Academic literature on the topic 'Lesotho. Parliament. National Assembly'

The process of transitioning from one government to another and forming a new government after elections in Lesotho is often fraught with controversy and uncertainty. These problems can be attributed, by and large, to the lack of adequate rules and consistent constitutional practice. The 2022 elections have once again shone the spotlight on these longstanding problems. Like all other elections since 2012, the 2022 elections were inconclusive: no political party received an outright majority to form a government. Since the country uses a parliamentary system, the government depends on the confidence of the National Assembly and the life of the government is pegged to the life of Parliament. The end of the parliamentary term effectively means the end of the government. In terms of the Constitution, once Parliament is dissolved, elections must be held within three months. Within one month after the elections, a new Parliament must sit. While the Constitution provides for the appointment of the prime minister – the king appoints as prime minister a member of the National Assembly who will have the confidence of the House – there are no rules stipulating how the confidence of the House is to be determined. Likewise, the government’s position between the dissolution of Parliament and the forming of a new government is often opaque and precarious. This article examines these inadequacies in the context of the 2022 elections. The article uses content analysis – the examination of primary and secondary documents – to analyse the activities that took place during the transition and formation of a new government in the 2022 elections. The article concludes that the 2022 elections serve to confirm a longstanding problem of inadequate rules and consistent practice relating to the transition and formation of government.

In this paper, the author considers the Republic of Korea’s legislative institution. In order to develop the parliamentary institution in the present social conditions of Mongolia, it is required to identify and describe the Parliament’s operation, functions, features, and its status in the state structure and conduct comparative study of the Parliament of Republic of Korea. In connection with the above, it is essential to emphasize theoretical and practical issues related to features of functions, electoral mechanisms, operation and status of the Republic of Korea’s parliament in the political system.

Аccording to Art. 1, Para. 1 of the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria, it is a republic with a parliamentary government. The article examines the way in which the National Assembly (the Bulgarian Parliament) manages the processes in public life through special ad hoc laws, laws in the formal sense, and management decisions in cases that are particularly important to public life. It provides examples of the most important and interesting decisions like the ones in question.

This paper examined the speech acts used by Namibian Members of Parliament (MPs) during parliamentary proceedings. The main aim of this paper was to explain speech acts and show their intended persuasive effects in parliamentary discourse. Austin (1962) introduced three types of speech acts, locutionary, illocutionary and perlocutionary. The paper attempted to critically demonstrate how MPs use persuasion strategies in their debates. These speech acts were uttered through assertives, directives, commissives, expressives, and declaratives, as classified by Searle (1969). A qualitative approach was used in this paper whereby the Hansard were used to collect data. A purposeful sampling focusing on some MPs was used. This paper was guided by two theories, Austins Speech Act Theory and Aristotles Theory of Rhetoric. The need to apply rhetorical skills in debates is widely advocated for. Although not all members of parliament have a wide knowledge of rhetoric, acquiring and employing skills on rhetoric are prominent aspects of parliamentary debates. The findings of the paper revealed that members of parliament have the potential to use a variety of persuasive strategies in their speech acts by means of some rhetorical devices. It was concluded that most MPs deliberately make use of these speech acts as a persuasive mechanism in their discourse. Being the first study in parliamentary discourse in Namibia with regards to rhetoric, it is considered to be unique and adds value in the field of linguistics. It also serves as a pioneering research to researchers in political rhetoric.

Given that political parties participate in the formation, structuring and activity of the parliament, their presence has had a dual impact on the National Assembly of Serbia in the past three decades. On the one hand, their influence has been reflected on the internal structure and efficiency of parliamentary work. On the other hand, the party system combined with the electoral model has left its mark on the mode of political representation. The paper focuses on the impact the political parties have had on the National Assembly in the Republic of Serbia, particularly their influence on the internal organization of the Assembly and the effectiveness in the parliamentary process. The main goal is to explore the normative framework and parliamentary practice in order to analyze the actual prospects of the National Assembly to meet the basic postulates for exercising effective national representation. The main question is whether the Assembly, relying on its constitutional autonomy, is able to achieve the goals of the "working parliament" and the political representation of all citizens. The problem develops around the extent to which the people's representation is capable of exercising its constitutional functions if it does not support and protect the differentiated political will of the people. The aim is to point out to the possibilities provided by the normative framework and the need for successful parliamentary practice in exercising parliamentary autonomy. Parliamentary autonomy is necessary not only for good internal organization of parliament and effectiveness in the parliamentary process but also in terms of strengthening the National Assembly's external impact and position towards the holders of the executive power. The subject matter of analysis are the activities of political parties in parliament, observed through the work of parliamentary groups and parliamentary committees, as well as a lack of the parliamentary opposition guarantees.

Among the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, Kuwait not only has the oldest constitution but also has a vibrant parliament. Kuwait has sent elected representatives to the National Assembly since 1963 that shares the legislative responsibilities with the Amir. In the last decade Kuwait National Assembly has confronted the government on various issues, especially on corruption charges and incompetence of individual ministers. It has led to frequent disruptions and dissolution of the assembly five times since 2003. The 2016 elections has returned a large number of deputies with inclination to traditional opposition and though it bodes well for democratization in the oil-rich Gulf state, it raises questions about going back to the era of disruptions and dissolutions seen during 2008–2012.

