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Debate on the Address (Second Day)
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[BARONESS CHAlker of Wallasey] new history. It was a defeat for the pessimists. It has been an encouragement for all involved in the peace process. Progress is now taking place in other talks between Israel and Jordan. Further negotiations between Israel and Syria and Lebanon are in preparation. There is no way in which there can be a complete and durable peace in the region until all aspects of those peace talks are successful.
Having recently visited Cairo, I am well aware of the effort that the Egyptians have been making towards those peace talks. I am also well aware that this is no time for delay; that there is an expectation among the Palestinians which we have to try to satisfy in a short space of time. Therefore, all the nations involved, and all those who would help them, need to seize this opportunity of peace. It was Cardinal Newman who once said:
I am not sure that it is possible to do that, and it might even be dangerous in certain territories, but what I do know is that our involvement is quiet but considerable. We are now stepping it up, and it is being seen more clearly. My right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary was in Syria in October. Mr. Arafat and the Lebanese Foreign Minister are coming to London in December. The Foreign Secretary will visit Israel, Jordan, and the occupied territories in January.
I said a moment ago that I had been struck by the deep commitment of Egypt. I have also been struck by the willingness of many nations around the world to help in the whole of the peace process. It is that which we must manage with care. One of the matters which is clear to me is just how brave the protagonists have been, but that their bravery will be undermined unless the whole international community backs them up in translating the initial peace process into action for the Palestinian people. The European Community already proposes spending 90 million ecu this year. There will be a substantial package of support for the next five years, which has yet to be worked out in detail. The United Kingdom has been contributing through its annual bilateral aid programme some £6 million to the UNRWA. We have our special programmes in the occupied territories. We have just pledged 2 million dollars through the World Bank Trust Fund for technical assistance and feasibility studies for economic development of the occupied territories. I believe that to be a classic example of aid buttressing peace. It is one of the fundamental, long-term ways in which the aid programme facilitates peace.
Much further south, in South Africa, we were all glad to see the multi-party negotiation process reach a successful conclusion with the agreement last week on an interim constitution. I am well aware that there are those in South Africa who were not in agreement, but we hope that they will see the importance of the step which has been taken, because that step paves the way for the establishment of the Transitional Executive Council and the independent commission for the elections which are due to take place on 27th April next
year.
The multi-party negotiating process has been a
Debate on the Address (Second Day)
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valuable step down the difficult road to non-racial democracy in South Africa. We very much hope that all South Africans will support the process of transition. We have long argued with the parties concerned and in the international community that the most important thing for all the people of South Africa is that an end should be put to the violence in South Africa. We hope that all South Africans will participate fully in the elections and the democratic life of their country, for who choose to exclude themselves run the danger of having no proper say in the future.
any
The European Union has agreed to set up an electoral unit to work closely with the existing EC observer mission to South Africa. The Commonwealth too will be involved in overseeing the April elections. The Organisation of African Unity is also to assist. The United Nations will also be involved in the elections. It was my job last Friday to discuss this matter in New York with the United Nations Secretary General to see how we can best achieve real co-ordination among the many people offering to help in what will be a complicated situation when so many people will be voting for the first time. The British Government wish to do everything that they can to help ensure that the elections are a success by making sure that they are free and fair and that there is full preparation for them, which will begin early in the new year.
The United Kingdom is also giving every support to the process of transition. Right from the earliest days, when we pressed for the release of political prisoners and the unbanning of the ANC, we ensured that we had an open door in London to all the main negotiators. Over the past seven years, we have given training and practical support to South African community leaders. We have initiated the sending of international observers to help curb violence in South Africa. I am always delighted to hear what an excellent job those people have been doing in our name for the people of South Africa. That reflects exceptionally well on all those who have been serving there.
What South Africa needs more than anything else is new investment. It needs it to regenerate the economy, to provide jobs, to open doors and to provide a new beginning to all those who were for so long excluded from a full life in South Africa. That new investment will be vital to the transitional process and for the prosperity of all South Africans. I am glad to note that in the United States all federal bans on investment have now gone and that many of the state bans are being lifted. The IMF and the World Bank are preparing to help South Africa. But, above all, what South Africa needs, like so many other nations, is trade not aid. That is why we must do all that we can to facilitate the trade which is so badly needed for the development and health of the new South Africa.
Whereas the news in South Africa may be good, sadly in just the past week in Nigeria we have seen a significant reversal of the democratic process. We deplore the decision of the military to take back power and to dissolve all the elected institutions. No military dictatorship can solve Nigeria's problems, or anyone
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