Brussels, 16/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - At a time of democratic upheaval with the Arab spring and the challenges to be met by Ivoirian President Alassane Ouattara, the legitimacy of aspirations of freedom and democracy in North Africa and the Middle East, as in Côte d'Ivoire, was brought home with force at the opening of the 21st meeting of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA) in Budapest on Monday 16 May. The JPA is due to adopt emergency resolutions on these two issues on Wednesday (see ZEUROPE 10378).
By way of an introduction to the debate on the challenges for the future of democracy and constitutional compliance in ACP (Africa, Caribbean, Pacific) countries and in EU member states, a warning was given to dictators everywhere who cling on to power. However, on the eve of the International Day against Homophobia (17 May), the unity of viewpoint on the universality of democratic values was rent asunder on rights for homosexuals. A few sentences from European and ACP parliamentarians brought bursting to the surface the traditional differences of viewpoint on this issue which is still taboo in African nations, as it long was in Europe (Ed: homosexuality was de-criminalised in the UK in the 1970s). The opening ceremony was attended by Pal Schmitt, President of the Republic of Hungary and former MEP, who spoke of the importance his county attaches to the ACP-EU partnership, and “who appreciates the work of our Assembly which brings together elected representatives from over 100 countries”, said Louis Michel (ALDE, Belgium), joint chairman of the JPA.
David Matongo, a member of the Zambian national parliament and Joint President of the ACP, said that Budapest had been the scene of one of the most courageous freedom uprisings in the history of the world, a monumental gift to human freedom. He stated that those events highlight the “inalienable right of all nations to freedom and self-determination”. In the Arab spring, he saw yet another illustration of close interweaving of political issues and issues of development, proof that poverty and unemployment were the breeding grounds of popular unrest. He drove home his point: “democracy without inclusive development and increased economic opportunity is like playing Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark”. Citing the example of Côte d'Ivoire, where it took four months for institutional mechanisms to be respected, Matongo could find no words strong enough to criticise those leaders who, after elections, cling to power no matter what: it was, he said “unacceptable”. The same was true for “governments of national unity rapidly formed after disputed elections (Ed: as in Zimbabwe) because it is not democratic and keeps in power despots whose mandates have expired”, he said. Taking the view that it was not in West Africa's interest to bury its head in the sand, he added that “we have to be proactive”. Hence his call to all to be unequivocally on the side of those who are trying to replace tyranny with freedom, and to have the same courage to say to those tending towards tyranny that they must not think about passing laws in parliament.
To Europeans, this was a “friendly warning” he was giving, arguing - without ever mentioning the word “homosexuality”, but talking about “respect for cultural sensitivity and values” - that people “have no right to force us to liberalise to allow practices which are foreign to us, in the name of human rights”.
Louis Michel implacable on violation of the rights of homosexuals. The response from Louis Michel was uncompromising: “Democracy is an unending quest for the rule of the majority and the right of the minority, the rule of law, a legal framework in which no party can change the constitution for his own gain. And here, the right to be different is a founding expression of human rights”. “I want to state in the strongest possible terms that we will never accept that governments can make use of whatever cultural argument to justify the demonisation of homosexuality. All minorities, no matter what makes them minorities, must have equal rights. I urge all parliamentarians not to let themselves be misled by fallacious approximations. Sexual relations between consenting adults are the most deeply personal matters. They have nothing to do with culture or tradition and social order”, he argued, pointing out that there was no such thing as an “African position on homosexuality” since Rwanda, unlike Uganda, which considered criminalising homosexuality, last year refused to take such a step. He was interrupted several times by noisy disapproval from the ACP side.
Côte d'Ivoire/Madagascar - double standards? To greater approbation of his speech on democracy, former commissioner Michel said it was “important, too, to play by the rules of the game, the results of elections that one had organised oneself and then all the consequences in terms of institutional and democratic consolidation”. That was true for Côte d'Ivoire, but he was thinking about Madagascar, too. “I'm still waiting for the international community to bring full pressure to bear on those who have seized power in a coup”, he said, astonished to see Andry Rajoulina sitting at the same table as Ban ki-Moon and Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs at the 4th UN conference on the least developed countries, in Istanbul last week. “It is not acceptable.” More generally, he called for “functional democracy and an economy which works for the benefit of the people”. Yet again he advocated direct budgetary support to the governments of ACP countries but said he was “very worried that this instrument was being challenged at present”. (A.N./transl.rt)