SADC discusses Madagascar's entry

A Southern African Development Community (SADC) report on Madagascar's application for membership is up for discussion at a regional ministerial meeting, which began on Thursday in Mauritius. The SADC Troika, which includes the former, current and incoming chair of the organisation, visited Madagascar in December 2004 to assess the country's ability to implement SADC legal instruments, said Prega Ramsamy, SADC's executive secretary, at a press briefing this week. "We expect Madagascar to submit a detailed timeframe and action plan indicating how it will meet its obligations. It is on the basis of this submission by Madagascar that SADC will decide on the application of its full membership during the ordinary summit in Gaborone, Botswana [in August 2005]," he said. Madagascar's application to join the 14-member regional bloc coincided last year with a decision by the Indian Ocean island of Seychelles to withdraw. Ramsamy also confirmed that SADC would deploy election observers to parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe on 31 March. Zimbabwe is the first member state to incorporate SADC principles and guidelines governing democratic elections in its electoral law. The SADC council of ministers is meeting in Mauritius on Thursday and Friday to review the organisation's performance, and is also expected to approve the SADC Secretariat budget for 2005-06. "We have endeavoured to budget for programmes and activities that are in line with SADC's mandate of reducing poverty, with the ultimate objective of its eradication," Ramsamy said. Among other issues, a progress report on the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals and the African Peer Review Mechanism will also be discussed at the meeting.