Women are under-represented in legislative bodies in the majority of countries, and Lesotho is no exception to this worldwide trend. In an attempt to address this problem, the country has adopted, through electoral laws, electoral gender quota systems for both local and national legislative structures. The country has introduced a 30% gender quota requirement for election to the local councils at the local level. At the national level, it introduced a ‘zebra list’ – the condition that when political parties submit lists for the purposes of 40 proportional representation (PR) seats in the National Assembly, the names must alternate between those of men and women. The idea was to attain 50% representation of women in the National Assembly, at least for the 40 PR seats. The effectiveness of these two quota systems in enhancing women’s representation has been the subject of intense disagreement. The animating question is whether, since the adoption of gender quotas, the representation of women in legislative bodies has improved. The article investigates this question using the qualitative content analysis method. The central hypothesis is that electoral gender quotas in Lesotho, particularly at the national level, have not significantly improved the representation of women. The paper critiques the models used and makes some recommendations for reform.

Women are under-represented in legislative bodies in the majority of countries, and Lesotho is no exception to this worldwide trend. In an attempt to address this problem, the country has adopted, through electoral laws, electoral gender quota systems for both local and national legislative structures. The country has introduced a 30% gender quota requirement for election to the local councils at the local level. At the national level, it introduced a ‘zebra list’ – the condition that when political parties submit lists for the purposes of 40 proportional representation (PR) seats in the National Assembly, the names must alternate between those of men and women. The idea was to attain 50% representation of women in the National Assembly, at least for the 40 PR seats. The effectiveness of these two quota systems in enhancing women’s representation has been the subject of intense disagreement. The animating question is whether, since the adoption of gender quotas, the representation of women in legislative bodies has improved. The article investigates this question using the qualitative content analysis method. The central hypothesis is that electoral gender quotas in Lesotho, particularly at the national level, have not significantly improved the representation of women. The paper critiques the models used and makes some recommendations for reform.

Women are under-represented in legislative bodies in the majority of countries, and Lesotho is no exception to this worldwide trend. In an attempt to address this problem, the country has adopted, through electoral laws, electoral gender quota systems for both local and national legislative structures. The country has introduced a 30% gender quota requirement for election to the local councils at the local level. At the national level, it introduced a ‘zebra list’ – the condition that when political parties submit lists for the purposes of 40 proportional representation (PR) seats in the National Assembly, the names must alternate between those of men and women. The idea was to attain 50% representation of women in the National Assembly, at least for the 40 PR seats. The effectiveness of these two quota systems in enhancing women’s representation has been the subject of intense disagreement. The animating question is whether, since the adoption of gender quotas, the representation of women in legislative bodies has improved. The article investigates this question using the qualitative content analysis method. The central hypothesis is that electoral gender quotas in Lesotho, particularly at the national level, have not significantly improved the representation of women. The paper critiques the models used and makes some recommendations for reform.

Most socialist states have shown some transformation of their political institutions in the eighties, but the Hungarian experimentation with reforms is significantly different from that of other socialist states. The 1985 national and local elections were held on the basis of a hitherto unique electoral law; citizens were able to nominate candidates of their own choosing. The Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (HSWP) Central Committee clearly approved of the expanded responsibilities forthe new National Assembly (also called in Hungarian the Parliament or Orszag gyules) and held that it should play a more active role in the legislative and political systems. This, of course, would be impossible without major organizational and/or functional changes on the plenary, committee and procedural levels.

Thesis (MTech (Public Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology.
The primary objective of this study was to contribute evidence and analysis that the administration of Parliament and structures such as portfolio committees can utilise during their oversight activities to ensure the successful implementation of the National Development Plan (NDP). In this regard, this study endeavoured to shed light on the current legislative, oversight and public participation practices of the National Assembly with respect to the executive. In particular, the study considered the strengths and weaknesses of the many ways in which Parliament pursues its mandate, through its oversight methods such as debates, questions, portfolio committee oversight activities, and legislation, amongst others. As such, the study’s recommendations are geared towards strengthening the capabilities of Parliament to deliver improved outcomes and, in so doing, raise the level of accountability within and throughout the institution. A number of gaps and weaknesses in the way in which Parliament executes its mandate were found. Significantly, accountability – which is the axis around which the roles of Members of Parliament and Parliament itself revolves – has been significantly weakened by competing political agendas. The highly political context and the proportional representative system influence the autonomy and commitments of Parliament. The NDP (2012:45) holds that “accountability is essential to democracy and that the accountability chain should be strengthened from top to bottom”. Serious questions emerged about the ability of Parliament to hold the executive to account. Capacity constraints which pertain to both members and staff and the building of coalitions (external expertise) were factors that require attention.

