Hon Dos Santos and his Executive Committee are credited for managing to put the issue of the transformation of the SADC PF into SADC Regional Parliament on the agenda of the 38th SADC Summit for Heads of State and Government.
In a major breakthrough, the Summit warmed up to the idea of transforming the Forum and accepted it in principle before referring the issue to national Parliaments for further discussion with a clear timeline.
Earlier, Speaker of the National Assembly of Eswathini Honourable Mavimbela said his country was in support of the transformation of SADC PF into a SADC Regional parliament.
He recalled that during the 39th Plenary Assembly Session of SADC PF held in Ezulwini in 2016, an ad-hoc committee chaired by Hon. Advocate Jacob Mudenda, Speaker of the National Assembly of Zimbabwe, paid a courtesy call on His Majesty King Mswati III and successfully lobbied him on the matter.
"As the Kingdom of Eswathini, we fully concur and support the transformation process of SADC PF into a Regional Parliament as proposed."
The challenge for the new leaders would be to build on the momentum created by their predecessors. It seems they have hit the ground running. The new SADC PF President said immediately after her election that she would convene an urgent meeting to discuss how the good work was done under the previous Executive Committee can be taken forward.
Another priority for the new leadership would be to help operationalize the SADC PF's 2019 - 2023 Strategic Plan.
The 44th Plenary adopted a motion calling on the Forum to allow five Members of the previous Executive Committee to continue serving in the current one, albeit without voting powers. The idea is to maintain momentum, enable continuity and preserve institutional memory.
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