Kyrgyzstan Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock
Main Page: Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Labour - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Foulkes of Cumnock's debates with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
(13 years, 8 months ago)
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Lord Howell of Guildford
I cannot say precisely, but there are questions about how much and whether proper freedom is being observed. There have been some criticisms. These are the sort of issues that we monitor very closely. We are not at all reticent or backward in pointing out the vital need for greater freedom of the press if democracy is to develop there.
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock
When the Minister contacts the IPU and the CPA about the promotion of democracy in Kyrgyzstan and elsewhere, will he include the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, which was set up by the previous Conservative Government and supported by the Labour Government and works closely with the CPA and the IPU? It has an increasing role not just in the Caucasus but in the Middle East, north Africa and—in light of the next Question, which is on Côte d’Ivoire—in sub-Saharan Africa.