En l’espace de soixante ans, la Constitution du 4 octobre 1958 a subi de nombreux changements à la fois juridiques et politiques. Une chose a cependant perduré : le parlementarisme rationalisé. Prenant en compte les changements intervenus depuis 1958 et les aspirations des Français à la modernisation et au rééquilibrage des institutions de la Ve République, le Constituant de 2008 a opéré une revalorisation du Parlement et proposé de rendre la fonction parlementaire plus valorisante. Mais à l’aune de dix années d’expérience, force est de constater que les améliorations attendues n’ont pas véritablement eu lieu. Dans le même temps, les exigences démocratiques des Français ont évolué. De ce fait, ce qui était acceptable hier, à défaut d'être accepté, ne l'est plus aujourd'hui. Il en est ainsi des avantages, des pratiques, des comportements individuels ou collectifs de responsables politiques.On peut dès lors s’interroger sur ce que devrait être le député de la Ve République tant au niveau de son statut que de son rôle. Il ressort de cette étude que l’actuel statut du député est appelé à se renforcer, notamment, s’agissant des moyens alloués au député, ainsi que des droits et garanties afin de permettre une plus grande mobilité entre le mandat et l’activité professionnelle de l’élu, et d’améliorer la représentativité du député par l’ouverture de l’Assemblée à un nouveau public. Le cadre institutionnel dans lequel s’exerce le travail parlementaire doit également être assoupli pour rétablir le député dans ses fonctions de collaborateur du Gouvernement pour la confection des lois et de contrôleur de l’action gouvernementale. Enfin, le travail en circonscription ne doit pas être négligé car il permet à l’élu de mieux exercer ses missions législatives et de contrôle
In the space of sixty years, the Constitution of 4th October 1958 has undergone many legal and political changes. However, one thing has remained: streamlined parliamentarianism. Considering the changes since 1958 and the aspirations of the French people for the modernisation and the rebalancing of the institutions of the Fifth Republic, in 2008 the constituent power worked on upgrading the role of the Parliament and proposed to improve the attractiveness of the parliamentarian function. After ten years of experience, it is clear that the potential improvements have not taken place. At the same time, the democratic requirements of the French have evolved. Hence, what was acceptable yesterday may not be today. This is true for the advantages, traditional practices, individual or collective behaviours of policy makers. Consequently, it may be asked what an MP of the Fifth Republic should be, in both status and function.This study shows that the status of the MP should be strengthened, notably with regard to the resources allocated to the MP, as well as rights and guarantees to allow greater mobility between the mandate and the professional activity of the elected representative, and to improve the representativeness of the MP through the opening up of the Assembly to a new audience. Also, the institutional system within which parliamentary work is performed must be more flexible to return the MP to his/her role as a legislator and overseer of government action. Finally, constituency work must not be neglected because it allows the MP to better carry out his/her legislative and overseeing missions

Magister Artium - MA
Collection development plays a significant role in the successful achievement of the library’s purpose. The reason for the existence of the library is to meet the information needs of the community it serves. To determine if the PIC is responsive to the information needs of parliamentary researchers, the study used a mixed method of data collection. A survey method in the form of a questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data from parliamentary researchers. Other researchers at Parliament, for example researchers employed by political parties are not part of this study. Qualitative data was collected through interviews with a selection of librarians involved in the PIC collection development process and an evaluation of the Collection Development Policy of the PIC. Four librarians from the PIC were interviewed, and the PIC Collection Development Policy was analysed to triangulate data collected from the questionnaire and interviews. The information needs of parliamentary researchers are triggered by the information needs of parliamentarians, and therefore it is significant that the PIC provide a collection that responds to the information needs of researchers so they can provide relevant information to parliamentarians. The findings indicate that the responsiveness of the library material varies according to the needs of the researchers. The PIC will benefit from a proactive involvement of parliamentary researchers in the collection development process. Customised orientation, proper needs analysis and collection evaluation will improve usage of the library resources and responsiveness of the library material to the clients.

This study is an evaluation of the function and the meaning of parliamentary spaces of the Turkish Republic, focusing on the parliamentary complex of the Turkish Grand National Assembly in the capital city of Ankara. Parliament buildings are symbols of the nation and the nation state, representing the national identity via expressional aspects of their functional space. The issue is of national prestige, security and power that remain in effect albeit adapting to changing situations in time. This study attempts to contribute to a better understanding of the spatial, stylistic as well as the urban characteristics of parliamentary spaces in Turkey by examining the earlier experiences in late Ottoman and early Republican periods, and by not only analyzing the establishment of the complex as designed by Holzmeister in the late 1930s, but also evaluating its enlargement as affected by the changing exigencies in contemporary political agendas after the Assembly had started to use the complex in the 1960s until today. The study examines the formation and the transformation of the Assembly complex in Turkey under the pressure of the highly dynamic political realities of the twentieth century, in order to reflect upon the continuities and discontinuities in functions and meanings of the parliamentary spaces throughout the process.

