COALITION FOR A WORLD PARLIAMENT

On 16--21 January 2004 Mumbai, India hosted the World Social Forum. Among the 1,000-plus events, on the 19th Nicola Vallinoto, World Federalist Movement Councillor from M.F.E. (the Italian World/European Federalists), organized and convened a session on "Towards a World Parliament: Let's Create a Network for Global Democracy."
Fifty persons from 20 countries participated in the discussions. Dr. Leo Rebello from India, Co-President of the World Constitution and Parliament Association, chaired the session. Among the speakers were James Arputharaj (Sri Lanka) of the W.F.M., Troy Davis (USA) of the World Citizen Foundation (who promoted having a separate World Democracy Forum), and Andrew Strauss (USA) of Widener University.
Resolutions adopted included to: (1) Establish a World Parliament; (2) Make World Democracy the main theme of the next WSF; (3) Set up a Web Site on World Parliament, with links to other Mundialist organizations; (4) Organize a Network or Federation of World Democracy Organizations; and (5) Set up an E-Forum for World Parliament to produce a World People's Basic Manifesto.
At the same time, British writer George Monbiot addressed a plenary session on "Globalization and its Alternatives." Reflecting the title of his book, The Age of Consent: A Manifesto for New World Order, Monbiot called for global action to establish a new world order, one where the United Nations is replaced by a World Parliament, whose representatives will be elected by citizens of all countries.
On the 20th, global democracy activists organized a Workshop on Global Democracy with the theme "Organizing a Coalition for a World Parliament." At this event, where Rob Wheeler (USA) was facilitator, Strauss and Monbiot spoke.

In planning for the next WSF meeting in 2005, in Porto Alegre, Brazil, it was recommended that World Democracy be a primary theme, and a "World Democracy Forum" or "Global People's Assembly" be a part of future WSFs.

--This is an extract from Nicola Vallinoto's report.