International Day of Parliamentarism 2022

News Release
International Day of Parliamentarism 2022: More
diversity, slightly fewer functioning parliaments
Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday 28 June 2022. For immediate release.
On the eve of the International Day of Parliamentarism and the IPU’s 133rd
anniversary on 30 June, a snapshot of the state of parliaments and parliamentarians
offers mixed results.
According to the latest IPU figures, some parliaments are becoming more
representative, with the proportion of MPs who are women and who are young on the
increase. However, IPU data also shows that the numbers of functioning parliaments
and sitting parliamentarians have decreased slightly.
More women in parliament
The proportion of parliamentarians who are women stands at an all-time high of
26.2%. This compares with 11.3% 27 years ago.
According to the IPU’s ranking, five countries now have gender parity or a greater
share of women in their lower or single chamber, up from three in 2021. (Mexico and
Nicaragua joined Cuba, Rwanda and the United Arab Emirates in 2022).
Overall, the Americas region has the highest share of female representation globally,
with 34.6% of MPs being women.
Latin American perform particularly well, with three countries in the top five, often
thanks to the critical role played by well-designed quotas.
Also, at the highest level of parliamentary representation, 22.3% of Speakers of
Parliament are now women, compared with 20.5% in 2020.
Leading the way again, the Americas have the highest percentage of women speakers
today (31.5%) compared with other regions.
More young people in parliament
In another all-time high, the number of young parliamentarians under 45 years old has
also increased – to close to 30%.
The number of young parliamentarians under 30 has also nudged up to 2.6%. Norway
has the youngest-looking parliament followed by the parliaments of Armenia and
Serbia. Obviously, much still has to be done to bring about a true rejuvenation of
parliaments.
Offentligt
IPU Alm.del - Bilag 17
Dansk Interparlamentarisk Gruppes bestyrelse 2021-22
2
But fewer functioning parliaments and MPs
However, the IPU also notes that number of parliaments in the world has dropped,
albeit slightly, from 193 to 190, with the parliaments of Afghanistan, Myanmar and
Sudan no longer functioning.
Consequently, according to the latest IPU figures, the number of sitting
parliamentarians in the world has decreased by 4% (1941 MPs) with 44,310 MPs in
the world compared with 46,288 this time last year.
This is due largely to the suspension of some parliaments as well as smaller numbers
of parliamentarians in temporary parliamentary bodies in countries in transition.
Since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, the bicameral Parliament of Afghanistan
has effectively been suspended and its 352 Members of Parliaments are no longer
able to meet in the country. Some 200 exiled MPs have continued to hold virtual
sessions.
In Myanmar, the military junta which took over in February 2021 has prevented the
664 Members of the two houses of Parliament elected in November 2020 from
convening. A group of around 400 of those MPs, the Committee to Represent the
Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, has continued to operate and participates in IPU meetings.
In Sudan, the bicameral parliament, made up of 492 MPs, was dissolved following a
coup d’état in April 2019. A power-sharing deal that was supposed to create a
transitional legislative council was set back after another military coup in October
2021.
As well as the suspension of the three above-mentioned parliaments, the decrease in
the number of MPs can be explained by other political crises affecting parliaments
worldwide.
Following coup d’états and military take-overs in Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mali, the
transitional parliaments are made up of fewer parliamentarians than the previous but
now dissolved legislatures.
The IPU is also monitoring closely the situation of parliaments in other countries
undergoing political crises including Libya, Tunisia and Venezuela.
The IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians is currently supporting a
record number of some 700 parliamentarians whose human rights are allegedly being
violated, many of them from the countries mentioned above.
Quotes from the IPU leadership
IPU President, Duarte Pacheco, said: “The IPU was founded 133 years ago with the
idea that parliamentarians from different countries should come around the table to
discuss global challenges. Today, those foundational values have never been so
relevant with the world facing war, famine and the climate emergency.
Parliamentarians have a key role to play in ensuring that countries work together to
find common solutions to those challenges.”
IPU Secretary General, Martin Chungong, said: “There is good and bad news on this
world parliament day and the anniversary of the IPU. It’s encouraging to see that
parliaments have never been so female and so young. However, we are also seeing
3
democratic backsliding in many countries and parliaments increasingly coming under
assault in the process. We are convinced that the more representative and diverse a
parliament, the stronger and more resilient it will be for the future. The IPU remains
steadfast in its mission to continue strengthening parliaments worldwide.”
ENDS
***
For more information about the IPU or pictures of parliaments and parliamentarians, contact Thomas
Fitzsimons at email: press@ipu.org or tf@ipu.org or tel: +41(0) 79 854 31 53