Le Parlement est généralement considéré comme un acteur institutionnel ne pouvant s'impliquer dans les relations internationales. Seul, le pouvoir exécutif disposerait de la capacité à agir dans ce domaine. En réalité, cet état de choses qui était vrai à l'aube de la Vème République n'est plus d'actualité. L'évolution du monde au lendemain de la Seconde Guerre mondiale avec la décolonisation, la fin de la guerre froide, la mondialisation, mais aussi l'accélération de la construction européenne, a été à l'origine de l'attrait des parlementaires pour les questions de politique étrangère. Les révisions constitutionnelles successives, les modifications des règlements des assemblées et l'adoption de plusieurs lois leur ont alors fourni les moyens d'agir.Désormais, les députés et les sénateurs exercent une influence sur la politique étrangère de la France ; ils disposent d'outils parlementaires leur assurant une information et un contrôle des activités internationales du Gouvernement ; et ils sont parvenus à mettre en place une véritable diplomatie parlementaire tant bilatérale, comme dans le cadre des groupes d'amitié, que multilatérale, comme dans celui des assemblées parlementaires internationales
Parliament is generally thought to be an institution which is incapable of influencing international relations. The Executive Power alone is said to be capable of acting in this sphere.In reality, while this was true at the dawn of the Fifth Republic, it is no longer the case. The way the world changed after World War II – decolonization, the end of the Cold War, globalization, but also the rapid European integration – was the fundamental appeal of foreign policy for members of Parliament. The constitutional changes which then occurred, changes to Rules of Procedure of the assemblies and the adoption of several laws, afforded them the ability to act. Ever since, deputies and senators have influenced French foreign affairs. They have access to tools which assure them information and a certain control of the Government's international activities. They have likewise succeeded in establishing a parliamentary diplomacy equally bilateral – like Friendship groups – as multilateral, as is found in international parliaments

Les théories de la démocratie délibérative admettent deux modèles, dialogique et rhétorique, réservant chacun au Parlement un rôle central : élaborer les décisions par la discussion délibérative ; contribuer à la formation du jugement des citoyens par le débat contradictoire. Cette thèse explore les fondements empiriques de ces modèles. A travers l’analyse argumentative des débats en séance publique et l’observation ethnographique des échanges en commission, elle compare l’idéal normatif aux pratiques du Parlement français. Discussions délibératives et débats contradictoires se révèlent alors faire partie intégrante des interactions parlementaires. La discussion délibérative se déploie principalement au Sénat et en commission, bien qu’elle émerge parfois à l’Assemblée nationale et en séance publique. Son influence sur la législation demeure limitée, sans être pour autant négligeable. L’hémicycle de l’Assemblée nationale apparaît, lui, comme l’espace privilégié du débat contradictoire. Ces résultats plaident en faveur du bicamérisme, qui permet de concilier les rôles pédagogique et législatif des débats parlementaires. Ils mettent également en avant l’incertitude de la séance publique : loin de se contenter d’enregistrer les décisions gouvernementales, celle-ci se révèle fréquemment comme un espace d’arbitrage et d’élaboration des décisions. Cette étude est enfin l’occasion, à travers l’analyse inductive des données recueillies, de proposer une contribution à la théorie politique : identifier les caractéristiques argumentatives de la discussion délibérative, confirmer et préciser les vertus du débat contradictoire, affiner l’effet du huis clos sur les discussions
Deliberative democracy theories allow two different dialogical and rhetorical models which both give a central role to the Parliament: elaborating decisions by way of deliberative discussion and contributing to the formation of the citizens’ judgement by way of contradictory debates. This thesis explores the empirical foundations of these models. Through the argumentative analysis of public session debates and the ethnographical observation of exchanges in committees, it compares the normative ideal to the practices of the French Parliament. Deliberative discussions and contradictory debates thus reveal themselves to be an integral part of parliamentary interactions. Deliberative discussion is mainly deployed in the Sénat and in committees, even though it sometimes emerges at the Assemblée nationale and during public sessions. Its influence on legislation remains limited though not entirely insignificant. On the other hand, the hemicycle of the Assemblée nationale appears to be a prime space for contradictory debate. These results advocate for a bicameral system, which allows the educational and legislative aspects of parliamentary debates to be reconciled. They also highlight the uncertainty of public sessions: far from being restricted to the registering of governmental decisions, these sessions are frequently used to arbitrate and elaborate decisions. Finally, through the inductive analysis of the collected data, this study is the opportunity to put forward a contribution to political theory: identifying the argumentative characteristics of deliberative discussion, confirming and pointing out the virtues of contradictory debate, and clarifying the effects of an in camera environment on discussions

Floor crossing was an unknown phenomenon in Malawi until the re-emergence of multiparty politics in 1994. Since then the number of MPs crossing the floor in the Malawi National Assembly has steadily increased from around twelve in 1994 to more than sixty in 2005. This practice has continued even today. However, the biggest incident of floor crossing took place in 2005 when the State President, Dr Bingu wa Mutharika, under the United Democratic Front (UDF) decided to abandon the party that sponsored him into office to form his own, the Democratic Progressive Party in February, 2005. Following him were several opposition MPs, a move which sparked a lot of tension in the National Assembly. The purpose of this study was to investigate political factors contributing to this phenomenon, and it was established that, among other factors, institutional weaknesses of political parties and gaps in the Constitution contributed significantly to floor crossing.
Political Science
M.A. (African Politics)

Floor crossing was an unknown phenomenon in Malawi until the re-emergence of multiparty politics in 1994. Since then the number of MPs crossing the floor in the Malawi National Assembly has steadily increased from around twelve in 1994 to more than sixty in 2005. This practice has continued even today. However, the biggest incident of floor crossing took place in 2005 when the State President, Dr Bingu wa Mutharika, under the United Democratic Front (UDF) decided to abandon the party that sponsored him into office to form his own, the Democratic Progressive Party in February, 2005. Following him were several opposition MPs, a move which sparked a lot of tension in the National Assembly. The purpose of this study was to investigate political factors contributing to this phenomenon, and it was established that, among other factors, institutional weaknesses of political parties and gaps in the Constitution contributed significantly to floor crossing.
Political Science
M.A. (African Politics)

