The proposed SADC Parliament: Old wine in new bottles or an ideal whose time has come?
The proposed SADC Parliament: Old wine in new bottles or an ideal whose time has come?
This monograph is an analysis of the prospects for a regional legislative assembly for the Southern African Development Community (SADC). It explores the threats and challenges posed by such an initiative in a sub-region where, for the past 30 years of the regional integration project, policy making has been executive-centric without much involvement of other arms of government and non-state actors. The study further explores the respective mandates, powers and functions of the East African Legislative Assembly, the ECOWAS Parliament, the Pan African Parliament, and the European Parliament to inform the competitive advantage of a sub-regional legislative institution for SADC. Finally, the study makes recommendations on ways and means through which the objective of establishing a SADC Parliament could be realised.

