National Assembly represented at Westminster seminar on effective parliaments |28 March 2023
The National Assembly of Seychelles was represented at the Westminster Seminar on Effective Parliaments held in the United Kingdom from March 13 to 17 by Hon. Sylvanne Lemiel, Hon. Michel Roucou and the Clerk to the National Assembly, Tania Isaac.
The five-day forum gathered relatively new Parliamentarians and Clerks from the Commonwealth to explore parliamentary democracy, practices, and procedures as well as providing a space to share their experiences and challenges commonly faced within the scope of their parliamentary work.
The topics covered by Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) UK included communication and parliamentary leadership, accountability, representation, separation of powers, goal setting, the digital space and scrutiny.
These were delivered by experienced parliamentarians and subject matter experts from across the Commonwealth.
Some of these topics were specific for parliamentarians and clerks, which included visits to UK MPs in their constituencies.
Both groups had the opportunity to watch the Prime Minister’s Questions live, and have a conversation with the Right Hon. David Lammy, who is the elected MP for Tottenham and Shadow Foreign Secretary of the House of Commons.
At this 71st year of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, the highlight was the Commonwealth Day Celebrations, which comprised a flag raising ceremony at the UK Parliament and the Commonwealth Service in the Westminster Abbey.
This was done in the presence of the new Head of the Commonwealth, His Majesty King Charles III and high-level dignitaries from the Commonwealth, including the Seychelles Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism, Sylvestre Radegonde, and the Ag. Seychelles high commissioner in the United Kingdom, Patsy Moustache.