This thesis deals with the topic of individual parliamentary scrutiny of European affairs in Slovakia. The aim of this thesis is to determine which factors influenced the formally strong system of parliamentary scrutiny in the Slovak National Assembly. 6 factors will be analyzed - Late accession to the EU, parliamentary strength, bargaining strength in the Council of EU, public euroscepticism, euroscepticism of political parties and the frequency of coalition and minority governments. The strength of parliamentary scrutiny can also be influenced by informal aspects. The informal aspects in this thesis will be mainly concerned with the efforts of the members of the European Affairs Committee to acquire additional information about legislative proposals of the EU in an informal way and also their efforts for a better cooperation in parliamentary scrutiny among various political parties. The empirical analysis found, that the factor of late accession to the EU and euroscepticism of political parties had the biggest effect on the formally strong system of parliamentary scrutiny in Slovakia. A partial effect can be also attributed to the factors of public euroscepticism and the frequency of coalition and minority governments. Even though a formally strong system of parliamentary scrutiny does exist in...

Abstract The chapter on the Swiss parliament offers an introduction of the institutional characteristics and functioning of the National Council and the Council of States, the two parliamentary chambers of the Swiss parliament. It elaborates how the Swiss parliamentarians are elected and discusses the composition and functions of this parliament. The specificities of this system, characterized by two equally powerful chambers, part-time national parliamentarians, very few administrative resources, and a lack of transparency in party and campaign financing, are outlined and explained in detail. In addition, the chapter measures the power of the Swiss parliament with an institutional power index based on its formal rights and compares the result with qualitative estimates of parliamentary and political experts to provide an encompassing estimate of the power of parliament. As two key developments that are particularly characteristic for this parliament in recent years, the increase in professionalization and the growing influence of interest groups and how they impact the Federal Assembly are discussed.

The representative function ensures the unity of action of the parliament - as the central institution of democracy and the elected body that represents all the structures of society that has the unique responsibility to harmonize all conflicting interests and expectations of different groups and communities through democratic dialogue and compromise. Along with the legal definition of the representative function, the analysis and review of the constitutional and legal regulations as well as different theoretical viewpoints and understandings about the nature of the parliamentary mandate, an element of the electoral process, the subject of the author's analysis is the necessity of creating and fostering a constitutional and political culture that implies supplementing legal and political responsibilities, interested and informed voters, the existence of trust between citizens and representatives, and raising awareness of the responsibility of both voters and representatives.

The author gives his view of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes of 1921, pointing out its importance at that time, but also its shortcomings. The choice of a centralist, unitary state system is recognized as one of the basic aspirations of the constitution-maker, that resulted in the king's dominant position as an integrative element, which made it impossible to establish (un)wanted balances between the king and parliament. In institutional terms, orleans parliamentarism is analyzed as an established type of parliamentary system of government, and also its functioning in practice. The author analyzed the constitutional position of the National assembly, emphasizing its weakness in relations with the king, explaining instruments such as the absolute legislative veto, through which the king exercised supremacy in the legislative sphere despite the constitutional proclamation to exercise legislative competence jointly. The unlimited right to dissolve the assembly, despite the undivided opinion of the constitutional theory on the prohibition of successive dissolution, further weakened the position of the National assembly, and established the king as an inviolable arbiter in resolving parliamentary crises, which may ultimately confront the people's will. The king's unrestricted right to dissolve parliament usurped the budgetary right of the National assembly, as one of the foundations of the parliamentary system, which further made it possible for the executive to rule without a budget. Constrained by the constitutional arrangement, insufficient representative functions, burdened by the democratic deficit, the National assembly proved to be weak in articulating various political interests, but was the scene of party and national tensions.

Even before the formal negotiation process of the Republic of North Macedonia (RNM) for membership in the European Union began, the important role that the Parliament should play in this process was highlighted. The main contribution of the Parliament to the European integration process should be ensuring the sustainability of the reforms. The Assembly is the key place for organizing a dialogue between the government, the opposition, and civil society about the far-reaching goals of the reforms that will be made in the rapprochement process. And the European Commission further emphasized that it sees the national parliaments of the countries of the Western Balkans as a link between the citizens and Brussels. Without a stable, functional, effective representative body, these challenges will not be met. In every developed democracy, the problem of the relationship between the government and the political parties represented in the parliament has always been an actual issue. The increase in the number of political forces in the parliament leads to the need to form coalitions and, accordingly, the greater the fragmentation of political interests, the more difficult it is to build consensus, which should imply an agreement between influential MPs, regardless of whether they are in the majority or the opposition. Hence, the aim of this paper is an analysis of the representation of political forces in the Macedonian parliament in the last ten election cycles through the “index of the effective number of parties” as a tool, designed to consider the problem of balance between the representation and effectiveness of the elected bodies and their dependence from the electoral mechanisms. For this purpose, first, in a theoretical sense, the typologies of party systems and the index for the effective number of parties (developed by Estonian political scientists Laakso and Taagepera) will be reviewed. Then, with the help of this index, will be determined the number of effective parliamentary parties in the past ten parliamentary compositions in RNM. The RNM is very convenient for such an analysis because in the country’s three-decade plural history different electoral models were applied – in the parliamentary elections in 1990 and 1994, the majority, in 1998, there was a mixed (parallel) model, and since 2002, a proportional model has been applied.

