By P. Soma Palan –

P. Soma Palan

The current world situation poses an existential crisis for the Planet Earth. The Israel and Palestine war has enlarged into a three nations war with Iran’s entry and Air strikes on Israel and latter’s counter attacks. The further escalation and enlargement of this war poses the possibility of intensifying it into a world war, with dire consequences to the destruction of the Planet Earth with the deployment of nuclear warheads. The national leaders of these countries seem to think that the Planet Earth is their national property which they can destroy, at their will and fancy, in the name of religious bigotry and absolutism and claiming monopoly of their respective Gods. They are afflicted with lunacy and fanaticism. These Egoistic leaders did not create the Planet Earth nor do they have the proprietary right to destroy it at their will and decimate humanity.

The fate of the Planet’s entire humanity and its existential continuity cannot be left to the caprice of a few insane nations. It is in this world context and peril the time has come for the creation of a World Parliament consisting of representatives of all nations to govern the Planet Earth. It is not my view that the World Parliament be formed immediately as a means to solve the Israeli and Palestine dispute. It is only a proposition for the future safety of the Planet Earth. The World Parliament in the future will be the voice of the world humanity that can exert pressure and call upon the warring nations for a ceasefire, and the dispute resolved by debate and discussion in the World Parliament, instead by war.  I am not a scholar or an expert in Political Science. I am an ordinary citizen interested in a better world order and government. I am only presenting a conceptual idea of a World Parliament to govern the Planet Earth, which needs to be built upon by expert international political scientists. The whole territorial entity called Earth, consist of multiple Nation States with defined boundaries and jurisdictions, each governing their respective territory based on the axiom of territorial integrity and sovereignty, for the economic, social, and cultural development of their countries with the narrow parochial National interests of their countries overriding the common interests of the Planet Earth. Almost all countries have standing Armies and arsenals of lethal weapons, even Nuclear Missiles, to defend their territory against aggression by any other country. It is believed that greater the military might of a country, the greater the deterrence against aggression. The fashionable phrase Nuclear Deterrence is the only and inevitable way to achieve World peace, whilst keeping Armies in readiness for war. But this sounds that we still carry with us a trace of tribalism to settle our disputes by violence, which is an insult to human intelligence in the midst of the highest standard of civilization humanity have ever reached. Wars and civilizations are mutually contradictory.

The sterility of the United Nations Organization

It may be argued that we already have an International Forum in the UNO. Therefore, why duplicate another under the different nomenclature, World Parliament? The difference between the UNO and the World Parliament are patently clear. The UNO is a by-product of the aftermath of the end of the second World War. A creation of the Allied European Powers and dominated by its core members of the Security Council with Veto powers. It is not involved in governing the world. It is a General Assembly of 193 Member Nations, and foremost a deliberative Organization. It is essentially a talking shop. Its fundamental purpose was to prevent a recurrence of War and ensure world peace and harmony. But it has failed in its avowed objective. The world is ablaze with limited wars between nations either directly or by proxies causing destruction, human deaths and suffering and displacement of people, for example currently, the war between Ukraine and Russia and the other between Israel and Palestine, and more recently the war between Pakistan and India. The UNO is only a passive onlooker, because the UNO’s Security Council members are involved in the wars either directly or as proxies. The UNO has failed meaningfully to solve and end these conflagrations. However, UNO’s allied Agencies such as the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), FAO- Food& Agricultural Organization, the ILO- International Labour Organization, WHO- World Health Organization have done palpable work on world stage, including the World Bank and the IMF- International Monetary Fund.

In the event of the formation of the World Parliament, the UNO has to be dissolved and superseded and replaced by the World Parliament, while its affiliated Agencies, referred above, remaining as its integral Agencies.

