Schimming-Chase voted deputy chair of SADC Parliamentary Forum

A MEMBER of the official opposition party, the Congress of Democrats, has been elected as deputy chairperson of the SADC Parliamentary Forum.

Nora Schimming-Chase was elected last weekend during the 21st SADC Plenary Assembly, which was held at Mogale City (Krugersdorp), South Africa. Schimming-Chase is the first woman politician to be elected to this post.She is the vice chairperson of the CoD party.The Speaker of the National Assembly of Botswana, Patrick Balopi, was elected Chairperson of the Forum, its Secretariat announced on its website this week.Contacted for comment, Schimming-Chase told The Namibian that she saw her new responsibility as an opportunity to deepen the roots of democracy in the region.”I will give my input regarding factual debate and to achieve a higher percentage of woman MPs in the Forum,” the CoD politician said.The SADC Parliamentary Forum was attended by 80 MPs of SADC member states under the theme ‘Enhancing the Role of Parliaments in Governance and Development at Regional Level: Trade and Development Issues Relating to the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP)/European Union (EU) Negotiations’.The assembly was officially opened by South African President Thabo Mbeki.In his address, Mbeki reaffirmed the role of parliamentarians in promoting and deepening regional integration.Schimming-Chase is the first woman politician to be elected to this post.She is the vice chairperson of the CoD party.The Speaker of the National Assembly of Botswana, Patrick Balopi, was elected Chairperson of the Forum, its Secretariat announced on its website this week.Contacted for comment, Schimming-Chase told The Namibian that she saw her new responsibility as an opportunity to deepen the roots of democracy in the region.”I will give my input regarding factual debate and to achieve a higher percentage of woman MPs in the Forum,” the CoD politician said.The SADC Parliamentary Forum was attended by 80 MPs of SADC member states under the theme ‘Enhancing the Role of Parliaments in Governance and Development at Regional Level: Trade and Development Issues Relating to the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP)/European Union (EU) Negotiations’.The assembly was officially opened by South African President Thabo Mbeki.In his address, Mbeki reaffirmed the role of parliamentarians in promoting and deepening regional integration.