Today is International Day of Parliamentarism

The International Day of Parliamentarism is celebrated on 30 June. The Interparliamentary Assembly of the CIS Member Nations was at the origin of the establishment of this holiday. In the spring of 2017, during the session dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the organization, the IPA CIS Council decided to apply to the Inter-Parliamentary Union with the initiative to establish this holiday.

The Inter-Parliamentary Union positively assessed the initiative, included the relevant paragraph in the text of the resolution adopted by the 137^th IPU Assembly in St. Petersburg on 18 October, 2017, and appealed to the United Nations, since it is the UN that decides on the establishment of international holiday dates.

On 22 May, 2018, within the framework of the 72^nd session of the UN General Assembly, the resolution “Interaction between the United Nations, national parliaments and the Inter-Parliamentary Union” was adopted. The resolution enshrines the joint initiative of the IPA CIS and the IPU on the establishment of the International Day of Parliamentarism — June 30.

The day was not chosen by chance. The first international conference of the Inter-parliamentary Union, the largest and oldest association of MPs in the world, was held in Paris in 30 June, 1889, which today marks 133 years, and this date became the starting point of the history of international parliamentarism.