By Staff Reporter
Parliament’s secretary Xolile George has been elected to the executive committee of the Association of Secretaries General of Parliaments at the 150th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly.
The association, which is an organ of the IPU and has a nine-member executive committee, held its meeting on the sidelines of the IPU assembly in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where the South African Parliament was represented by a multi-party delegation led by National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza.
George said his election was testament to the confidence the world and IPU members had in South Africa.
“This indicates that our country has much to offer to the world regarding leadership, governance, peace and security, mediation of conflicts and climate change. South Africa is a global player, and the world recognises that,” he said in a statement.
The association was founded in 1939 as a consultative body of the IPU. Its task is to study the law, procedure, practice and working methods of different parliaments and propose measures for improving those methods and securing cooperation between the services of different parliaments.
George said the administrative arm of parliaments needed to complement the oversight arm to ensure the delivery and welfare of people.
“We still have a long way to go on the African continent when it comes to attaining democracy in the true sense and resolving conflicts. There are good flashes, but governance and parliamentary oversight still need some attention,” he said.
Didiza was earlier elected to chair the Africa Group, which is a lobby caucus with the biggest membership within the IPU.
The IPU aims to build strong democratic parliaments, advance gender equality, promote human rights, contribute to peace building and conflict resolution, promote youth empowerment and bridge the democracy gap in global governance.
It comprises 182 member parliaments.
INSIDE POLITICS
