THE president of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Theo-Ben Gurirab, said the unprecedented street protests in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, and other parts of the Arab world and beyond is a collective call for more democracy, not less.
‘Ignoring these demands of the people is unacceptable and self-defeating,’ said Gurirab addressing a meeting of the Arab IPU in Doha, Qatar, yesterday. ‘They [the demonstrators] demand fair play, jobs and the benefits of development. They want more opportunities and service delivery, less marginalisation and corruption,’ he said. Gurirab also called on former President Laurent Gbagbo of Ivory Coast to step down and hand over power to Allassane Quattara, who is generally accepted to have won the December 2010 elections there. ‘Any contrary course of action undermines democracy everywhere,’ warned Gurirab. He said the situation in Ivory Coast is in stark contrast with the orderly transition of power in Guinea and the secession of South Sudan after 99.57 per cent of southerners voted for a breakaway from the north. Gurirab expressed hope that all parties to South Sudan’s secession will respect their commitments and ensure a peaceful transition to new institutional arrangements, which he said includes good neighbourly relations and mutually beneficial cooperation.
