The National Assembly of Seychelles was represented at the 66th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference, which also included the 39th CPA Small Branches Conference, and meeting of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians, held in Accra, Ghana from the 30th of September to 5th of October 2023. The Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Hon. Gervais Henrie led the delegation and was accompanied by Hon. Churchill Gill, Hon. Doyace Porice and Ms. Brigitte Contoret.
The theme of the Conference was “Commonwealth Charter Ten Years on: Values and Principles for Parliaments to Uphold”. The five-day forum gathered approximately 500 delegates, including Speakers, Presiding Officers and Members of Parliament, from the Commonwealth who all had the opportunity to discuss major political and parliamentary issues including women, people living with disabilities, small jurisdictions, amongst others. The highlight of the Conference was the official opening of the Commonwealth Parliament Conference on Thursday 4th of October 2023 by the President of the Republic of Ghana and Vice-Patron of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. During his keynote address he urged Commonwealth Parliamentarians to work together to uphold democratic principles and the values of the Commonwealth.
The CPA Small Branches Conference organized a series of meetings and workshops for the Members of Parliaments from the smallest jurisdictions in the Commonwealth to discuss issues relevant to their Legislatures. Hon. Churchill Gill was re-elected as the Vice-Chair of the Small Branches Executive Committee and remains a member of this Committee, representing the Africa Region for another year. Hon. Henrie was a speaker on the panel for the Workshop on “Building Independent Parliaments, Ensuring Financial and Administration Autonomy”. He shared the experiences of the Seychelles Legislature in the drafting of a bill using the ‘Model Law for Independent Parliaments’ with the assistance of consultants, funded by the CPA Small Branch Initiative in 2022.
The CPA is the only parliamentary association to bring together national, state, provincial and territorial Legislatures, and its membership comprises of almost 180 Parliaments and Legislatures across the Commonwealth.
