Орталық Америка ынтымақтастық жүйесінің парламенті

Legislature of the Central American Integration System

The Central American Parliament (lang es), also known as PARLACEN, is the political institution and parliamentary body of the Central American Integration System (SICA). Its headquarters are in Guatemala City.

The PARLACEN origins date back to the Contadora Group, a project of the 1980s that sought to help resolve the civil wars in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua. Although the Contadora group was disbanded in 1986, the idea of a greater Central American integration remained, giving rise to the Esquipulas II Agreement, which among other things, created the Central American Parliament. The Treaty establishing the Central American Parliament and other political bodies was signed in 1987; its first formal session was carried out on 28 October 1991 in Guatemala City. The PARLACEN as a political body in the region is part of the Central American Integration System SICA, established by the Protocol of Tegucigalpa to the Charter of the Organization of American States (ODECA) signed on 13 December 1991. SICA has the fundamental aim to realize an integration that is political and ideological representative in a pluralistic democratic system that guarantees free elections and participation under equal conditions for political parties. The historic Declaration of Esquipulas I, which was adopted by the presidents of the Central American states in the city of Esquipulas (Guatemala) on 25 May 1986, included the following declaration: "It is necessary to establish and complement activities that support understanding and cooperation with institutional structures. They shall make possible to strengthen the dialogue, the common development, democracy and pluralism as fundamental elements for peace in the region and the integration of Central America. Therefore the foundation of PARLACEN is necessary. Its members are elected freely by universal and direct elections through which the principle of political and participative pluralism is followed." The agreement of PARLACEN and other political authorities was signed in October 1987 by Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Honduras. In the beginning, it was an instrument which came into force for only three states (Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras) on 1 May 1990. PARLACEN was formed on 28 October 1991 and has its head office in Guatemala City, Republic of Guatemala. The Legislative Yuan, Taiwan’s legislative body, was granted permanent observer status at PARLACEN in 1999. However PARLACEN signaled a shift in approach when on 28 April 2022 it made a statement to support a One China policy. The following year, on 21 August 2023, the PARLACEN Plenary Assembly voted to revoke the permanent observer status of Taiwan's legislative body and include China’s National People’s Congress as a permanent observer instead. The vote was made at the request of the Nicaraguan delegation which argued that "Taiwan lacks recognition as a sovereign state at the United Nations” and that the "observer status that Taiwan holds at PARLACEN is illegitimate due to lack of legal status”, also noting a UN resolution concerning Chinese representation at the UN. The Chinese government welcomed the development.

PARLACEN is the regional assembly of SICA and acts as a permanent political organ to represent opinions and to carry out analyses and discussions about political, economic and cultural affairs of common interest, of basic conditions for democracy, peace, and the integration of Central America, as well to work out initiatives for its realization. It is charged with furthering human rights and international law, to achieve a peaceful coexistence within the framework of security and social welfare, a mission which is well founded in representative and participative democracy, in pluralism, and in respect for national legislation and international law. PARLACEN has the status of a legal entity according to international law.

President of Panama Ricardo Martinelli vowed he would remove Panama from PARLACEN, fulfilling a campaign promise. On 11 December 2009, law 78 passed withdrawing Panama from PARLACEN, but a resolution of the Central American Court of Justice declared the law unconstitutional. The court said there is no mechanism to withdraw from the PARLACEN and Panama could not opt out. In January 2012, the Panamanian Supreme Court re affirmed that ruling and Panama returned to PARLACEN. Panama also showed more interest in membership after SICA signed a free trade agreement with the European Union.

The PARLACEN is the regional and permanent organ of political and democratic representation of the System of Central American Integration (SICA) with the main purpose to realize the Central American integration.

Proposal of legislation concerning the integration. Democratic control of the integration. Initiatives to deepen and amplify the integration.

Promoting the process of integration and leading the way to the greatest possible cooperation between the Central American states. Proposing draft treaties and agreements which are to be negotiated by the Central American states and forming an opinion of what the SICA proposes. Creating special commissions to determine the discordances between the states that could affect the integration. Helping to consolidate a democratic, pluralistic, and participative form of government in the Central American states. Promoting the validity of international law. Knowing the official executive authorities of SICA. Knowing the budgets of the institutions of SICA.

PARLACEN's organisational structure consists of the Plenum, the Board of Parliament, and the Secretary Office.

The parliamentary groups monitor the political trend of the Central American representatives and are organized according to the political orientation of their groups. The parliamentary groups are founded by the adoption of an internal statute by the plenary assembly. The board of parliament registers each parliamentary group. The statute is published and states the group's ideological principles, the political objectives and the regulations. There are three parliamentary groups: the Parliamentary Group of the Left, Center Democratic Integration Group, and Democratic Integrationist Union.

Country Party Seats Last election Next election Ref. (Reference) Modern Revolutionary Party 11 5 July 2020 19 May 2024 Dominican Liberation Party 8 Independent 1 Total: 20 Nuevas Ideas 13 3 March 2024 2027 Nationalist Republican Alliance 2 Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front 2 Grand Alliance for National Unity 2 Christian Democratic Party 1 Total: 20 Vamos 5 25 June 2023 2027 National Unity of Hope 4 Semilla 3 Vision with Values 2 Valor–Unionist Party 2 Todos 1 Will, Opportunity and Solidarity 1 Nosotros 1 Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity–Winaq 1 Total: 20 Liberty and Refoundation 10 28 November 2021 2025 National Party of Honduras 8 Liberal Party of Honduras 2 Total: 20 Sandinista National Liberation Front 15 7 November 2021 2026 Constitutionalist Liberal Party 2 Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance 1 Independent Liberal Party 1 Alliance for the Republic 1 Total: 20 Democratic Revolutionary Party 7 5 May 2019 5 May 2024 Democratic Change 7 Panameñista Party 2 Nationalist Republican Liberal Movement 1 Alliance Party 1 People's Party 1 Independent 1 Total: 20 Total: 120 2024 2024

The 20 elected members representing every member state the Central American Parliament are elected at the same time as the presidential elections of the member state according to article 2 of the Internal Regulations of the Central American Parliament. The former president of every member state, as well as every vice president and prime minister, are also de jure members of the PARLACEN from the end of their term till the end of their successor's term.

Costa Rica, one of the wealthier countries in the region and an otherwise active participant in the SICA, has not ratified the Esquipulas II agreement, and is not represented in the Parlacen. Parlacen is seen by some (including former President of Honduras Ricardo Maduro) as a white elephant.

On February 19, 2007, a group of three Salvadoran representatives were murdered by four Guatemalan police officers, including the head of the Guatemalan National Police organized crime unit. The killers were arrested three days later and detained in a Guatemalan prison, where they were themselves murdered several days later by a group of gunmen disguised as prison guards. Guatemalan president Óscar Berger attributed the officers' murders to an apparent mafia hit aimed at hindering investigation into the representatives’ murders. The killings raised questions regarding corruption and drug trafficking in Central America as well as the high level of infiltration of the Guatemalan national police force by organized crime.