Press release of the Inter-Parliamentary Union
Cairo, 11 September 1997
N° 3

The 98^th Inter-Parliamentary Conference elected by acclamation Dr Ahmed Fathy Sorour, President of the Egyptian People's Assembly, as its President, at the opening of its work in Cairo on 11 September 1997.

The Conference, organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the world organisation of parliaments, is taking place at the invitation of the Egyptian Parliament in the Cairo International Conference Centre from 11 to 16 September 1997.

On the Conference's opening day, 697 parliamentarians from 128 countries were registered as attending.

At its first session of work, the Conference decided on a supplementary item of debate: The need to eliminate all commercial and other forms of sexual exploitation of children and for the establishment of uniform laws to prohibit this indefensible violation of human rights of children. It was proposed by Australia and received the required two-thirds majority as well as the highest number of positive votes (1,179 in favour, 106 against and 182 abstentions).

The debate on this item will take place on Saturday 13 September, starting at 9 a.m., and a resolution will be presented for adoption at the Conference's final plenary session on Monday 15 September, starting at 3 p.m.

The topic was chosen after receiving more votes than competing proposals on AIDS, from Guatemala (966 for, 129 against and 372 abstentions); on climate change, from the United Kingdom (993 for, 121 against and 353 abstentions); and on Southern Lebanon, proposed by Lebanon and supported by the Arab Group of parliaments (679 for, 219 against and 569 abstentions). Proposals on mass destruction weapons in the Middle East (by Kuwait), sovereignty of Iraq (Iraq), sanctions against Libya (Libya) and Jewish settlement activities in the occupied territories (Iran) were withdrawn by their sponsors in favour of the Lebanese proposal, and those on surplus weapons disposal (Germany) and prevention of ethnic conflicts (Belgium and Hungary) were withdrawn in favour of the Australian proposal.

The Inter-Parliamentary Council, the IPU's governing body, meeting in Cairo today just before the opening of the 98^th Inter-Parliamentary Conference, decided to admit for the first time the parliament of Fiji to the IPU and reaffiliate the parliament of Belarus.

The Council also suspended the affiliation of the parliaments of Comoros and Jamaica for non-payment of their financial dues to the IPU, and of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (ex-Zaire) because the High Council of the Republic/Transitional Parliament of Zaire has ceased to function and the country's Constitution "does not foresee a representative institution to replace it". The Council, however, expressed the hope that a "legislative institution will be promptly established in the Democratic Republic of the Congo so that this country can be represented within the Inter-Parliamentary Union".

The number of member-parliaments of the IPU now stands at 137. Following is the current list of IPU members:

Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Denmark, Djibouti, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lebanon, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, San Marino, Senegal, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Thailand, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, United States of America, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Associate Members: Andean Parliament, Latin American Parliament, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

FOR MORE INFORMATION, contact:
IPU Press Officer: Robin Newmann, Cairo International Conference Centre,
tel. (202) 2600094; fax (202) 2600076