DEMOCRACY AND DIVERSITY AT THE HEART OF A FAIRER, MODERN COMMONWEALTH
DEMOCRACY AND DIVERSITY AT THE HEART OF A FAIRER, MODERN COMMONWEALTH
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon is the
UK Minister for the Commonwealth and UN and the UK Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict. He has previously been the Minister for Aviation and Trade, for Skills and Aviation Security, for Countering Extremism, and Local Government and Communities. He was a Government Whip and Lord in Waiting to HM the Queen. He was previously a Councillor and Cabinet Member in the London Borough of Merton and had a 20 year career in the City of London working in banking and finance.
70 years ago, on 26 April 1949, eight countries – the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan and Ceylon – signed the London Declaration, and the modern Commonwealth was born. Since then, it has grown from the original eight to today’s fiftythree members, spanning the globe from Antigua to Zambia. We are a diverse yet inclusive family of 2.4 billion people, a third of the world’s population. My own family tree also reads like a Commonwealth story. My parents were born in India, came to the UK in the 1950s and settled in Glasgow before moving to London. My wife’s roots are in Pakistan and she grew up in Australia, yet our experience is far from unique. All across the UK, diaspora communities embody and exemplify a global network of rich Commonwealth connections. Freedom and Democracy As the UK’s Minister for the Commonwealth, I am proud to champion this unique network as a global force for good. Over the last seventy years, its member states, institutions and organisations have advocated for the rights and freedoms we share, and have held fast to our common principles when democracy has been challenged, including, importantly, during the era of apartheid. In 2013, we formally enshrined those principles and shared values in the ground-breaking Commonwealth Charter. As Parliamentarians, wherever we are in the Commonwealth, we
134 | The Parliamentarian | 2019: Issue Two | 100th year of publishing
all recognise that one of the most fundamental of these values is democracy, or, in the words of the Charter, “the inalienable right of individuals to participate in democratic processes, in particular through free and fair elections, in shaping the society in which they live.” We should never take democracy for granted. It is a privilege; one that we must nurture and protect. As Parliamentarians, I believe there are three key things we can do to help it flourish. First, we must uphold the electoral process itself, by doing all we can to ensure that elections are free and fair; that our citizens have a proper democratic choice, and that they know their voices will be heard. Second, we must hold the government of the day to account, through constructive debate and effective scrutiny, and ensure that new legislation achieves what is intended. Third, we must reach out and connect with civil society, the private sector, academia, and business to ensure that experts in the field contribute to the development of government policy. In my own varied portfolio, I put this into practice myself by drawing on the insights of faith groups, survivors of sexual violence and voices of youth to inform our policy approach. Representation and Sustainability To properly reflect the diversity of our countries, we need a representative group of Parliamentarians. The UK’s 2017 general election delivered our most
diverse UK Parliament ever, with more female, LGBT and ethnic minority MPs than ever before. But we still have a way to go: according to a recent Inter-Parliamentary Union study into the number of female MPs in Lower Houses globally, the UK ranks only 39th. The country that tops the ranking is Rwanda - the next Commonwealth Chair-in-Office - where almost two thirds of MPs are women. A further three Commonwealth countries also make the top 10. There are undoubtedly lessons we can learn from them on how to encourage more women to enter our Parliament. We also need younger voices. Across the Commonwealth, 60% of our people are aged under 30. Their voices could be a powerful driver of change. An important part of our role as Parliamentarians must be to encourage our young people to participate, to speak up and to engage on the issues that matter to them, be they climate change, job creation or cyber security. Recently, HRH The Duke of Sussex, the Commonwealth Youth Ambassador, and I convened a meeting of youth leaders and their passion, vision and commitment to the Commonwealth was inspiring. Indeed, if we reflect back to the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in London last year, many of the commitments were made with future generations in mind, and were designed to empower all our citizens. As Commonwealth Chair-in-Office since then, the UK