ALGIERS – Sunday, 03 December 2023 (APS) – The Speaker of the People’s National Assembly (Lower House of Parliament) Brahim Boughali received Sunday, at the headquarters of the Lower House, the Secretary General of the African National Congress (ANC) of the Republic of South Africa, Fikile Mbalula, the Lower House said in a statement.
In the meeting, the Speaker of the Lower House touched on “the solid and deeply rooted relations between the two countries, marked by the values of friendship, solidarity and cooperation, particularly on security and peace issues, the decolonization of the African continent and its liberation from dependency,” the statement said.
Boughali stressed the need to address the challenges the continent is facing, particularly in terms of security, food, energy and climate, with a view to achieving sustainable development and prosperity for the African peoples, the statement added.
At the parliamentary level, the Speaker of the Lower House said that the Algerian Parliament is “fully prepared to bolster bilateral cooperation relations by sharing experiences and exchanging parliamentary delegations,” noting that the installation of a parliamentary friendship group with the Republic of South Africa aims at strengthening this path.
Internationally, Boughali hailed “the convergence of positions between Algeria and the Republic of South Africa on several regional and international issues of common interest.”
He particularly underscored the need to work to guarantee the Sahrawi people’s legitimate right to self-determination, in accordance with the resolutions of the African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN).
After discussing Algeria’s positions backing the Palestinian cause, the Lower House’s Speaker addressed issues on furthering peace, security, and stability in Africa, in addition to countering terrorism and violent extremism, according to the frameworks guaranteed by the AU in order to strengthen the common African action.
For his part, the ANC Secretary General emphasized his country’s commitment to “enhancing cooperation at the parliamentary level,” stressing the need to activate the role of friendship groups and open channels to bolster and promote dialogue.
He further stressed “his country’s unwavering support for just causes worldwide, including the Sahrawi issue and the Palestinian cause, condemning the heinous crimes of the Zionist occupation against the unarmed Palestinian people, while recalling his country’s opposition to the Zionist entity’s application for membership in the African Union (AU) as an observer member, in addition to his country’s request to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to intervene to prosecute the entity’s leaders for their crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories.”