By Moses Magadza

As the world frets over seemingly worsening conflicts in different countries, Honourable Advocate Jacob Francis Nzwidamilimo Mudenda, Speaker of the National Assembly of Zimbabwe, has called for strengthening of parliamentary diplomacy to silence the guns.

Advocate Mudenda made the call in a statement to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) 148^th Assembly and related meetings that met in Geneva, Switzerland last week under the theme: ‘Parliamentary Diplomacy: Building bridges for peace and understanding.’

He cited the aften quoted Encyclopaedia Britannica definition of diplomacy, including Parliamentary diplomacy, which is the “established method of influencing the decisions and behaviour of foreign governments and peoples through dialogue, negotiation and other methods short of violence”.

He argued that Parliamentary diplomacy was essential in ensuring peaceful co-existence of member states “whose pedestal is justice anchored on the tenets of the rule of law, legality, constitutionalism and vibrant democracy for all”.

Advocate Mudenda welcomed the 148^th Assembly’s theme of the IPU and Related Meetings, saying it was in line with the United Nations Charter’s trajectory for peace and security among its sovereign members as provided for in Article 2 of the Charter and said it was central to peaceful resolution of global conflicts.

“It is no wonder that Cremer and Passy, the IPU forbearers in 1889, underscored dialogue and negotiation as the fulcrum for Parliamentary diplomacy as provided in the IPU Statutes, specifically Article 1(2) which affirms that “As the focal point for worldwide parliamentary dialogue since 1889, the IPU shall work for peace and cooperation among peoples and for the solid establishment of representative institutions”,” he noted.

He called for strengthening of parliamentary diplomacy in the ongoing quest for peace and security worldwide, saying it had worked in some instances.

“At the regional level, the SADC Parliamentary Forum exercised parliamentary diplomacy by calling for intervention by the SADC Summit to curtail the insurgent conflict in northern Mozambique and the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The SADC Summit reacted positively in the spirit of collective self-defence,” he submitted.

He reminded his audience how, at the international level, parliaments attending the 144^th IPU Assembly in Bali agreed to constitute a Taskforce to exercise parliamentary diplomacy as a peace-brokering effort by engaging the Ukrainian and Russian Parliaments to abate war.

“That effort must be vigorously sustained as the Ukraine-Russia conflict has resulted in internationally imported inflation and disrupted supply chains of goods and services in Africa as well as across Europe.

“In the same vein, the Middle East conflict between Israel and Gaza is now engendering destabilized global economies through the affected Suez Canal trade route,” he argued.

He contended: “Parliamentary diplomacy must be accentuated with accelerated urgency, more so now when we are witnessing the calamitous annihilation of Palestinian lives and colossal infrastructure destruction.”

Advocate Mudenda warned of the folly in starting a war in the hope of stopping another and reiterated the need for robust parliamentary democracy.

He said the First and Second World Wars claimed over 50 million lives and ruined infrastructure, but what ended the wars was “the penning of peace accords at two roundtable conferences respectively driven by the hankering spirit of diplomacy and dialogue”.

He concluded: “The pen is mightier than the most lethal weapon! Accordingly, let the IPU spirit of Parliamentary diplomacy and dialogue rise to the occasion and not be found wanting!”