Brigitte Weidlich
15 April 2008
Windhoek — Parliamentarians in Africa and the rest of the world should not remain silent about the situation in Zimbabwe, where a democratic process had "gone wrong", a leader of a world parliamentary organisation meeting in South Africa said yesterday.
"As parliamentarians we cannot remain silent when we witness sufferings and violation of human rights. We can also not remain silent about the situation in Zimbabwe," said the Speaker of the South African parliament, Baleka Mbete. Over the weekend, her country's President Thabo Mbeki said there was "no crisis in Zimbabwe after the elections two weeks ago.
"Six Speakers from the southern African region, supported by the President of the Pan-African Parliament, Gertrude Mongella, on Sunday issued a statement to the SADC special summit in Zambia, urging a speedy resolution to a democratic process gone wrong. We look forward to a lasting solution in the interest of peace and stability in Zimbabwe and in the SADC region," Mbete told the conference, which will last until Friday.
Mbeki on Sunday opened the 118th assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Cape Town. It is being attended by 1 700 delegates from 135 countries, including over 50 Speakers of national parliaments. The Speaker of Namibia's National Assembly, Theo-Ben Gurirab, is one of them.
Gurirab is a candidate for the position of IPU president, who will be elected during the conference. "I urge national parliaments, consistent with our oversight obligations, to engage and urge our governments to put programmes and initiatives in place that will effectively tackle poverty on the one hand and empowerment of the people on the other," Gurirab said in his speech.
The theme of the six-day conference is 'Pushing back the frontiers of poverty'. During the meeting, legislators will attempt to determine the extent to which peace building and reconciliation can transform society and its institutional framework. According the latest Human Development Report, 40 per cent of the world's population live in poverty and are unable to meet their daily basic needs.
These 2,6 billion people face first hand the risks of dangerous climate change and human development reversals. Established in 1889 and with its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the IPU is the oldest multilateral political organisation and brings together 146 affiliated parliaments and seven associated regional assemblies.
The world organisation of parliaments has an office in New York, which acts as its permanent observer at the United Nations.
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