PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY - Inter-Parliamentary Union

188 I PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
shift ‘from a traditional to a contemporary role’. The submission lists a dozen
major reforms which have followed from this democratic current, involving
everything from the strengthening of institutional and legislative capacity,
through improved informational access for Members, to involvement of civil
society institutions in the work of Parliament.
We have already noted that in Ukraine the dynamic of democratisation led
to pressure for constitutional change from the immediate post-Communist
system of ‘super-presidential power’ to a more parliamentary-based system,
with the support of 80% of the population. A similar logic has been at work in
Croatia, where, in 2000, ‘the semi-presidential system was altered…. and the
centre of power and responsibilities were transferred to the Croatian
Parliament and Croatian Government.’
In Chile, the consolidation of the transition from military rule has involved
a progressive series of reforms in the relation between the different branches
of the State:
As for parliamentary reform, the most important one is a modification
of the Constitution. In general terms, this introduced changes in the
composition and responsibilities of the National Congress, in the
ratification of international treaties, in the composition and functions
of the Constitutional Court and in other areas. The aim was to bring
these in line with the new realities and to harmonize the country’s
institutions, which had given rise to discrepancies between the various
political parties, and the constitutional modification thus closed the
period of transition to democracy.
In Zambia the process of consolidating the transition to multi-party democracy
has involved a many faceted reform programme under the supervision of
the Parliamentary Reform and Modernisation Committee, which has the
authority to travel widely to other parliaments to learn practices that might be
useful to Zambia. The process of reform has been ongoing since 1991:
With the re-introduction of multipartyism in 1991, and as a way of
enhancing democratic governance, the National Assembly of Zambia
found it prudent to realign the functions of Parliament with the
demands of plural politics. This called for the introduction of parliamentary
reforms with a view to addressing some of the limitations
which existed in the institution. The reform programme was, therefore
conceived in order to enhance parliamentary oversight of the Executive