, challenges related to logistics and resources, as well as coordination of parliamentary services.
On October 18, the Deputy Secretary General participated in the joint IPU and ASGP conference dedicated to the parliamentary oversight function and effective control mechanisms. The IPU Manual for Self-Assessment was presented at the event, which was prepared in light of the recommendations form the 2017 Global Parliamentary Report, aimed at enabling parliaments to independently evaluate the overall capacity for effective parliamentary oversight and later to serve as a basis for further improvement and strengthening of control mechanisms.
