'Note, this method is designed to be used only with classes that have a
c_tag and c_namespace. It is placed in SamlBase for inheritance but
should not be called on in this class.'

def _to_element_tree(self):

    new_tree = ElementTree.Element(('{%s}%s' % (self.__class__.c_namespace, self.__class__.c_tag)))
    self._add_members_to_element_tree(new_tree)
    return new_tree
