Cpa And Ipu Delegation To South Africa

EDM number 961 in 1993-94, proposed by Ken Livingstone on 28/03/1994.

That this House finds it deplorable that the original Commonwealth Parliamentary Association United Kingdom Branch delegation to observe the first multi-racial elections in South Africa did not include a Black honourable Member of Parliament; recognises that this was an insult to the Black honourable Members who had applied and to Britain's Black community; demands an enquiry into how the United Kingdom branch of the CPA and of the IPU came to make such a decision; calls for an end to the system of patronage which surrounds selection for such delegations abroad and for the establishment of an open and rational selection system in which proven prior interest and experience are the key criteria; welcomes the fact that after vehement protests were made the honourable Member for Hackney North and Stoke Newington has now been included in the delegation; and hopes for an election campaign free from violence and looks forward to a non-racist democratic South Africa after 27th April.

This motion has been signed by a total of 9 MPs.