By: Kebba AF Touray
The President of the Parliament of the Economic State of the West African Countries (ECOWAS Parliament), H.E Omar AlieuTouray has appealed to the members of the regional legislature to initiate concrete actions to safeguard the region’s democracy.
President Touray said this while delivering an official opening remarks at the Second Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament, currently underway in Abuja, Nigeria.
The second time in the Ordinary Session of the Fifth Legislature of the year 2023, is in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Supplementary Act which enhanced the powers of the Parliament, in particular Article 17.
Article 17 stipulates that “After the examination of the budget by the Administration and Finance Committee (AFC), the report of the AFC on the Budget shall be presented to Parliament during the Budget Session of Parliament”.
“I appealed to the members of the ECOWAS Parliament to initiate at both at their respective national parliaments and at the ECOWAS Parliament, concrete actions to safeguard our democracy and to restore our region as the bastion of democracy in Africa,” he called on members.
He reported that the budget for the legislature is estimated at three hundred and ninety-seven million two hundred and fifteen thousand seven hundred and forty-eight Units of Account (397,215,748 UA).
President Touray told the ECOWAS Parliament, “The draft budget that we have the honour to submit for your examination today and for your opinion is a balanced budget in revenue and expenditure in the sum of 397,215,748 units of account – UA”.
He reported that this represents a decrease of 5% over the approved budget for 2023, covering consolidated budget of all ECOWAS institutions that considers the strategic orientations given by the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government to rationalise expenditures for a flexible, effective and efficient ECOWAS.
He said that the draft budget is as realistic as possible in view of the plethora of challenges confronting our region and the world at large.
He stated that the budget prioritises activities that have an impact on the populations and that can complement the efforts made by our Member States to mitigate the negative effects of the Russia-Ukraine crisis, the war in the Middle East, the rise in inflation, the impact of regional insecurity and the sanctions applied on Member States in transition, among others.
He said: “In view of this, I would like to emphasise that the budget allocated to the Institutions has been made with the aim of carrying out projects that have an impact on our populations and support resilience to the dire economic and social situation of today.”
On the security front, he lamented that the region continues to suffer from attacks by armed groups and terrorists who seriously threaten the territorial integrity of Mali and Burkina Faso, resulting in loss of life, material damage and millions of displaced persons and refugees.
In this regard, he said they continue to provide multifaceted support to help these countries face these challenges, despite the sanctions.
He stressed, “The resurgence of coup d’états has challenged us all in more ways than one and lead us to reflect on what is not working in our process of consolidating democracy”.
However, he expressed joy with the participation of the lawmakers of the regional parliament in the reflection this year during its Second Seminar titled “Challenges of Unconstitutional Regime Change and Presidential Term Limits in West Africa- The Roles of ECOWAS Parliament”.
He said that as politicians, the honorable members of the ECOWAS Parliament are best suited to guide the Community bloc on what they must do to tackle the root causes of all these unconstitutional changes of government.
“We count your wisdom to help in safeguarding the rights of our people and for the preservation of peace, security, and stability, which are necessary for our socio-economic development and regional integration process,” he added.
While they are seriously concerned about the political and security situation in the region, he said they would recognise the positive developments in the consolidation of democracy through the holding of free and transparent elections.
Acknowledging the peaceful election of Liberia, he said, “We commend the political acumen of President George Weah for accepting the outcome of the elections. This is indeed a cheering news in the current political context of our community. 15. President Weah was one of you, as once an ECOWAS Parliamentarian”.
