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COPENHAGEN, 1 October 2025 –OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Pere Joan Pons (Spain) delivered
opening remarks today at a webinar on parliamentary oversight of governments,
noting the importance of ensuring that executives are accountable to its
citizens. Regretting that there is currently a serious challenge of trust in
politics and that confidence in parliaments and governments has been declining
across the OSCE region, President Pons argued that enhancing parliamentary
oversight is vital to reverse these trends.
By- Redaction : Le Courrier d’Afrique 54.
The webinar,
entitled “Checks and balances in action: Strengthening accountability through
parliamentary oversight in OSCE region,” was organized jointly by OSCE Office
for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and the OSCE PA, and had as its
goal making effective oversight a daily habit in parliaments. The meeting also
served as a platform to present key insights from ODIHR’s report “Parliamentary
oversight of the executive in the OSCE region”, published in May
2025, with input provided from OSCE PA. In his remarks, President Pons
expressed concern over the increasing consolidation of global authoritarian
tendencies, highlighting the unique role of parliaments in actively engaging in
oversight functions to ensure accountability without double standards. “We
must hold governments to account consistent with our shared values in the
Helsinki Final Act,” President Pons said, referring to the OSCE’s founding
document. He stressed that “selective scrutiny weakens parliamentary
credibility, public trust, and international legitimacy.” In maintaining
democratic integrity, President Pons highlighted the significance of OSCE
election observation activities, emphasizing that oversight protects democracy by safeguarding the
constitutional order and serving citizens with honesty and responsibility. In
particular, he underlined the need to eliminate double standards and combat
disinformation, outlining corresponding recommendations to strengthen oversight
and reinforce OSCE commitments. Ulrik Nilsson (Sweden), Member of the Committee on
the Constitution in the Riksdag, and Marina Pendeš (Bosnia and Herzegovina),
Delegate in the House of Peoples, also participated in the webinar, together
with other parliamentarians, parliamentary staff, and delegations from OSCE
participating States, as well as representatives from international
organizations, academia, and civil society. Representatives from ODIHR
also shed further light on the report, which delivered a comprehensive review
of oversight mechanisms across OSCE area, equipping parliamentarians and
researchers with distinct legal frameworks and good practices in the engagement
of robust parliamentary oversight. In this
regard, the meeting served as a platform for exchange of best-practices and
discussions on the vital role of parliamentary oversight in safeguarding
democratic integrity across the OSCE region, and to further strengthen
co-operation between OSCE PA and ODIHR.