The World Parliament

The World Parliament would be composed of representatives of its member nations proportionate to their demographic status. It is to be headed by a President of the World Parliament and a Secretary General who will chair as the Speaker of the General Assembly. It would be analogous to or a replica of a Parliament of a democratic nation. All nations, irrespective of the form of their government can delegate their team of representatives to the World Parliament. The World Parliament should be an ongoing forum meeting regularly and periodically to discuss, debate and deliberate on matters of international concerns excluding the internal governance of Nations States. World Parliament could diffuse and preempt any warlike situations between nations by discussion and negotiation. Like any National Parliament, World Parliament can be empowered to exercise Legislative, Executive and Judicial powers relating to matters of global dimension. It can legislate and enact laws, enforce laws, and exercise judicial power to prosecute Nation States for violation of International Laws in the International Court of Justice. All disputes and conflicts between nations should be discussed, and settlement arrived by negotiation at the World Parliament by a Treaty between the disputants, guaranteed by it. In the event of a failure in settlement, the dispute be referred to the International Court of Justice for adjudication. The verdict of the International Court would be final and conclusive.

The field of Governance of the World Parliament

The areas of Governance to include such global concerns as disputes and conflicts between nations, the Oceans and International Navigation, global disasters, such as Earthquakes, tsunamis, space, Atmospheric Pollution, Climate Change, transnational diseases like Corona virus.

A Constitution for the World Parliament                                                                                                                             

The functioning of the World Parliament requires a written Constitution which has to be framed by a team of International Legal Experts in Constitutional Law, in respect of its Structure, Organs of Government, Procedures and Processes of Government and the nitty gritty of its functioning. It is outside the scope of my competence to formulate further details on a World Constitution, except only to provide the basic idea for a World Parliament to govern the Global Earth. The Constitution should outlaw war and make it illegal. Resort to wars to settle disputes between nations is not an option. The World Parliament should enact legislation to make wars between nations, in any form or scale, a crime. If wars are illegal, logically it is contradictory to retain all instruments of war.

Total demilitarization and disarmament

Nations having standing Armies and lethal weapons is the root cause for disputes and conflicts between nations leading to wars. If there are no Armies and weapons with nations, wars will end, and there will be eternal peace and harmony       in the Planet Earth. It is simple as that. The classification of nations on military might will cease and all nations will be on equal par, except in economy, size and demography. Accordingly, total disarmament of nations is necessary. This means, demilitarization of all standing Armies composed of the Military, Naval and Air Forces and dismantling of all military hardware, infrastructures, Arms manufacturing facilities. When the military threat of offence is removed, the need for military defense is superfluous. Further, mighty nations engaging in Armaments manufacture and sale as a business will end. Nations deceitfully inciting international disputes turn into armed conflicts by devious methods to boost sale of armaments will end. Furthermore, terrorism in any manifestation to secure political ends will also die a natural death. When sources of fire arms are abolished, crime rate in countries will drop. Nations shall have a Police Force only for maintenance of Internal Law and Order, without Fire Arms. Only Battens, Tear Gas, Water Cannons used to control mob violence, protests and civil disobedience.

One and only purpose of a Military and arsenals of weapons is to wage wars. The abolition of Military forces and total disarmament, production of military hardware, is the only way to ensure the certainty of permanent world peace and harmony for all nations and prevent the destruction of the planet by a nuclear holocaust, which is bound to happen in any point of time in the future. If there are no Armies and weapons, there will be no wars. This thesis is so simple yet defies human intelligence. All nations can coexist and live in peace. Human intelligence and ingenuity could resolve all differences and disputes by discussion and negotiation if we belief that our world is a civilized one. The notion that wars can resolve disputes is repugnant to a civilized world. Just imagine if all citizens of a country have the legal right to have a gun to protect themselves against another, what a chaotic world of violence and murder it would be. So are be nations armed with weapons. The greed to expand and dominate the world is the root cause and rationale to hold on to Armies and weapons. The critics would derisively dismiss my proposition for total demilitarization and total disarmament as impractical and unrealistic under the present world order. In other words, they are saying that the present world order is immutable and no nation having military might will agree to total demilitarization and disarmament. If all nations agree, either unanimously or by majority vote in the World Parliament, Armies can be abolished and complete disarmament can be achieved. The notion that the existing world order is immutable and cannot be changed, is being apologetic and acceptance of the defective world order; adjustment and living with it, is pragmatism and realism according to the critics. 

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