PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY - Inter-Parliamentary Union

192 I PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
■ conflicts of interest within parliament, including the influence of
special interests opposed to reform;
■ linadequately tested proposals, or those with unintended consequences
which serve to undermine confidence in reform.
Here, for example, is a very frank analysis from the Netherlands of obstacles
to the parliamentary renewal process that had been identified:
■ the Dutch House of Representatives consists of a relatively large
number of political party groups (9 on average), so compromise is
an essential part of decision-making, even though it is not always
beneficial to the quality of the proposals;
■ the interests of smaller party groups are different from those of
larger party groups where some of the renewal proposals are
concerned;
■ changing the working methods of parliament requires not only an
amendment of the parliamentary structure……but above all a
change in the parliamentary culture, and the latter has proven to be
especially difficult to effect..
A different example of culture at the societal level hampering the effectiveness
of reform is given in the submission from Oman, where the introduction
of universal suffrage was blunted by ‘the reluctance on the part of a large
segment of the citizenry to participate in general elections….and non-exercise
by a large component of the female population of the right to be nominated for
membership of the Council.’ In a different way in Mali, improving the work
of deputies is hampered by a lack of understanding on the part of their
constituents, though differentially as between urban and rural areas:
Many citizens in the major cities consider that the National Assembly
is a money-wasting institution, and they cannot see its immediate
usefulness. The financial, material and social conditions given to deputies
by virtue of their status to allow them to hold their rank and carry
out their mission in dignity are considered extravagant by many
people in the cities.
As for people in rural areas, who are nearly 80 per cent of the deputies’
constituents, they consider that deputies have a binding mandate
which obliges them, once elected, to be at the service of their constituents
at all times and in any circumstances (for example for baptisms,
weddings, funerals, the provision of various social services).