Press release of the Inter-Parliamentary Union
Seoul, 12 April 1997
N°6

IPU LOOKS AT PALESTINE AND BELARUS MEMBERSHIP

The Inter-Parliamentary Council, the governing body of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), meeting in Seoul on 12 April, during the 97th IPU Conference, adopted a motion welcoming the membership in the IPU as soon as possible of the legislative body of the Palestinian people.

The motion called for the establishment of a five-member Committee, representing the IPU's major geopolitical groups, to - in the light of the IPU's Statutes and international law - see how to achieve this objective. The motion was proposed by the Republic of Korea, and voted by 106 to 51, with 20 abstentions, in a roll-call vote.

The President of the Council, Dr Ahmed Fathy Sorour, told the meeting that the motion could be considered as a political expression of support for the Palestinian people. He expressed the wish that the Committee would get down to work quickly and make its proposals at the next IPU Conference session, in September this year, in Cairo.

Following is the text of the motion:

The Inter-Parliamentary Council,

1. Welcomes the membership as soon as possible of the legislative body which represents the Palestinian people,
2. Decides to establish a Committee composed of one representative from each of the five major geopolitical groups within the IPU, and entrusts this Committee with proposing the means of achieving this objective, in a manner which is consonant with the IPU Statutes and with the principles of international law.

At its same session, and upon the recommendation of the IPU Executive Committee, the Council voted (by 91 to 31, and 36 abstentions) to suspend the membership of the Parliament of Belarus.

The Executive Committee's report on the matter noted that the elected Belarus Supreme Council was "no longer able to function", and that the new National Assembly of November 1996 was established "through a process whose legality is questioned".

The Council said the Executive Committee would keep monitoring the parliamentary situation in Belarus.

The suspension of Belarus reduces the IPU's membership to 137 national member-parliaments.

In a separate motion on the situation of Burundi, the Council called "urgently for the restoration of constitutional order and the rule of law as well as for the full and effective re-establishment of the parliamentary institution in Burundi".

The Council had suspended the parliament of Burundi at its previous session, in September 1996, because it was not functioning as a result of the disturbances in the country in July of that year. The Head of State restored the National Assembly by decree in September 1996, but the Council deeply regretted that "the restoration of the Assembly was no more than a purely formal measure".

The motion, which was adopted without a vote, also said that the National Assembly "is not in a position to function" as a result of changes in the Basic Laws of the country which reduced its power and competence. Moreover, it strongly deplored that "of the 81 members of the National Assembly elected in June 1993, 12 have been killed in total impunity and that, following intimidatory measures, more than 30 others have gone into exile and that therefore less than half of the representatives of the people are living inside the country". (The IPU's Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians, which is currently meeting in Seoul, is looking into the cases of Burundi MPs.)

Following are the IPU's current 137 member-parliaments, plus three associate members:

Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, 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, Finland, France, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, 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, 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, Zaire, Zambia, Zimbabwe

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

FOR MORE INFORMATION, contact in Seoul:

• IPU Press Officer: Robin Newmann, tel: (822) 788-3573; fax 788-3285
• Korean Press Officer: KIM Yong-Koo, Public Relations Officer, National Assembly, tel: 788-3689; fax 788-3284