PLENARY SESSION - COMMONWEALTH MATTERS
COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENTARY CONFERENCE Johannesburg, South Africa
59th Plenary Session - 2 September 2013
DEMOCRACY ANDDEVELOPMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF THE COMMONWEALTH CHARTER AND ACHIEVING THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS
Speech by the CPA Secretary-General, Dr William F. Shija
It is an honour and privilege to be with you at this 59th and historical Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference here in Johannesburg, South Africa. Graced once again by the presence of the Commonwealth Secretary-General, His Excellency Mr Kamalesh Sharma, the conference is historical as it is the first time the real democratic South Africa is hosting this major Commonwealth Parliamentary event, although the country was among the six founding members of the Association in 1911, at that time known as the Empire Parliamentary Association. I therefore join you, Mr President, in welcoming all the delegates to Johannesburg as guests of your host branch at this important conference. I thank you for the hospitality, facilities and arrangements.
I join all delegates in expressing our best wishes for a quick and full recovery of the former President and Statesman of South Africa and icon
of African democracy and peace, His Excellency Nelson Mandela - “Madiba”.
Secondly, I wish to thank Her Majesty The Queen, the Patron of the Association, for the very thoughtful and encouraging message to all the delegates, wishing this Conference the very best in its deliberations. I join you and all the delegates in thanking the Guest of Honour, H.E Jacob Zuma, President of Republic of South Africa, for gracing the opening of this conference. I believe that his thoughtful remarks will highly inspire and enrich the conference discussions, leading to useful deliberations.
I wish to honourably salute all South Africans for their determination to utilize the wise leadership available to build a new society, moving from the ferocious and racial “apartheid” system, to a universally determined democratic society.
The liberation struggle was 246 | The Parliamentarian | 2013: Issue Four
galvanized by leaders in Africa and elsewhere in the world, to stamp out apartheid, as the last social scourge in the world. I recall the call by Kwame Nkrumah first President of Ghana, who, in the early 1960s, called for all Africans to unite in the liberation of the rest of Africa, including the stamping out of the apartheid system in South Africa. The creation of the Southern Africa Liberation Committee, for the struggle in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia, and South Africa, led to the formation later on, of the present- day Southern African Development Community (SADC).
My colleagues in Africa will recall how there came to be constant security threats in the 1970s and 1980s from the apartheid regime in South Africa because some countries were perceived to be homes to exiled members of the African National Congress (ANC) and the Pan African Congress (PAC). Now, it is very satisfying to note that South Africans
have acknowledged the wonderful support they received from within Africa and other countries in the world to defeat the apartheid system. With this history in mind, I wish to take this opportunity to recognize the presence of our partners, in particular, the professional resource persons who have accepted our invitation to make presentations at our plenary and workshop sessions. As I said during the opening of the Small Branches Conference, having received the Working Party Report in Sri Lanka last year, the General Assembly agreed to “transform the results of conference discussions into more precisely worded statements of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association opinion”, as expressed by conference delegates. The 59th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference here in South Africa will therefore be the first to come up with the 2013 Commonwealth Parliamentary
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124