A page of history is now at 100 hundred years rewritten and the digital media and authors use it for promotion. The study has two parts, historical facts and a short analyse on the tools used to promote it. Historical context starts, on June 5, 1918, the Treaty of Peace imposed on Romania by the Central Powers was ratified by Parliament and forwarded to the King for promulgation; he postponed the signing of this treaty. As the French army began to cross the Danube, on November 10, at Giurgiu, Zimnicea, Turnu Magurele and other points, the Romanian army re-joined the war, Romania proving "de facto" that it is in the allied camp. In this setting, on 11 November 1918, the Compiegne Armistice, between Germany and the Allied Powers, was signed, acknowledging, among other things, the caducity of the Bucharest Peace Treaty. At the same time, the end of the war brought with it the completion of the process of unification of all the Romanian provinces under one standard. And as the complete unity of Romania could not have been made without the inhabitants of Transylvania, the "cradle of the formation of the Romanian nation" for which the Romanian army had crossed the Carpathians, on 18 November / 1 December 1918, the Great National Assembly in Alba Iulia voted "the unification of all the territories inhabited by the Romanians from the former Austro-Hungarian monarchy with Romania". The digital development of this page of history was approached by both historians and media. The study show that the papers has a 27% of the covering of the event, the rest being covert by various encyclopaedia, blogs and essays. By channel by far Facebook covers the news on that event followed by Youtube and What’s Up.

"This work includes talking about the crime of Camp Speicher, in which 1,700 students of the Iraqi army of the Sheea creed were killed by the gangs of the terrorist organization ISIS, with the aim of eliminating the members of this sect because of the misleading ideology carried by those gangs. On 6-12-2014, Iraqi soldiers at Camp Speicher (Speicher Air Base) in Tikrit were subjected to murder and enforced disappearance by terrorist organizations because of their affiliation to the Sheea creed. This crime was among a series of brutal crimes for the genocide of Sheeas in Iraq. This is similar to what happened in the Badoush prison crime in the province of Mosul, which the Iraqi Parliament considered it as a crime of genocide, in which these gangs executed about (400) members of the prison inmates of the Sheea component. After ISIS took control of the city of Tikrit in Iraq, and one day after they took control of the city of Mosul, they captured (2000-2200) soldiers and led them to the presidential palaces in Tikrit, and they shot them there and in other areas and buried some of them alive. This disaster had a negative impact on the families of the victims of the Speicher where they went out in demonstrations demanded that the leaders who handed over the victims of Speicher to ISIS must be prosecuted, and in one of the demonstrations they managed to enter Parliament and demanded that the leaders who handed over Speicher to ISIS be held accountable. After that, many demonstrations took place by the families of the victims, some of which led to the closure of a bridge in Baghdad a few times Protesting the government's delay in clarifying the fate of their children or taking quick measures. The Iraqi parliament and government recently considered the Speicher incident “genocide” in reference to the premeditated murder of Badoush Prison inmates in Nineveh Governorate and the unarmed Speicher military base, the premeditated murder of members of the Albu Nimr, Jabour, al-Lahib, and al-Ubaid tribes, and the killing and displacement of civilians from Kurds, Christians, Yazidis and Shabaks in Sahel Nineveh, Sinjar, deliberate killing and displacement of Turkmens in Tal Afar and Bashir. This decision paves the way for obtaining international recognition from it as a ""genocide"" as stipulated in the Contract of the United Nations in 1948, and Iraq signed it in the fifties of the last century. This study attempts to explain the Al-Ikhnasas Court in looking into the crimes of genocide committed by ISIS against the bereaved students of the Air Force Base (Speicher) due to what this issue raised from the national and international public opinion, especially after the involvement of the Iraqi army leaders in this massacre, according to what witnesses reported in that area and what was reported by soldiers who survived the incident, in addition to the involvement of some members of the Sunni tribes in these crimes with the terrorist organization ISIS. The importance of this study lies in the following aspects: - That ISIS elements were tried according to Anti-Terrorism Law No. 13 of 2005, and from our point of view that the aforementioned law is vague and broader than it should be, and it applies to serious and simple crimes from murder to crimes of sabotage, and the list of crimes punishable by the death penalty according to the aforementioned law is a long list and spacious. - The Iraqi government has embarked on an attempt to develop a legal framework to prosecute ISIS elements, and its mission focused on understanding the procedures and results drawn from those judicial efforts, and its mission also focused on showing the efforts taken by the Iraqi government to address violations in the field of the right to life, including those committed by affiliated forces government as well as other international and domestic actors. The International Criminal Court is specialized in considering specific crimes under Article (5) of its Statute, which are war crimes, aggression and crimes against humanity, which necessitates the adaptation of Speicher's crime within any of the mentioned types of crimes. The assumption of the International Criminal Court in relation to the Speicher crime, includes several positive matters and results at the same time a set of negatives, which must be presented to those positives and negatives in order to give preference between them and the choice of authorizing the court to consider the crime or not. The terrorist organization ISIS has committed serious systematic violations, including war crimes and others, and perhaps those that are not under its control, and that none of these crimes can be addressed within the anti-terrorism law, which cannot address human rights violations. The international community has recognized the heinous violations committed by ISIS against the citizens of Iraq by adopting Resolution (2370) in September of 2017, issued by the Security Council, which authorizes the Security Council to appoint an investigation team to support local efforts to hold ISIS elements accountable by collecting and preserving evidence in Iraq, which can rise to a high level, and it was committed by the elements of the organization. It considers that the decision constitutes a burden and an obligation on Iraq to investigate all allegations of violations committed by government forces for the purpose of holding them accountable, as well as requiring the establishment of special courts and trained judges in relation to ISIS crimes to deal with them. Terrorism is a global curse that has recently spread horizontally to all countries of the world and its effects have been concentrated vertically in some countries, and no one denies that the parties to this phenomenon are increasing (perpetrators and victims) and the United Nations in particular and the international community in general has not succeeded in reducing it despite the fact that the resolutions of the UN Security Council It is increasing, but the proportionality is absent between these decisions and the practical reality. The phenomenon of terrorism is spreading rapidly, and the perpetrators of terrorist acts are on the rise, corresponding to an increase in the victims of terrorism. Also, the circumstances and events that Iraq is going through, especially after 2003, put it at the forefront of countries which suffers from terrorism that has killed the people, using methods and forms that were not previously known and brutal and bloody cruel. ) for the year 2005, and since terrorism was not limited to Iraq, but included many countries, and was not specific to a place or time, nor was it recent in terms of composition. In addition, the aforementioned law cannot be aware of all violations of international and humanitarian law, as we mentioned previously, which requires the necessity of referring the criminals to a competent court. The Court conducts its rule under Article (13) of its Statute when referred to it by a state party to the same system or by the Security Council or when the Public Prosecutor conducts the investigation on his own, and then how does the Court take its measures regarding the aforementioned crime if we take a look Considering that the State of Iraq is not a member of the Statute of the Court. The rule of the court is free from the death penalty, which makes the idea of authorizing the court to consider the crime rejected by most Iraqis, especially the families of the victims. What are the negative aspects of the Iraqi national judiciary’s view of the Speicher crime, and how can it be avoided if the International Criminal Court plays this role? What are the guarantees provided by the court in the event that it proceeds with its procedures regarding this crime? The research on this subject is according to the appropriate method, which is the analytical and comparative method, which works on studying and comparing topics by analyzing ideas and jurisprudential rulings, and the positions of the governments of countries and the United Nations, as well as the resolutions of the Security Council and the General Assembly, and comparing arbitration between Iraqi courts. And the international courts regarding the trial of the perpetrators of the Speicher base crime, and then come up with a set of conclusions and recommendations."

