Press release of the Inter-Parliamentary Union
Geneva, 7 May 1999
N° 76

The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) will organise, from 17 to 19 May in Libreville, at the invitation of the National Assembly of Gabon and with the financial support of UNDP, a Parliamentary Seminar on Relations Between Majority and Minority Parties in African Parliaments. The inaugural ceremony will take place on 17 May at 10 a.m. on the premises of the National Assembly.

The overall objective of the Seminar (open to all national parliaments of Africa) is to favour an exchange of views and experience between MPs from the ranks of majority and opposition parties on various questions relating to relations between majority and minority parties in parliament. In line with the IPU's stated objective to promote partnership between men and women in political life, the delegations should also include significant numbers of women MPs.

Parliamentarians will be called upon at the end of the Seminar to adopt Model Guidelines for the Rights and Responsibilities of the Opposition. This instrument should contribute to a better functioning of parliaments in Africa so that these parliaments can in turn participate more effectively in the improvement of democracy and good governance as the foundations for the evolution of a legal framework propitious for development.

Topics on the Seminar agenda:

• Present state of relations between governing and opposition parties in Africa;
• Roles and responsibilities within the various organs of parliament (parliamentary committees, loyal opposition, political tolerance, etc.);
• Rights and obligations of the opposition;
• The relationship between the Executive and an opposition-dominated legislature;
• The particular situation of independents; floor-crossing.

Keynote presentations will be made by the following figures:

• Mr Cyril Enoch Ndebele (Speaker of the National Assembly of Zimbabwe), Mr Joseph Gnonlonfoun (Minister of Justice, Benin),
• Mr Yawovi Abgoyibo (President of the Comité d'Action pour le Renouveau, Togo),
• Mrs Viola Furubjelke (President of the Standing Committee of Foreign Affairs, Parliament of Sweden),
• Mr Raila Odinga (Chairman of the National Development Party, National Assembly of Kenya);
• Prof. Guy Carcassone (Professor of Public Law, University of Paris X - Nanterre, Former Adviser to French Prime Minister Michel Rocard).

Contact Mrs Luisa Ballin, IPU Information Officer in Geneva: Tel. (41 22) 919 41 16 or 919 41 27, fax (41 22) 919 41 60 or 733 31 41, e-mail: lb@mail.ipu.org or cd@mail.ipu.org

Contact in Libreville (from 13 to 20 May 1999): Mr Martin Chungong, Officer-in-charge of the Programme for the study and promotion of representative institutions, Okouma Palace Hotel, Tel. (241) 73 21 85 or 73 20 23 or 73 26 19, fax (241) 73 16 29.

The IPU also has a liaison office with the UN in New York: tel. (1 212) 557.5880, fax (1 212) 557.3954, e-mail: ny-office@mail.ipu.