PLENARY SESSION - PARLIAMENTARY LINKS THROUGH THE COMMONWEALTH
MAKING A COMMITMENT TO REPRESENTATIVE PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY
Speech by the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Mr Kamalesh Sharma
It is a pleasure to address you again, and I thank Sir Alan Haselhurst and Dr William Shija for inviting me to do so. This is a regular fixture in my calendar and I always welcome the opportunity to meet with those who represent the people of the Commonwealth through our Parliaments, where the heart of democracy beats strongest. We also owe gratitude to our hosts, Hon. Mninwa Johannes Mahlangu and Hon. Max Sisulu. I congratulate them and their teams on the excellent arrangements for this conference, and thank them for the warm welcome we have received. Wherever I travel in member states, I make a point of calling on leaders and representatives of the government as well as on the Speaker and Leader of the Opposition. I am always mindful of the role that Parliamentarians play, and the importance of strengthening parliamentary practice and culture. I would have met a number of you here in the course of those visits, and it is very good to see familiar faces. A Commonwealth conference in Africa is also always an opportunity
to take stock and to celebrate that our members here, across the range of indices, tend to find themselves at the top end of progression and achievement. This is not by chance. The Commonwealth has identified a blend of values and principles that are advanced for its people. And a great deal of the success in this region as elsewhere is due to the role of yourselves as Parliamentarians.
Commonwealth bonds with South Africa
South Africa’s place in the Commonwealth, and the Commonwealth’s role in the struggle against apartheid, remind us that shared belief in democracy, development, and respect for diversity, are what bind our global family together.
This morning, His Excellency the President lauded the Commonwealth as a uniquely global organization. Nelson Mandela – Madiba – South Africa’s greatest son whom we all wish well, speaking as the first democratically elected leader of this “Rainbow Nation”, famously remarked
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that, “the Commonwealth makes the world safe for diversity”.
Representation and respect for diversity and for differing opinions, with inclusivity and equity, are indispensable to our Commonwealth understanding of what is needed if we are to take strides as societies that are more just, and a world order that is fairer.
The commitment of our member states to representative parliamentary democracy can be seen as an expression of the kinship and affinity that is so distinctive a feature of the Commonwealth. Indeed, parliamentary links, forged and continually strengthened through the work of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association over many decades, can be seen as among the most powerful practical illustration of Commonwealth nations joining together freely and voluntarily in an enduring relationship. Democracy around the
Commonwealth takes varied forms. However, we commit ourselves to common values and principles, and these shape both our collective goals
and our collective responsibility. Deep-rooted in our Commonwealth approach is the ideal of learning from one another and gaining reciprocally through the exchange of ideas, experience and insights. That is what Commonwealth conferences are all about: to strengthen networks, to share, to exchange, to be mutually supportive, and to benefit from doing so.
Democracy and Development The collective wisdom of the Commonwealth is that, while development and democracy are each goals in their own right, they are also interconnected and mutually reinforcing. Development is enhanced and achieves greater advance in democratic societies where the individual has liberty and choice. Democracy is enhanced where the tide of economic growth lifts all and leaves none behind.
The Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Abuja in 2002 said in the Aso Rock Declaration on Development and Democracy, ‘We are convinced that
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