The genesis of the Copyright Amendment Bill was in 2009, when the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) initiated various studies and impact assessments. In July 2015, the DTI published a Draft Copyright Amendment Bill for public comment. The final 2017 version of the Bill was approved by Parliament in 2019 and it was sent to President Cyril Ramaphosa for action in terms of Section 79(1) of the Constitution. Section 79(1) states that “The President must either assent to and sign a Bill passed in terms of this Chapter or, if the President has reservations about the constitutionality of the Bill, refer it back to the National Assembly for reconsideration”. The President referred the Bill back to Parliament for review on 16 June 2020, on constitutionality issues. In response to the President’s reservations, Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry has invited stakeholders and other interested parties to submit written submissions on certain sections of the Bill by no later than 9 July 2021. The current copyright law is outdated and does not address the digital environment. The Academy of Science of South Africa seeks to take into account the status of the copyright legislation and the anticipated effects of the amendment Bill on different issues and thereafter, provide recommendations to the President.

This report maps the African landscape of Open Science – with a focus on Open Data as a sub-set of Open Science. Data to inform the landscape study were collected through a variety of methods, including surveys, desk research, engagement with a community of practice, networking with stakeholders, participation in conferences, case study presentations, and workshops hosted. Although the majority of African countries (35 of 54) demonstrates commitment to science through its investment in research and development (R&D), academies of science, ministries of science and technology, policies, recognition of research, and participation in the Science Granting Councils Initiative (SGCI), the following countries demonstrate the highest commitment and political willingness to invest in science: Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda. In addition to existing policies in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI), the following countries have made progress towards Open Data policies: Botswana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, South Africa and Uganda. Only two African countries (Kenya and South Africa) at this stage contribute 0.8% of its GDP (Gross Domestic Product) to R&D (Research and Development), which is the closest to the AU’s (African Union’s) suggested 1%. Countries such as Lesotho and Madagascar ranked as 0%, while the R&D expenditure for 24 African countries is unknown. In addition to this, science globally has become fully dependent on stable ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) infrastructure, which includes connectivity/bandwidth, high performance computing facilities and data services. This is especially applicable since countries globally are finding themselves in the midst of the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR), which is not only “about” data, but which “is” data. According to an article1 by Alan Marcus (2015) (Senior Director, Head of Information Technology and Telecommunications Industries, World Economic Forum), “At its core, data represents a post-industrial opportunity. Its uses have unprecedented complexity, velocity and global reach. As digital communications become ubiquitous, data will rule in a world where nearly everyone and everything is connected in real time. That will require a highly reliable, secure and available infrastructure at its core, and innovation at the edge.” Every industry is affected as part of this revolution – also science. An important component of the digital transformation is “trust” – people must be able to trust that governments and all other industries (including the science sector), adequately handle and protect their data. This requires accountability on a global level, and digital industries must embrace the change and go for a higher standard of protection. “This will reassure consumers and citizens, benefitting the whole digital economy”, says Marcus. A stable and secure information and communication technologies (ICT) infrastructure – currently provided by the National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) – is key to advance collaboration in science. The AfricaConnect2 project (AfricaConnect (2012–2014) and AfricaConnect2 (2016–2018)) through establishing connectivity between National Research and Education Networks (NRENs), is planning to roll out AfricaConnect3 by the end of 2019. The concern however is that selected African governments (with the exception of a few countries such as South Africa, Mozambique, Ethiopia and others) have low awareness of the impact the Internet has today on all societal levels, how much ICT (and the 4th Industrial Revolution) have affected research, and the added value an NREN can bring to higher education and research in addressing the respective needs, which is far more complex than simply providing connectivity. Apart from more commitment and investment in R&D, African governments – to become and remain part of the 4th Industrial Revolution – have no option other than to acknowledge and commit to the role NRENs play in advancing science towards addressing the SDG (Sustainable Development Goals). For successful collaboration and direction, it is fundamental that policies within one