Senate presidents take regional approach to nationality

The presidents of the senates of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda met for the first time on Sunday in Brussels, along with their Belgian counterpart, Anne-Marie Lizin, to discuss the rule of law and nationality issues in the Great Lakes region. Belgium hosted the meeting to support the reconstruction of the rule of law in the three countries, Lizin told reporters at the end of the talks. She said the meeting focused on the drafting and implementation of the constitutions and electoral processes in Burundi and the DRC. On the issue of dual nationality, an important issue in elections scheduled to take place in June 2005 in the DRC, senate presidents Libere Bararunyeretse of Burundi, Pierre Marini Bodho of the DRC and Vincent Biruta of Rwanda, agreed to create a "consultative committee". A law on nationality was recently adopted by the DRC Senate, but has yet to be passed by the national assembly. "We would like to examine this issue in a regional way," said Bodho. Bodho said the senates of the three countries need to also consider other collective issues concerning conflict resolution, arms trafficking and HIV/AIDS, as well as economic, commercial and cultural issues. Biruta said the role of a Senate was "to control the action of the government". "The senates have defined a work plan," Lizin said at the end of the meeting, "as well as clarified their bilateral relationship with the Belgian Senate."