EU Parliament to partner with National Assembly to develop democracy

The European Union Parliament on Monday expressed readiness to collaborate with the National Assembly to develop democracy in Nigeria.
Santiago Fisas, a member of the parliament, during a courtesy visit to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, in Abuja, said the partnership already existed with only some countries.
They include Ukrain, Moldavia, Georgia, Tunisia and Peru among others.
Fisas said the EU Parliament was not only interested in election monitoring but was equally concerned about capacity building.
According to him, the partnership seeks to develop the fundamental principles of democracy in the country.
Fisas said: “Topics to be discussed include human rights and parliaments, gender equality and the role of parliament, the role of political parties and the role of parliament in conflict resolution and mediation.
“Others are committee’s best practices, relations between the Executive and the Legislature, parliament relationship with civil societies and citizens, the role of parliament in the budget circle and oversight of the Executive among others.”
Responding, Dogara also said that the National Assembly was ready to collaborate with the EU Parliament.
He said some of the recommendations made by the EU Parliament at the end of the 2015 general elections were in the process of becoming laws.
The speaker said that the culture of democracy, as displayed by political leaders and the followers after elections, were of utmost concern.
He said practising the principle of the rule of law, gender equality and proper budgeting were very important for the growth of democracy.
Dogara said: “We are open to collaboration with the EU Parliament and any other parliament out there that will add value to what we are doing in this country.
“It is in line with this that we have set up a parliamentary friendship group in the House of Reps that relates with different parliaments across the world to look at best practices that can improve our own practice here.”