Topic: Legitimacy of Government during Popular Uprising
Country: France
Delegate Name: Trevor Grayeb
School: Forest Hills Northern High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All France position papers GLIMUN 2011 committees
The march of global progress has been paved, for centuries, by revolutionaries, those who would seek to have their voices heard by a government that does not want to listen. Indeed, France’s own history is steeped in uprising against tyrants and monarchs. But this is a long-closed chapter buried in Europe’s Age of Revolution. Today the world stands upon the brink of a systematic upheaval, as France and its fellow “old powers” see their role in world affairs change while fostering the growth of new powers born from the ranks of developing nations. And as these countries seek their fullest untapped potential, a new Age of Revolution has begun to spread throughout the Islamic Maghreb and beyond, sparking the long-predicted “Fourth Wave” of Democratization.
But this fourth wave will ripple through a world vastly different from that which France found itself in at the dawning of the so-called “First Wave.” And indeed, peaceful uprisings by sons of democracy in the Arab world have been met time and again with the barrel of a gun. When circumstance of progress pits a despot against his own people, the question must inevitably be raised as to the right of a government to rule in the face of such a crisis. As one of the globe’s premier diplomatic players and an active proponent of the United Nations since its inception, France stresses the active role that the UN, as the chief forum of the international community, must play in evaluating the legitimacy of these governments that would slaughter peaceful protesters, their own citizens.
As a nation whose history, resources, and diplomatic standpoint poises it to effectively mediate the rise of a new epoch of democratic change, France has taken the initiative in the support and protection of those who are oppressed by illegitimate regimes. The French Republic was the first nation on Earth to recognize the National Transitional Council in Libya. We were the first to organize a transnational effort to protect the Libyan people and the first to lead the fight for sanctions on rogue despot Bashar al-Assad. The French Armed Forces were the first in the air over Benghazi and the first on the ground in Cote d’Ivoire to assure that an illegitimate government did not usurp Ivorian democracy. Through this all, France has led the fight to defend the true legitimacy of governments, enshrined in the mandate of the people.
The legitimacy of government is derived solely from the consent of the governed, from popular mandate, regardless of the form of government in question be it republic, kingdom, or otherwise. This is an unshakable tenet of the French Republic, and an idea deeply ingrained in the United Nations. Article 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights charges the international community to uphold this principle, stating that "the will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government." But as progress wracks the globe, that popular mandate finds itself under attack in countless theatres, and it is the responsibility of the international community to protect it. Any government that intentionally suppresses the will of the people through military or paramilitary action against peaceful civilians has undoubtedly lost that mandate. Similarly, any state that willfully nullifies the will of the people as it has been objectively verified through a UN-monitored election also sheds the popular mandate, and with it their legitimacy as a governing body. We must take action against such states, developing for application in international law a strict and exacting system for weeding out those who have no right to rule and ensuring a transition to legitimate rule with popular mandate, be that through extensive reforms or through transfer of legitimacy to an opposition body. The precedent of determining illegitimacy has been set by the United Nations in their action in Cote d’Ivoire and Libya, through UNSC Resolutions 1962 (2010) and 1973 (2011,) both authored by France. Now, to be more actively prepared to protect the will of the people in a changing world governed by cruel regimes resistant to change, we are called upon to standardize this precedent and codify it in international law. To this end, France hopes to avoid the bloodshed and military intervention required by both of the above resolutions, and to save the lives of many thousands of peaceful civilian protestors with democratic aspirations.
