Members of the State Great Hural (Parliament) Mr. Sundui BATBOLD and Mrs. Tsedevdamba OYUNGEREL have attended and exchanged views with other parliamentarians in the Panel discussions themed “Parliamentary oversight: Challenges and opportunities” and “Translating the SDGs into action”, which were organized during the IV World Conference of Speakers of Parliament on September 1, 2015.
In the frameworks of the first mentioned Panel discussion, the Parliamentary oversight gives people a voice in the management of public affairs. It is a unique role and responsibility for parliament within the democratic system of governance. It is a central mechanism for ensuring the balance of powers between the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government. Parliamentary oversight of States’ international obligations provides the link between decision-making at international and national levels, in areas as diverse as human rights, climate change and trade. But the impact of parliamentary oversight is often difficult to identify, and is periodically called into question.
The panel discussion explored the perspectives of Speaker of Parliament on issues such as:
- To what extent does parliament exercise its oversight powers in practice? What are the challenges and opportunities for parliament to strengthen its oversight role today?
- How responsive is the government to parliamentary oversight and how could government responsiveness be increased?
- To what extent does the Speaker have a responsibility to defend, or increase, parliament's power to hold government to account?
- What are the motivations for individual parliamentarians to carry out oversight? What value does the public place on parliament’s oversight activities?
- How does parliament cooperate, or compete, with other institutions of oversight?
As of the second Panel discussion, it was conducted in interview style, without official statements. After an exchange of questions and reflections between the moderator and panelists, participants have contributed their own thoughts and pose questions for further discussion.
The discussion was open to Speakers of Parliament and other registered participants in the Fourth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, where the leading questions were on issues such as:
- How can MPs work together on pro-SDGs policies and across party lines?
- How can parliaments institutionalize the SDGs (duly translated into national goals and targets) so that the goals inform all acts of parliament over the next 15 years?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of creating a dedicated parliamentary body (i.e., committee, caucus, or advisory group) to coordinate work on the SDGs?
- How can parliaments help secure the required resources (financial and non-financial) for the SDGs?
- Can national accountability processes support monitoring of the SDGs at the global level? Are parliaments equipped to be involved in global monitoring?
Press and Public Relations Department of the State Great Hural of Mongolia