Speaker of the National Assembly attended a week long International Parliamentary Union (IPU) forum which started on Monday in Cape Town, South Africa.

In an interview, the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Mr. Sephiri Motanyane said Ms. Ntlhoi Motsamai attended the conference only as an observer.

'This is because the Parliament of Lesotho is not yet a member of IPU and therefore has no right to be fully active in the deliberations,' he stressed.

However, Mr. Motanyane said Lesotho would like to be a member of the IPU, since it serves as a platform for parliaments to share experiences and ideas about issues affecting them.

He said, they would await the parliament's ruling over the issue whether they should join IPU or not.

The Speaker is expected to brief the House on what transpired at the forum when she comes back next week.

Established in 1889 on the initiative of two parliamentarians and men of peace, Mr. William Randal Cremer of United Kingdom and Mr. Frederic Passy of France, the International Parliamentary Union was the first permanent forum for political multilateral negotiations.

Promoting the concepts of peace and international arbitration, IPU provided the origins for today, form of institutionalised multilateral co-operation and advocated the establishment of corresponding institutions at the inter-governmental level, which eventually came into being as the United Nations.

IPU Currently has members across the globe and it is the focal point for world-wide parliamentary dialogue and works for peace and co-operation among peoples and for the firm establishment of representative democracy.

Source: LENA 17/04/2008