country are aligned with one another. Alignment on continental level is crucial for the future Pan-African African Open Science Platform to be successful. Both the HIPSSA ((Harmonization of ICT Policies in Sub-Saharan Africa)3 project and WATRA (the West Africa Telecommunications Regulators Assembly)4, have made progress towards the regulation of the telecom sector, and in particular of bottlenecks which curb the development of competition among ISPs. A study under HIPSSA identified potential bottlenecks in access at an affordable price to the international capacity of submarine cables and suggested means and tools used by regulators to remedy them. Work on the recommended measures and making them operational continues in collaboration with WATRA. In addition to sufficient bandwidth and connectivity, high-performance computing facilities and services in support of data sharing are also required. The South African National Integrated Cyberinfrastructure System5 (NICIS) has made great progress in planning and setting up a cyberinfrastructure ecosystem in support of collaborative science and data sharing. The regional Southern African Development Community6 (SADC) Cyber-infrastructure Framework provides a valuable roadmap towards high-speed Internet, developing human capacity and skills in ICT technologies, high- performance computing and more. The following countries have been identified as having high-performance computing facilities, some as a result of the Square Kilometre Array7 (SKA) partnership: Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Mauritius, Namibia, South Africa, Tunisia, and Zambia. More and more NRENs – especially the Level 6 NRENs 8 (Algeria, Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, and recently Zambia) – are exploring offering additional services; also in support of data sharing and transfer. The following NRENs already allow for running data-intensive applications and sharing of high-end computing assets, bio-modelling and computation on high-performance/ supercomputers: KENET (Kenya), TENET (South Africa), RENU (Uganda), ZAMREN (Zambia), EUN (Egypt) and ARN (Algeria). Fifteen higher education training institutions from eight African countries (Botswana, Benin, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, and Tanzania) have been identified as offering formal courses on data science. In addition to formal degrees, a number of international short courses have been developed and free international online courses are also available as an option to build capacity and integrate as part of curricula. The small number of higher education or research intensive institutions offering data science is however insufficient, and there is a desperate need for more training in data science. The CODATA-RDA Schools of Research Data Science aim at addressing the continental need for foundational data skills across all disciplines, along with training conducted by The Carpentries 9 programme (specifically Data Carpentry 10 ). Thus far, CODATA-RDA schools in collaboration with AOSP, integrating content from Data Carpentry, were presented in Rwanda (in 2018), and during17-29 June 2019, in Ethiopia. Awareness regarding Open Science (including Open Data) is evident through the 12 Open Science-related Open Access/Open Data/Open Science declarations and agreements endorsed or signed by African governments; 200 Open Access journals from Africa registered on the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ); 174 Open Access institutional research repositories registered on openDOAR (Directory of Open Access Repositories); 33 Open Access/Open Science policies registered on ROARMAP (Registry of Open Access Repository Mandates and Policies); 24 data repositories registered with the Registry of Data Repositories (re3data.org) (although the pilot project identified 66 research data repositories); and one data repository assigned the CoreTrustSeal. Although this is a start, far more needs to be done to align African data curation and research practices with global standards. Funding to conduct research remains a challenge. African researchers mostly fund their own research, and there are little incentives for them to make their research and accompanying data sets openly accessible. Funding and peer recognition, along with an enabling research environment conducive for research, are regarded as major incentives. The landscape report concludes with a number of concerns towards sharing research data openly, as well as challenges in terms of Open Data policy, ICT infrastructure supportive of data sharing, capacity building, lack of skills, and the need for incentives. Although great progress has been made in terms of Open Science and Open Data practices, more awareness needs to be created and further advocacy efforts are required for buy-in from African governments. A federated African Open Science Platform (AOSP) will not only encourage more collaboration among researchers in addressing the SDGs, but it will also benefit the many stakeholders identified as part of the pilot phase. The time is now, for governments in Africa, to acknowledge the important role of science in general, but specifically Open Science and Open Data, through developing and aligning the relevant policies, investing in an ICT infrastructure conducive for data sharing through committing funding to making NRENs financially sustainable, incentivising open research practices by scientists, and creating opportunities for more scientists and stakeholders across all disciplines to be trained in data management.