Strasbourg- The Standing Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) approved on Friday in Paris, a draft resolution calling for grant foreigners the right to vote and stand for local and regional elections after a period of residence of five years.
In this draft, the Standing Committee, acting on behalf of the Assembly between plenary sessions, believes that “the right of diasporas to democratic participation is fundamental to their political integration” and that “as that the right to vote, at least in local elections, will not be granted to migrants and local residents of all backgrounds, the integration process remain unfinished. ”
Adopted on the basis of a report by the Italian Andrea Rigoni on “Democratic participation of migrant diasporas,” the draft resolution “calls for the establishment of bilateral commissions composed of legislators in the country of residence and the country of origin to review complex cases involving active political participation in more than one country citizens who hold dual nationality. ”
The Assembly considers, in this paper, that the granting of dual nationality or the introduction in their country of origin, a special legal status for nationals living abroad encourage their constructive participation in the policy development in their home country. It nonetheless notes that dual nationality should not be misused to promote expansionary policies and violate the sovereignty of other states.
The PACE Standing Committee is composed of members of the Presidency of the Assembly of Presidents of the political groups, the chairs of national delegations and President commissions or sixty parliamentarians from the 47 member states of the Council of Europe will be recalled.
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