Valentina Matvienko Informed Vladimir Putin About Activities of CIS Interparliamentary Assembly

Following the meeting of the Council of Legislators at the Tavricheskiy Palace, Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and Chairperson of the IPA CIS Council Valentina Matvienko spoke to President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin , about the activities and projects of the Assembly.

In response to the President’s question about the organization’s work, the Chairperson of the Council stressed that the IPA CIS has become a significant international body. “Parliaments of different countries and inter-parliamentary organizations are queuing up to us to become observers to the Interparliamentary Assembly,” Valentina Matvienko said.

A week ago she spoke about the IPA CIS Grand Session, dedicated to the 80^th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, which was attended by all the heads of parliaments of the organization. They laid wreaths and flowers at the Piskarevskoye Memorial Cemetery, and paid their respects to soldiers at the steles erected in honor of the heroes of the sovereign states – the Union Republics as they were called in the past. “The speeches were so vivid that this is our common victory! This is our shared memory,” Valentina Matvienko said.

According to her, model lawmaking has also gained momentum on the IPA CIS platform. “After all, it is very important for us to harmonize the legal framework in the post-Soviet space. It is important for business, it is important for cultural and humanitarian projects. Model Laws are developed with the participation of the parliaments of all CIS countries, experts, scientific organizations. This is not imposed by someone, but it is the result of our collective efforts. Most of these Model Laws have been fully or partially implemented in the national legislation,” the Chairperson of the Council said.

During her conversation with the President, Valentina Matvienko also emphasized the important role of the International Institute for Monitoring the Democracy Development, Parliamentarianism and Suffrage Protection of Citizens of IPA CIS Member Nations (IPA CIS IIMDD) established under the IPA CIS, which monitors and provides an objective assessment of parliamentary and presidential elections.