Parliamentary diplomacy builds integration, cooperation- IRIC Director

The Director of the International Relations Institute of Cameroon, IRIC, Pierre Emmanuel Tabi, has said parliamentary diplomacy is a tool that reinforces cooperation and regional integration amongst African parliaments.

He made the remark while co-chairing diplomatic talks with the visiting Speaker of the Ivorian National Assembly, Hon. Guillaume Kigbafori Soro on the theme “Parliamentary Diplomacy; Reinforcing Inter-African Cooperation.”

To Tabi, internal and external politics can be better promoted through parliamentary diplomacy.

“Diplomacy is a peaceful approach to ideological exchanges and the settlement of problems.

Parliamentary diplomacy is therefore an essential concept, vision and approach to enhance regional integration and cooperation.

The importance of regional integration and cooperation is of utmost importance, reasons why the department of Regional Integration and the Management of Communal Institutions at IRIC emphasizes it as a vital factor of their diplomatic training,” he noted.

Minister Pierre therefore called on the parliament of Cameroon to strengthen bilateral and parliamentary ties with Ivory Coast which will enable both nations practice advance democracy.

On his part, Guillaume Soro tailored his talk on the importance of parliament as an arm of Government, while personally insisting that President Alassane Ouattara’s party won the 2011 presidential election in Ivory Coast against that of former President, Laurent Gbagbo.