Africa's parliament opens
19 March 2004
The Pan African Parliament opened in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Thursday, with African Union (AU) Chairman Joaquim Chissano telling the 180 members - representing the 36 countries that have so far signed the protocol establishing the body - that their task was to ensure the participation of African people in the continent's economic development and integration.
"We shall continue to correct the thought that Africa's future is bleak", Chissano said in his opening address to the inaugaral session of the parliament.
The Mozambican president told the parliamentarians: "You will contribute to the promotion of an ever-growing climate of political convergence through the discussion, deepening and codification of values that will overcome the barriers that still prevent us from full integration."
The body will function as a consultative
forum for the next five years, although it is envisaged that it will eventually pass legislation for the entire continent. Its broad aims are to promote human rights and democracy and encourage good governance, transparency and accountability in African governments.
Chissano said the continent's biggest challenge was the fight against poverty. "Without economic development, our political processes, our institutions will always be compromised."
He also urged the parliamentarians to follow up on tasks relating to the Peer Review Mechanism - the AU body tasked with assessing African countries' adherence to principles of sound governance - saying it was critical that the parliament encouraged member states to cooperate fully with this process.
The parliament, said Chissano, would also have a role to play in efforts to facilitate the free movement of people and goods within the continent. He also urged members to lobby their counterparts in other countries to promote
debates on African issues such as the continent's external debt.
'Not just a talk shop'
Tanzanian representative Gertrude Mongella, who was elected president of the parliament during its opening session, has promised that the body will not become just another "talk shop".
Mongella told a press conference at the AU Headquarters in Addis Ababa on Thursday that the parliament consisted of "serious people" who were ready to do the work required.
"I don't expect them to come to Addis Ababa, or wherever the host of the parliament will be, to make it a talk shop", she said.
She said members of the parliament would have to tackle and debate issues affecting Africa such as globalisation and HIV/Aids.
The implementation of the AU's blueprint for socio-economic development, the New Partnership for Africa's Development
(Nepad), "is a serious discussion", she said, "and we expect members of this parliament will take the issues, already defined by the AU, very seriously."
Later on Thursday, the body elected four vice-presidents representing central, western, northern and southern Africa. The four vice-president, together with the president, make up the Bureau of the Parliament, and will act as its business unit.
The four are: Fernando Van-Dunem (representing southern Africa), Mohammed Lutfi Farhat (northern Africa), Elise Neloumsi Loum (central Africa), and Jerome Sacca Kina Guezere (western Africa).
Africa 'takes control of its own future'
South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said the establishment of the AU's two most important bodies - the Parliament and the Peace and Security Council, which was launched on Monday - had put the continent on a path towards sustainability.
Addressing students at the University of Addis Ababa,
Dlamini-Zuma said the two institutions would go a long way towards building African unity and improving security for Africa's people, while creating the conditions for political stability.
By establishing the Pan African Parliament, she said, Africa had made a crucial step in taking control of its own political future.
"Sustainable development - an improvement in the quality of our people's economic well-being - is inextricably linked to political stability, democratic governance, conflict prevention and resolution."
The Peace and Security Council, on the other hand, would play a key role in strengthening the continent's capacity for conflict prevention, management and resolution.
"This also entails a comprehensive strategy that includes post-conflict peace building on the African continent", she explained.
She called on all Africans to nurture and guard the two institutions, because "we know and can feel that they mark a historic turn in the
rebirth of our continent", adding that it was everyone's collective determination to be the subjects of their own history. "Together we can and must hold the future in our own hands."
Source: BuaNews
| 
