Left to right: Moderator of the session and Deputy Premier of the Cay- man Islands, Hon. Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, JP , MLA, (left) of the Cayman Islands, seated next to discussion leader Mr Devinder Shory, MP, from Canada.
Parliamentarians, regardless of party affiliation, have to work together to ensure that the executive is scrutinized properly. This workshop identified a number of areas which contributed to the development of conflict and these included: poverty, abuses of the constitution and the rule of law, corruption, climate change, tribal, ethnic and class differences and inadequate distribution of benefits of resource development along tribal, personal and family lines.
Bridging differences The second discussion leader, Mr Devinder Shory, MP, of Canada, based his presentation on the adage that there is a time for everything including “a time for war and a time for peace”. He said no two conflicts are
the same and humanity as a whole desires peace. He stated that one of the most
important factors when dealing with conflict is bridge-building and he used his constituency of Calgary Northeast and its ethnic multicultural community as an example of how diversity can be successfully embraced to forge one identity. For his community, this identity was one of being a Canadian above anything else. He concluded that there isn’t any
one solution for world peace and stated that Parliamentarians should focus on bridge-building between peoples of different views and that, by “mature leadership” which considered the needs of all groups in society, a way to avoid each conflict could be found.
The third discussion leader,
Sir Allan Kemakeza, MP, Speaker of the National Parliament of the Solomon Islands, focused on conflict in the Solomon Islands’ context. He identified the key reason for conflict in his country as being the unfair distribution of wealth. He stated that one of the main
avenues used in the Solomons to deal with the conflict was to ensure that Parliamentarians from both government and opposition engaged in dialogue towards conflict resolution. In the case of Solomon Islands, it was through legislation that eventually the conflict was resolved.
Roles for Members Hon. Datuk Ronald Kiandee, MP, Deputy Speaker of Malaysia’s House
of Representatives, said that “conflict resolution and the achievement of durable peace are closely linked to a viable political framework” and that Parliamentarians from both sides play a vital role to the process of peace- building. He emphasized the need for Parliamentarians to develop a culture of shared responsibility and work together to achieve conflict resolution. Saying there is no such thing as a just war, he emphasized the need for Parliamentarians to become actively involved in preventing conflict. MPs have a right to become more vocal against things such as the world increase in arms, both nuclear and conventional, which he saw as the “insane competition among the powers which seemed determined