The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (Osce) is organising a conference in Cyprus titled ‘Combating corruption, defending democracy: The role of National Parliaments’ on May 27 and 28 at the Philoxenia conference centre.

The conference comes at the initiative of the Osce’s vice president Irene Charalambides.

In a joint new conference on Friday, House Speaker Annita Demetriou announced the upcoming conference.

“The aim is to become informed on the best practices other parliaments employ,” she said. “Combating corruption and enhancing transparency and accountability is our enduring policy objective”.

Charalambides in her statement said that the aim was to establish communication with the 57 parliamentary Osce members and convince them that the institution of parliament is the most effective partner in curbing instances of corruption found in many countries.

“Political will is the spearhead in combating corruption,” she said.

The theme of the conference concern the role of national parliaments in combating corruption, the role of independent institutions and media, and new practices geared towards promoting transparency and accountability.

The conference will also be attended by members of the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (Greco) the World Bank, Transparency International, the United Nations, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (Oecd).