Motion for a resolution | Doc. 13688 | 28 January 2015

Voting in diasporas – making it real

Signatories: Ms Alina Ştefania GORGHIU, Romania, EPP/CD ; Mr Pedro AGRAMUNT, Spain, EPP/CD ; Mr Viorel Riceard BADEA, Romania, EPP/CD ; Ms Mónika BARTOS, Hungary, EPP/CD ; Mr Corneliu Mugurel COZMANCIUC, Romania, EPP/CD ; Mr Zsolt CSENGER-ZALÁN, Hungary, EPP/CD ; Ms Aleksandra DJUROVIĆ, Serbia, EPP/CD ; Mr Valeriu GHILETCHI, Republic of Moldova, EPP/CD ; Ms Rózsa HOFFMANN, Hungary, EPP/CD ; Mr Gordan JANDROKOVIĆ, Croatia, EPP/CD ; Mr Aleksandar JOVIČIĆ, Serbia, EPP/CD ; Ms Elvira KOVÁCS, Serbia, EPP/CD ; Ms Stella KYRIAKIDES, Cyprus, EPP/CD ; Mr Jenő MANNINGER, Hungary, EPP/CD ; Mr Frano MATUŠIĆ, Croatia, EPP/CD ; Ms Marija OBRADOVIĆ, Serbia, EPP/CD ; Mr José Ignacio PALACIOS, Spain, EPP/CD ; Ms Liliana PALIHOVICI, Republic of Moldova, EPP/CD ; Mr Ángel PINTADO, Spain, EPP/CD ; Mr Cezar Florin PREDA, Romania, EPP/CD ; Mr Gabino PUCHE, Spain, EPP/CD ; Mr Kimmo SASI, Finland, EPP/CD ; Mr Ionuţ-Marian STROE, Romania, EPP/CD

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only those who have signed it.

The increasing level of international mobility has favoured the migration phenomena, with new and immediate effects for our societies. A question arises: are the governments able to ensure the liberties and rights of its citizens located abroad?

We are witnessing a large common practice from the governing political parties that undermine the diasporas’ right to vote. Neither the lack of intergovernmental dialogue, nor the lack of infrastructure that must guarantee the right to vote for every single citizen, no matter how far they are from their residence, should represent a problem in the year 2015.

In these circumstances, it is the duty of the Parliamentary Assembly to rebuild international consent of the member States of the Council of Europe for diasporas’ right to vote, to come forward with feasible proposals that will allow citizens to exert their right to vote regardless of their nationality, and to represent a good example for its partners.