TNAG-0925-FCO40-1143-Commonwealth-Parliamentary-Association-(CPA)-annual-conferen-1980 — Page 40

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Twenty-fifth Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference

Malawi was encouraged by the positive response of all parties to the London conference on Zimbabwe and looked forward to welcoming the new state of Zimbabwe into the organisation soon. Malawi had welcomed the Commonwealth plan adopted in Lusak convinced that it offered the people a chance to choose their own Government.

Despite South Africa's and SWAPO's acceptance of the propoals of the five Western Security Council members, hopes of resolving the Namibian problem were diminishing. Malawi regretted that, and was convinced that that formula still held most hope for a just and internationally acceptable solution.

None of those who had spoken on the subject, except a delegate from Malawi, seemed to have thought of the 6,000,000 people inside Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, said an Australian delegate. It should be insisted that the war stop, and he appealed to the British, as part of the permanent membership of the Security Council of the United Nations, to try to bring this about. The situation in South Africa seemed to be the most intransigent in the world today, but he believed governments could be forced along the road to co-operation, understanding, and change.

There had been progress on a new constitution for Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, but much work had still to be done on arrangements for a cease-fire, the leader of the Canadian delegation said. Canada wanted to lend every possible support to the intensive diplomatic efforts that had been made to find a solution to the Zimbabwe-Rhodesia problem. Canada considered the South African administration of Namibia to be illegal. Canadians hoped that the support of Commonwealth Governments, particularly those in Africa, would be maintained until Namibia achieved acceptable independence. Canada had spoken out repeatedly against apartheid policies in South Africa, and joined in the sports boycott. In the rest of Africa the overthrow of three of the most repressive governments in Uganda, Equitorial Guinea, and the Central African Empire-had been noted, as well as the peaceful transition to parliamentary democracy in Nigeria and Ghana.

Racial confrontation and continuous illegal occupation of African lands perpetrated by the South African regime from Pretoria to Zimbabwe-Rhodesia was the most thorny and controversial problem facing mankind today, said a delegate from The Gambia. Factors that had brought this about were the lust of the super powers for material wealth and their lost sense of political and human direction. What remained after the failure of past conferences was the hope that a peaceful transition to independence in Africa south of the Sahara would come from the conference now taking place in London.

A delegate from Jamaica said the threat to international peace in South Africa was second only to that in the Middle East. Because of the type of labour used in South Africa, industrialised countries made a return much higher than the world average on their investments there. It was little wonder that the voting of these nations was influenced when delicate questions touching South Africa arose in international assemblies. The speaker condemned Soviet adventurism in southern Africa, where Cuban troops were being used.

With the tension in Africa the main attention continued to be focused on southern Africa, although the whole continent had been most turbulent, especially in the last two decades, said a delegate from Madhya Pradesh. The big powers should withdraw from countries where they were involved and stop their exploitation of them. The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association should use its influence to bring to an end the exploitation in Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, South Africa, Namibia, and other countries.

There appeared to be some definite misunderstanding about New Zealand's attitude to some aspects of Africa south of the Sahara, said a New Zealand delegate. New Zealand's policy on Rhodesia, subsequently Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, had been consistent. Britain remained the legal authority to bring about and approve the transition to independence. New Zealand's attitude to apartheid had been frequently misrepresented overseas. Its Parliament had passed the Human Rights Commission Act to reinforce the country's extensive statutory provisions against discrimination on the grounds of race. The New Zealand Parliament was unanimous in opposing apartheid and its views had been expressed at the plenary session of the United Nations General Assembly last September.