All the emergency items submitted to the 150th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) will not be debated in the Assembly on Tuesday, after all three were unable to meet the two thirds threshold required in the rules.
Israel had earlier withdraw its emergency item for reasons that were not divulged to the Assembly. However, when Israel went to table its emergency item, the Arab Group and those sympathetic to the Palestinian cause stood and left the Assembly.
During the walkout, the outgoing President of the IPU Dr Tulia Ackson cautioned members not to use offensive gestures. “I wish to remind the house that whilst it is the members’ democratic right to walkout, it is unacceptable to be making offensive gestures,” Dr Tulia noted.
The three emergency items that were to be considered for discussion by the Assembly were:
i) Advancing global economic cooperation: Reducing tariffs and combating protectionism (sponsored by Chile and Peru)
ii) Parliamentary diplomacy to promote peace and address the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar (sponsored by the Philippines and Thailand)
iii) The need for urgent action on Israel’s recent violation of the ceasefire agreement by in Palestine, the escalating conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan and the compounding effects of global warming (Sponsored by Seychelles, Zimbabwe, Jordan and Egypt with the support of the Arab and Africa groups).
Nigeria opposed the Africa Group’s emergency item saying it was “ambiguous” and that the items were not related to each other. Subsequently, it voted to oppose the Africa Group emergency item from being accepted for the debate in the Assembly on Tuesday.
South Africa supported the Africa Group emergency item and was instrumental in crafting it and its final submission. The South African parliamentary delegation to the 150th IPU Assembly is led by the Speaker of the National Assembly Ms Thoko Didiza.
The Assembly had earlier been addressed by the Uzbekistan President, Mr Shavkat Mirziyoyev. The IPU is a global organisation of national parliaments that facilitates parliamentary diplomacy and empowers parliaments and parliamentarians to promote peace, democracy and sustainable development worldwide.
The IPU’s work is concerned with building strong democratic parliaments; advancing gender equality and respect for women’s rights; protecting and promoting human rights; contributing to peace-building, conflict resolution and security; fostering inter-parliamentary dialogue and cooperation, promoting youth empowerment; mobilising parliaments around the global development agenda; and bridging the democracy gap in global governance.
The IPU is comprised of 182 member Parliaments, with the acceptance at this Assembly of the parliaments of Kazakhstan and Belize. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland.
Sibongile Maputi
8 April 2025
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