NO. 004/2019
21st November, 2019
2019 2ND ORDINARY SESSION OF THE ECOWAS PARLIAMENT OPENS The challenge of insecurity and terrorism has again been brought to the front burner of deliberations as the 2019 Second Ordinary Session of Parliament opened in Abuja on Wednesday. Speaker Moustapha Cisse Lo giving a remark after declaring the session open, said it was unfortunate that West Africa still grappled with the challenge of insecurity, noting that the menace was hampering the development of the community. He stressed that there was a close link between security, stability, democracy, peace and development, which he said are all necessary and interwoven. “Before addressing the content of this session, allow me to take some time to talk about the context in which this session is taking place, by starting immediately with the worrying security situation in our region, notably the persistence of terrorist attacks. “The recurrent terrorist attacks in Mali and Burkina Faso, where they have become more deadly, remind us the critical need to respond appropriately to this threat. “Terrorism and insecurity have assumed unprecedented proportions in our region. They constitute a major challenge that needs to be absolutely addressed, inasmuch as we all agree that without peace and security, sustainable development is unachievable. “It is necessary for us to act now and vigorously to eradicate this spiral of violence. In this regard, the involvement of our States and the pooling of our forces and resources seem to me very important, failing which the fight against terrorism will remain ineffective. “We express our solidarity with countries that have fallen victims to these barbaric attacks, which plunge families into mourning every day and cause massive displacement of populations. “Furthermore, we all paid particular attention to the events in Guinea-Bissau, which disrupted the political situation in the country in the run-up to the presidential election,” he pointed out. The Speaker commended the Authority of Heads of State and Government for its emergency extraordinary session where it adopted urgent and stringent measures which had now paved way for the conduct of the Presidential election in Guinea Bissau which is to hold on Nov. 24. He disclosed plans by Parliament to send a delegation to Guinea Bissau along with a delegation from the Commission to observe the election.