Seychelles, Mauritius agree to reactivate Indian Ocean parliament body |27 October 2005

The signing ceremony took place on October 18 at the Hotel du Gouvernement, Port Louis, in the Speaker’s Office. 

The Deputy Speaker, Hon. Jean-Francois Chaumiere, signed for the Mauritian Parliament, whilst the Chairman of the International Affairs Committee (IAC), Hon. Barry Faure, signed on behalf of the Seychelles National Assembly.

The MoU calls for the Seychelles National Assembly to organise an Extraordinary Session of APCOI in Seychelles in the course of 2006, subject to the agreement of the majority of the members.  The assistance of the General Secretariat of the IOC is being sought to make this undertaking possible.

The MoU thus paves the way for parliaments of member states of the Indian Ocean Commission to breathe new life into a body which, although was designed to provide parliamentarians with a forum to participate in regional co-operation, has remained inactive since its creation on November 27, 1997. 

"It should be noted, however, that whereas regional and international support may be obtained for the re-activation of the Association, the latter will only be sustained with the commitment of the national parliaments," says a communiqué from the Seychelles National Assembly.

The communiqué adds that the Mauritian side are to be congratulated for the confidence they have placed in the Seychelles side and for their willingness to join Seychelles in its endeavour to re-activate this parliament network and for the skills deployed in making possible the signing of the MoU during the three-day working visit of the Seychelles delegation, from October 17 to 19.

According to the communiqué the Seychellois delegation had travelled to Mauritius to "initiate intense lobbying efforts in the region to re-activate APCOI" and to further promote and develop exchanges between the parliaments of the two countries.

The Seychelles delegation comprised five IAC members (Barry Faure, Mitcy Larue, Ginette Gamatis – representing the SPPF, and Nicholas Prea and Hardy Lucas – representing the SNP), as well as the IAC Secretary, Deputy Clerk Marie-Nella Azemia and the National Authority Officer, Foreign Affairs Technical Advisor Jeannette d’Offay. 

The delegation returned to Mahe on October 20 after what the communiqué describes as "a fruitful mission" during which they carried out business with the Government, the Opposition, the Mauritian National Assembly and the General Secretariat of the Indian Ocean Commission.