Proposed Amendments to Draft Rules of Pan African Parliament: adoption of Committee Report

Meeting report

FOREIGN AFFAIRS PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
14 September 2004
PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO DRAFT RULES OF PAN AFRICAN PARLIAMENT: ADOPTION OF COMMITTEE REPORT

Chairperson: Mr D Sithole (ANC)

Documents handed out
Draft Provisional Rules of Procedure of the Pan African Parliament
Committee Report on Provisional Rules of the Pan African Parliament
Information on Rules and Vision Statement of the Pan African Parliament
Committee Programme

SUMMARY
Members adopted the Committee Report which proposed certain amendments to the Provisional Rules of the Pan African Parliament. These proposed amendments would be argued for at the Pan African Parliament by the delegation representing the South African Parliament.

The Committee is expected to submit a 2005/6 Business Plan and the Committee programme would be finalised at their next meeting. The Committee is assisting the South African Human Rights Commission with a public hearing on xenophobia in Johannesburg - tentatively from 18 to 22 October 2004.

MINUTES
Committee programme
The Committee examined the Committee programme.

The Chair pointed out that public hearings on xenophobia would be held by the Committee and the Human Rights Commission during the week of 18-22 October according to the programme.

Mr D Gibson (DA) asked why the hearings needed to be held during the week of the 18th when Parliament would be having a Plenary. Members should try and focus such activities during the Committee Week of 11-15 October.

The Chairperson responded that the Human Rights Commission had not been able to accommodate the original date and had suggested the week of the 18th. He clarified that the dates in the Committee Programme had not been fixed.

In reply to Mr B Holomisa (UDM) asking if he expected the programme to be adopted at the meeting, the Chair said that the programme was provisional.

Committee Report on Proposed Amendments to Draft Rules of Pan African Parliament
The Chairperson asked that Members should read through the Committee Report and make sure it matched its discussions on the Rules and make any further recommendations. The delegation to the PAP should be able to argue for the proposed amendments based on a report that had been straightforward.

Two issues that were discussed by the committee was the matter of opening committees of the PAP to the public and differentiating between an Ad Hoc and a Subcommittee

Ms A Njobe (ANC) asked about the difference between an Ad Hoc and a Subcommittee.

The Chairperson said Members had discussed the issue and it had been agreed that the term Ad-hoc should be used to avoid confusion when it is a committee appointed for a limited life span to do a specific task.

Ms Njobe (ANC) asked the extent to which the South African position that the PAP be open to the public, was supported by other countries.

The Chairperson replied that the Protocol said that the PAP should be open to the public. Many countries disagreed so the delegation would have to argue strongly for this. He added that Rule 29 would come up strongly in the debates. A 'Dean' had to be established to deal with the swearing in of new PAP members.

The Committee unanimously adopted the report.

The meeting was adjourned.